A Dangerous Situation - Writing Exercise

It’s not easy to thrust your characters into a dangerous situation, especially one in which they are likely to get killed. As we develop and nurture our characters, we become attached to them, and as if they were our children, we’d rather protect them than shove them into the face of danger.

But that’s not good storytelling.

This week’s writing exercise focuses on placing your characters in great peril. You can use existing characters, or come up with new ones, just for the purpose of this exercise. You might even use some of these ideas in one of the stories you’re currently working on. Just remember, every great tale involves great obstacles; the greater the obstacle, the greater the suspense.

The Characters

First, choose your protagonist. Since this is an exercise, you can use your own character, or you can borrow from a novel or even a movie. You can even come up with a brand new character just for this purpose. Consider it a crash test dummy and have fun with it.

You can also use more than one character. Often, our protagonist is loyally attended by one or more sidekicks. When you increase the number of characters in danger, you increase the chances of one of them succumbing to the threat. Multiple characters also increase tension and complexity, so don’t be afraid to try this with a group of characters.

The Situation

It’s not as hard as you might think to come up with a situation which involves great risk. You need look no further than your own bookshelf, DVD collection, or newspaper. Here are some ideas to get you started:

• Trapped. There are innumerable ways that a person can get trapped, both literally and metaphorically. Coal mines and wells, along with oceans and rivers, make for great scenes in which your character can get stuck underground, or lodged beneath a large boulder, or even locked within the cabin of a sinking ship. Alternatively, your character could be stuck in a dangerous relationship, perhaps the victim of domestic abuse. Maybe your character has been kidnapped and is being held hostage, or is some type of innocent prisoner.
• Natural disaster. If you start out with a natural disaster, you can then generate any number of additional dangers that your character might have to overcome. Earthquakes can cause fires, hurricanes cause floods and tsunamis, and volcanoes come with a whole set of secondary problems. You can also use pandemics (diseases and viruses, such as the Plague).
• Wrong place, wrong time. Some people just walk blindly and accidentally into danger. Bank robberies are perfect for this approach, as are vehicular accidents, whether by automobile, train, or plane. Campers who are attacked by wild animals, and innocents who witness a murder will suddenly find their personal safety compromised just for being in the wrong place at the wrong time.
• Victim or target. Someone’s after your character, but who? Does your character have a treasure that someone else wants? Is your character being stalked by an obsessively lustful fanatic? Maybe your character is in the public eye, a celebrity or world leader, and is being targeted by the enemy. Or, perhaps your character is being bullied on the playground. Many characters find themselves in danger in this manner. This is an especially effective obstacle, because it involves a relationship between a protagonist and an antagonist, which ups the human interest aspect of your story considerably.

Resolution

Herein lies the real challenge. Now that your character is in danger, you have some decisions to make. Here are some questions to ask yourself:

• Who gets hurt?
• Does anyone die?
• Are there other characters who are concerned for the endangered characters’ safety?
• Do they come to the rescue, or do the endangered save themselves?

…and last, but not least,

• How does this situation get resolved?

You have to determine how your character gets out of the sticky dilemma that you’ve stuck them with. This might involve survival skills, or technical know-how. Some characters get saved, others have to save themselves. A few succumb and are lost forever (they die). To wrap up a disaster, you, as the writer, must generate a resolution, and that means deciding on the outcome.
The Exercise

Of course, the exercise itself is more than just coming up with ideas, though you could just think this one through, or jot down an outline. To get the most out of this exercise, write the scene. It could be a paragraph, or it could be 20 pages, as long as you include a sympathetic character, a dangerous situation, and a resolution, it will be complete and you can rest easy knowing that it’s okay and even beneficial to put your characters in harm’s way.

Good luck! I hope both you and your character(s) survive this one!

Do you have any ideas or suggestions to add to this writing exercise? Leave a comment!

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