Choice

That is the question!

It's a question that has vexed people since the beginning of time. Every day, every hour—and sometimes every minute—we have to make choices.

Trivial choices. The alarm clock goes off. Should I get up right now, or should I give myself an extra few minutes in bed? Breakfast: cereal or toast? Or both? Which outfit will I wear today, it being Saturday or Sunday. Should I shower or bathe now—or later. Decisions, decisions.

Then there are the tough choices. Somebody bullies me or insults me. Do I respond in kind, or let it go? My parents want me to go on to study law or economics; I want to go into show business or do media studies. Decisions, big decisions.

If you're unlucky, you may one day have to make a major choice, one that involves life and death. Your own life or that of someone close to you. You're torn. Your mind is in a ferment. Each choice has consequences so it's vital that you make the right one.

This is an unenviable position to be in. But it happens to more people than you think. If you're writing fiction then you wish to place your protagonist—your main character—in that unenviable position.

And it's no coincidence that the word protagonist contains, very nearly, the word "agony". Your character, when faced with a tough choice, will have to agonize over what he or she should do. Fight or flee; tell the truth or keep silent; offer help or walk on.

Place your character between a rock and a hard place

My friends at phrases.org.uk tell me that this expression originated in 1917 in Arizona, when copper miners were faced with a stark choice. Their lives and the lives of their families depended on their making the right decision.

Whatever the situation you place your protagonists in, there's one golden rule. Make them suffer! Don't make it easy for them. You have to build up the tension, otherwise your story will be weak.

Your reader should have an emotional bond with your characters. Your reader should identify with them, feel their pain, suffer along with them. That way, you'll be mirroring real life.

Put yourself in your character's place

Your character is you. He or she will have your doubts, fears and other emotions. All good fiction contains lots of emotion. You have to aim for your reader's heart, not his/her head. When your fiction "tugs at the heart-strings" it will be successful and memorable. Your readers will come away from your story with the feeling that your work has touched them in a special way.

Anybody can write an adventure story. It's simply a matter of creating exciting situations. There are novels that describe famous events, battles, voyages of discovery, great catastrophes. But if those novels did not contain characters the reader can empathize with, they'd be as dry as a history book. We needed Robin Hood to bring medieval England alive for us. Jane Eyre did the same for Regency England.

The moment of choice

You've set the scene. Danger is about to strike. Your hero or heroine is unprepared—and so is your reader. You're about to take them both by surprise.

Boom!

(I chose that word carefully. It's short, it's explosive. It's right there on its own. Keep it short; that's the best way to introduce your surprise to your character and your reader. You're going for the dramatic effect.)

Next you have to describe how your character responds. Take your time. Even though you're describing what may be a split second in real time, you have to stretch it to breaking point. You can do this in a number of ways. For example, you describe the physical changes in your character.

I froze.
I felt the hairs rise on the back of my neck.
I stopped dead, my heart thumping.
I felt the blood drain from my face.

Or you tell us what's going on in your character's head.

I was suddenly afraid.
I felt as though I'd seen a ghost.
I couldn't believe my eyes.
I thought: This isn't happening; it's a dream, a nightmare.
I was never so scared in all my life.

You won't have failed to notice the number of clichés I've used in the above. It's okay; there's nothing wrong with a cliché. It's a cliché because it's a phrase that has stood the test of time.

But your writing will make more impact on your reader if you use original language. See if you can take a couple of those clichés and put your own spin on them.

The choice is made, for better or worse

Your character weighs up the choices available. Maybe there are two, maybe more. But she chooses only one, that which appears to be the right choice. Of course it isn't. It only makes matters worse—and your story better, more tense.

The unfortunate choice propels your character into an even direr situation. And she has to face yet another choice. And another. Once again your reader will be in your character's shoes. Feeling her pain and her dread.

Be sure to save the biggest choice of all to just before the end of your story.

Boom!