The main character of my WIP is currently asleep, dead tired and vulnerable to a person who was unconscious when she went to sleep. The very next scene requires that the second character attack my protag, and I just don’t want to write it. I can certainly put the scene later in the book, but in the protag’s arc, it goes right here. I’m not sure what the results will be, or the long ranging effects of this struggle, and I am fairly sure that my usually intrepid heroine will not prevail on the short term.
I know what causes this problem. I am too close to my heroine. She always does what I would like to think I would do in her place. I’ve let her protect herself as much as she can, but the confrontation is coming, and she just won’t stay awake (in the face of several sleepless days and nights, plus a large amount of magic use.) Not being an outliner, I don’t know what happens next or why they can’t wake up together and argue things out logically.
Now this may seem to be a silly problem, and it is. I know if I just keep typing something will work out. I know that given the rules of magic in the story, this struggle for posession of a magic wand will affect both of the characters, and others who have been involved in magic done with that wand. I am stuck in my world building, so it’s time to make up a few more rules about how things work, get a quick bio of the secondary character–a rogue fairy godmother who has already planned to kill my protag–and then find the funny bits. Piece of cake, right?
I hope that my hesitation means that this part is critical to the story, and I am not just having a lazy moment. I could dodge over to another sub-plot and bring it up to date, which might give me some ideas on using the new rules in lots of different ways. Any one with suggestions for this kind of sticky place, feel free to leave a comment or link.
I think it does mean it’s a critical moment in the story. If you don’t want it to happen, the reader won’t either–lots of tension.
I had a hard time when it was time to murder the husband of my protagonist –who can handle a lot more tension than I can.
I chickened out and let my character wake up after being searched. There was a fight scene brought to a halt by a third character–a troll–who threatens both, This turned out to be a good thing, as it gives the first two characters something in common, and I realized that the troll has information that my protag needs–and that I need! She also provides quite a lot of tension, as she is capable of killing and eating both the other two.
Thanks for the insight.