I had an instructor once tell me: "Make sure your protagonist has a date night."

That's a metaphor, obviously. What this instructor meant was: it's okay—even good—to give your protagonist some downtime on the page. Let us see them loving and being loved. Let us see them in their natural habitat, so to speak. Let us see them happy for a little bit. Let us see what “normal” looks like.

One of the great reasons to include at least one scene like that is that it raises the stakes of the story problem.

That's what we want.

If your protagonist goes on a metaphorical date night, where things are calm and good and we can see them relaxing, what does that do for the reader?

Hopefully it immediately sends up a flare: uh-oh, something bad is about to happen.

And also: uh-oh, if the plot isn't resolved in the protagonist's favor, this is what they stand to lose.

The stakes go up.

This is true no matter what genre you're working in—spy thriller, cozy mystery, Regency romance, you name it. Fill in the blank. Giving your character a few pages to relax and get their wits about them lets us see, on the page, not just as narration, what they stand to lose if things don't go well.

But that “date night” scene isn't the plot. It's not the engine. It's the contrast that makes the engine hit harder.

And if the rest of the book is also a date night? If the whole story is just vibes and pleasant conversation and everyone getting along?

Then you don't have “character-driven.” You have “nothing-driven.”

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I had an instructor once tell me: "Make sure your protagonist has a date night."

That's a metaphor, obviously. What this instructor meant was: it's okay—even good—to give your protagonist some downtime on the page. Let us see them loving and being loved. Let us see them in their natural habitat, so to speak. Let us see them happy for a little bit. Let us see what “normal” looks like.

One of the great reasons to include at least one scene like that is that it raises the stakes of the story problem.

That's what we want.

If your protagonist goes on a metaphorical date night, where things are calm and good and we can see them relaxing, what does that do for the reader?

Hopefully it immediately sends up a flare: uh-oh, something bad is about to happen.

And also: uh-oh, if the plot isn't resolved in the protagonist's favor, this is what they stand to lose.

The stakes go up.

This is true no matter what genre you're working in—spy thriller, cozy mystery, Regency romance, you name it. Fill in the blank. Giving your character a few pages to relax and get their wits about them lets us see, on the page, not just as narration, what they stand to lose if things don't go well.

But that “date night” scene isn't the plot. It's not the engine. It's the contrast that makes the engine hit harder.

And if the rest of the book is also a date night? If the whole story is just vibes and pleasant conversation and everyone getting along?

Then you don't have “character-driven.” You have “nothing-driven.”

/*

Get a full year of tips on not just writing, but living the life of an author.

52 emails. 1 email each week.

pxllnk.to/52