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Here’s a Writing Tip You’ve Probably Never Heard Before # #author #writer #writing #authortube #book

6 Sept 2026 · 1 min

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Arrange the obstacles in a scene from cheapest to most costly for your protagonist. Start with the safest solution, then force them toward riskier, more expensive attempts as they fail, the way people actually solve problems.

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Here's a writing tip you've never heard before. You have to order your progressive complications by rising cost. Progressive complications are the things that go wrong between the start of the scene and its turning point, and you need to order them by cost. The safest option first, and then each attempt by your protagonist to solve their problem is more expensive than the last. This is just like real life. We always try the thing that will cost us the least in order to get out of a bad situation. We only try riskier and riskier things when we absolutely have to. It's the same with your protagonist. For more writing tips, click subscribe below.