How to Write a Proper Refusal #writer #writingcommunity #writingtips #author #writing

A writer builds this big crisis moment into a scene and then it falls flat almost every time. It's because the protagonist never actually refused the antagonist. Now, before a scene can have a real crisis, which is the ultimatum from the antagonist, the protagonist has to refuse what the antagonist wants them to do. A chosen act of dissent against the thing the antagonist bearing down on them. And there's 3 requirements. 1. It has to be chosen. If somebody slaps me, my first reaction is an unconscious reflex. But if they keep pressuring me, I have time to think and I can decide that I'm not going to do what they want me to do. 2. It has to be an actual physical act. Not a feeling, not just waving a hand around, and freezing doesn't count because freeze is a reflex, not a choice. Smiling politely is going along with the antagonists instead of refusing it. They have to take an actual action to refuse what the antagonist wants them to do. And number 3, it has to push directly against the want, the desire of the antagonist. So picture two people pushing in the exact opposite directions. They get stuck up against each other. So if the antagonist says, come with me to the grocery store, your protagonist has to not want to go to the grocery store. That's how we create the right conflict for your scene. So here's why this matters. If your protagonist doesn't actually resist the antagonist, then they aren't learning a new lesson. If the protagonist never says no, the antagonist has no reason to come back with a "do this or else" crisis ultimatum. No refusal, no turning point, which means you can't have a crisis that actually lands. If this helped you see why your scenes keep falling flat, there's a lot more where that came from. Subscribe and like for more writing tips.