Too much conflicts and problems

You need to give a reason for all of that.

It can't just be, "LOL, he just had bad luck this week!"

You either need a outside force, causing the problems, of the characters causing the problems themselves.
The Antagonist, pretty much.


After you've got the reason, then you need the motive behind the protagonist and antagonist for doing so.

I say this: "There is no reason why something shouldn't go wrong. But there needs to be a reason for it to go wrong in the first place."

Lidiya said:

Something else to go in my notebook!

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I stole this from another user (forgot who): Write it down on a stickynote and place it on your computer screen. When you've learned it, take it down and place more up.

I love torturing the souls of the poor, defenseless people within my own words too. But it can't just be an act of God (unless it is the act of God!).

Will is totally right. Your characters should have a reason behind their suffering, either because it is the antagonist causing it, or because it is a plot thread that will later become important. Maybe he drops a $100 instead of a $1 into a bum's hat, and doesn't realize it until later, which leads to a host of problems... no bus fare, misses a meal or two, whatever. And/or, maybe that bum becomes an unlikely ally later, tripping the antagonist as he chases the protag down the street. Bad luck can even be important to get your protag into a certain state of MIND, but again, this is the purpose, you aren't just being mean because you're a sadistic writer.

Not saying you can't be sadistic, you just need a logical way to explain your cruelty to readers.

Lidiya said:

I've nearly finished the 4th chapter of my novel, and I'm wondering whether I've made my MC go through too many problems!

In the first chapter, his dad was taken hostage.
In the second one, he makes a big mess of the block and apartment searching for the keys.
In the third one, he accidentally gives more money than he needs to (way more), is nearly late for his flight, gets stuck in a revolving door, and goes through special security checks because the people in the airport find him suspicious.
In the fourth one, the plane nearly crashes.

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Sounds like my typical workday.

It will help a lot if the majority of these problems are related to the bigger problem the MC faces.

For example, my MC (an American) has married the brother of a prominent European. This is back in the day when it takes months for letters to cross the Atlantic. Months do indeed pass without them hearing any response to their marriage, so they decide to try to reach Europe to talk to the prominent brother. They make three unsuccessful attempts to sail. In two of them, the prominent brother's enemies chase their ship because the enemies want to capture the MC's husband. In the third, they travel too late in the year, get caught in a storm, and run aground. That's a lot of trouble for one couple to go through in six months, but it's all set up by the desperate desire to get to Europe that causes them to make some bad travel decisions.

So in your case, are the suspicions of airport security at all related to the bigger plot? Is the money give-away related to the bigger plot? If so, you're probably all right. The loss of keys and being late for the flight could be related to the MC's nerves about his dad. Getting stuck in a revolving door? Well, that one seems the most likely candidate for having the reader say, "Too much. The author is just yanking my chain here."

I can't say if your characters have too many problems or not . I have agonized over stories and tried to edit as I write and I'm sure that approach can work. But I would suggest you press on and don't worry about it,until the book is finished. You will be able to make a better judgement on the rewrite.

I was about to say what Ralf58 said, but she said it so much better

The things that happen need to have a purpose in the story, otherwise they're just noise. So for example, if how he reacts to losing his keys reveals something about his personality that is important for the later story, then that's a great way of revealing it; but if it's just to make something happen fill up words and has no relevance to the story as a whole, what's the reason for it being there?

Someone said in another thread, "It's not enough for your character to be stuck in a tree. Throw rocks at him while he tries to figure out a way down."

I don't think you have a conflict problem, I think you have a pacing problem. Okay, so you've got a high octane opening chapter, now you have to slow it down, and give the reader a bit of a breather. Yes, throw rocks at the character . . . but not all the time.

Don't think that constant rock throwing and conflict are a substitute for story. It isn't [I know, this is what my first book consisted of.]

And don't think a reader won't close your book because of it either. I did so recently with Ben Kane's Spartacus, because I was EXHAUSTED. And I love Ben Kane.

So, maybe:

Chapter 1: Father is taken hostage.

Chapter 2: MC recieves ransom demand.

Chapter 3: MC is in blind panic, tries to confirm that father is missing. [Opportunity to develop internal conflict as well as external.]

Chapter 4: Boards plane, rouses suspicion of flight staff.

Also, make sure any conflict is linked to the main one. Losing keys, forgetting PIN number would just make me think he was a bit of an idiot.

Lidiya said:

It's just that adding problems helps keep the story fast paced and interesting, giving me something to write about instead of skipping every scene -- plus it's super funny watching my MC swear at me when I finish a chapter.

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You need to be careful with this, because that's how you end out with a huge tome that you need to cut in half before an agent will even look at it. Not every event in the character's life needs to be shown - in fact, it shouldn't. If his father is held hostage and he's going to do something about it, show him finding out... then next show him where the action of really doing something about it starts (whatever that may be) - if he needed to take a plane flight to do so, mention that in passing (he still had jet lag or was hungry after bad airline food). As others have said, most of what is included in the book needs to be crucial to the story. You won't feel the need to spice up scenes this way if you only write the ones that genuinely drive the story forward. A book isn't fast-paced when conflict happens in every scene... a book is fast-paced when the plot unfolds rapidly (delivering real conflict) and we don't see the hero in the more mundane moments of his life (travel logistics, searching for keys).

Fine, but be careful the reader doesn't toss the book aside because things are apparently happening for no reason.

Readers won't read on simply because words are on the page.

Lidiya said:

I think I've got the main events down...everything that happens, happens for a reason that will be revealed later on in the novel.

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I agree with Gothicangel that it's more a question of pacing. I think the problem is that when the disasters come piling on to a character in quick succession you don't get the full potential out of the disaster. It happens and before there's a chance to fully react to it, here comes another one, then another, then another. And since you've got a whole book to fill, then you have to keep on coming up with more and more and it starts to get ridiculous.

Allow more time for each disaster, get all the material out of it that you can. Milk it!

Lidiya said:

I've nearly finished the 4th chapter of my novel, and I'm wondering whether I've made my MC go through too many problems!

In the first chapter, his dad was taken hostage.
In the second one, he makes a big mess of the block and apartment searching for the keys.
In the third one, he accidentally gives more money than he needs to (way more), is nearly late for his flight, gets stuck in a revolving door, and goes through special security checks because the people in the airport find him suspicious.
In the fourth one, the plane nearly crashes.

Is it too much? It seems like I have a bunch of problems he has to go through every chapter! Poor MC!

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Sorry, but I laughed when I read this... Is this guy related to Inspector Clouseau?

In my opinion, your conflicts need some connection to the plot or (another way of looking at it) they add up to explain why things turn out the way they do in the end. Having to search for keys for a long time can be one paragraph unless something happens in that search that is key to the story.

Not sure of the money thing... someone suggested this was a ransom... is it? If so giving way more does stretch credibility unless as I suggested earlier he's a baffoon.

I guess I am seeing a pattern of horribly bad luck here. Stuck in a revolving door, airport security picks on him, and of course the plane almost crashes... by the end of the book no one will believe he can save the day, they'll expect a piano that was being lifted into window thirty stories above to crash down on him.

My suggestion is have a purpose for all your moments when you torture the MC. Each time the reader goes through this they learn something about him/her.

Flagship said:

Someone said in another thread, "It's not enough for your character to be stuck in a tree. Throw rocks at him while he tries to figure out a way down."

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Yeah, see, I have a problem with that because it's like Will said above. You're just tossing in roadblocks without any rhyme or reason for those to be happening. They really need to be working towards the progression of the story, and somehow tie your character to your plot as things get from bad to worse.

Otherwise you end up with a book that is just a bunch or random bad shit that happens to a character. And it's exhausting to read and it's frustrating to see all these things that get thrown in that serve no purpose than because 'someone the internet said to...' The advice really isn't specific enough to be very useful.

Bufty said:

Fine, but be careful the reader doesn't toss the book aside because things are apparently happening for no reason.

Readers won't read on simply because words are on the page.

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Bufty is quite right.

Truth is stranger than fiction, but it is because fiction is obliged to stick to possibilities, truth isn't. -- Mark Twain

Nothing wrong with throwing a bunch of problems at your MC, as long as they make sense in the context of the story.

When you come to the end of the first draft.Space out these incidents with more words.Then instead of all this happening to the guy over 4 chapters it could end up happening over 6 or maybe 8.

I wonder though, if all these complications show up at the beginning, what happens in the middle of the novel? Which is another way of asking about pacing. Fast paced is great. Building pace is also great. Make sure you leave room for progressive complications. And breathing. Readers and characters need "breathing room," pauses built into the narrative.

I agree that there has to be a reason or it's just self-indulgent and . . . boring.

It reminds me of a D&D game I played once. (Yes, I'm outing myself more as a lovely geek.) The DM never let us rest. It was one encounter after another. In most of the encounters, we were all knocked out or nearly died. After an hour of it, it became so utterly boring that my friend and I made our excuses and left.

I guess what I'm trying to say is that if you've jam packed stuff with action (for no reason other than to HAVE action), it gets dull. Just as dull as if nothing at all is happening.

It's like bad action movies. Most are bad because it's all conflict (external) and no thoughtfulness, no character-building. Just explosions and car chases and gunfights and cheesey one-liners and boat chases and airplane (near) crashes, and now the guy's in a cell and captured and then a fire starts and then the children across the street in the hospital face a deadly tornado, and holy shit. Get me out of this story.

Or, you could pull a 2012 (the movie) and have boring, stupid-ass character dialogue while they're trying to outrun a mega-hurricane. "Oh, honey, why did we get divorced?"

bearilou said:

Truth is stranger than fiction, but it is because fiction is obliged to stick to possibilities, truth isn't. -- Mark Twain

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That quote is wonderful!