Working with Relationship-driven Scenes

As I've covered previously, most successful stories have at least three different types of plotlines, and most commonly they are the external, internal, and relationship plotlines. Often these plotlines overlap, and almost always they interweave, at least to some degree. There are some exceptions to this; for example, you may have a relationship plotline with characters other than the protagonist, and it may even be, basically, a separate story (a topic for another day).

Many of your scenes will likely interweave these plotlines.

A lot of us have learned how to handle the external plotline. The character has a concrete, external goal, and faces antagonism, which leads to conflict. This conflict escalates and escalates in rising action, until eventually the character and antagonist face off in a defining way at the climax, where one or the other comes out the victor (simplistically speaking). Consequences take effect, and we fall into the falling action.

This is (essentially) the plot structure of the external plotline. For the narrative arc. For the acts. And for the scenes. Because story structure is a fractal.

So within an "external" scene, this same thing happens, but in miniature. For example, the narrative arc of The Hunger Games is about Katniss winning the Games--that's her concrete goal. She faces a lot of antagonism, it escalates to the climax, and she succeeds. But within scenes, this same thing happens. In one scene, she's in a tree and must escape the Careers. Her concrete goal is to drop a tracker jacker hive on them to get away. She faces antagonism--it's hard to cut the hive, and of course, she has to deal with the tracker jackers themselves as they sting her. The hive drops, the Careers (another form of antagonism) run away, and Katniss bolts too (until she passes out). Rising action. Climax. Falling Action.

When working with the external plotline, many people like to view the climax as a "victory" or "defeat," or some prefer the terms "success" or "failure." Either the character succeeded in overcoming the antagonist and getting the goal, or she didn't. This is a little simplistic to me, but it can be helpful to keep in mind.

In the internal plotline, the components we are working with are rather abstract, and the antagonist is, at least to some degree, the self. Simplistically speaking, this plotline is the character arc. But most commonly, this plotline interweaves with the external, so its abstract pieces will show up in concrete ways--I won't go into that too much here, but if you want to learn more about the internal plotline, you can read "Working with the Internal Plotline."

And then we get to the relationship plotline, which, unless you write romance, you probably haven't really been taught how to write. Almost no one talks about it in a comprehensive way. This is a gap in the writing community I am working to fill.

Thus today's post.

The relationship plotline can feel surprisingly elusive and strange at times, because it actually, in some sense, exists between these other two. It's not as concrete as the external plotline, but it's not as abstract as the internal plotline. Because it's about a relationship arc between two (or more) people, it's somewhat abstract, and it's somewhat concrete.

This isn't always a big deal when writing, because if you aren't writing romance, chances are the relationship plotline you are working with is likely closely interwoven with the external and/or internal plotlines. I guess what I'm saying is, because of the interweave, it's often intuitive to writers how those plotlines are affecting and arcing the relationship.

But what about scenes that are mostly, only about the relationship plotline? A first date? A family reunion? A birthday celebration?

This is where things can sometimes get tricky. Especially when we are working with positive relationships, like lovers, friends, or allies.

While some relationship scenes have no conflict (just as sometimes external plot scenes have no conflict), the reality is, most relationship scenes still need conflict. Often scenes without conflict must be rather short, because they typically can't hold the audience's interest for very long. Often most scenes are more interesting, when they hold at least some conflict.

But, you may be thinking, these characters like each other, and they want to get along and have a good time!

That's fine.

This is when it's helpful for me to make an important pitstop related to conflict.

Conflict doesn't mean there must be shouting matches and flying fists. Conflict does not require anger or violence.

What conflict actually means, is that there is a clash of opposition. The character is running into antagonism.

And like conflict, antagonism is not necessarily an angry, violent, hellbent entity.

The true definition of an antagonist, is something that opposes the protagonist's objective. It's something that creates resistance to the protagonist getting their objective. In this sense, a gust of unruly wind can be an antagonist, a boulder in front of a trail can be an antagonist, your Great Aunt Margaret, who lovingly insists you should get a safe job as a secretary, can be an antagonist.

It's simply whatever creates opposition to the character fulfilling their desires.

Sure there may be a main antagonist in your story, but realistically, any story will have lots and lots of antagonists--and they likely won't all be "bad guys." 

Even in my Hunger Games example, while the society of Panem is the main antagonist, both the Careers and the tracker jackers are antagonists within an act and scene (respectively). The tracker jackers aren't "bad guys"--they are just insects living their lives, not wanting to be bothered by a human, and they happen to have hallucinogenic stings.

Generally speaking, for most scenes, in most stories, you need antagonism and conflict. But this doesn't mean that it always shows up as vicious debates or punching and kicking.

Some stories may be the exception here, literally having little conflict, but you'll likely notice that stories that succeed as those exceptions, have rather short scenes--because again, it's difficult to hold the audience long without conflict. (Or at least tension, which is the potential for conflict to happen.)

The same is true of relationship-driven scenes.

If the scene is going to go longer than a snippet, you likely need some form of antagonism, even if (and perhaps especially if) these characters want to get along.

But first, let's cover the objective in relationships. In the external plotline, we may argue that the values we are working with are "success vs. failure." While we can, to some degree, use these in the relationship plotline, I feel it's more helpful to back up, and see how these values actually translate over into relationships.

When working with relationships, the basic values we are working with are "close vs. distant." Either these characters are drawing closer, or they are becoming more distant. Or, they are maintaining the relationship as is, in which case, the antagonist is going to upset that, by pushing them closer or pulling them apart.

At the climax of the relationship plotline, the characters will ultimately draw closer or become more distant, in a defining way.

These are the relationship objectives your character can have at the most basic level: 

- want to draw closer

- want to create distance

- want to maintain the relationship as is

The antagonist is what is opposing that.

At the basic level, you have three places to pull antagonists from.

- Something outside of the relationship threatens the objective

- Something within the relationship (the other person) threatens the objective

- Something within the character threatens the objective

This creates conflict. Sure, it could be a shouting match, but it could also be the love interest shutting down and going silent when the protagonist is trying to get to know her.

Sometimes it's helpful to frame the objective into something more specific, like "I want George to ask me out" (notice the character wants to draw closer to George). Maybe George also wants to ask her out. But just as she's dropping the hints, the neighbor's dog gets loose and starts yapping and growling at George. The dog is the external antagonist, creating resistance to the objective.

Or maybe the objective is, "I want to avoid George, so he doesn't ask me out" (creating distance). But George wants to approach her to ask her out. So the protagonist is trying to hurry to her car, but George is trying to hurry to her. George is the antagonist.

Or maybe the objective is, "I want to stay professional with George" (maintaining), but the protagonist is starting to find George highly attractive, which evolves the relationship into something more personal. The antagonist is herself.

But it doesn't have to be romantic or even a potentially new relationship. 

It could be something like, "I want my mom to love this present I got her," but Mom just got home from a long work shift and is too tired to be bothered with opening a present. That's conflict.

Also, stakes are still important too. What are the potential consequences of Mom not loving the present? Or of her, in fact, loving the present? Does the protagonist hope the present will help heal an old wound? Or communicate his deepest gratitude that he can't put into words? Usually, the more meaningful the stakes, the better. The stakes are often tied to the goal, and so here, they often boil down to either drawing close, creating distance, or maintaining the relationship. Communicate why that matters, and make sure the stakes are significant--meaning they are big enough to potentially change the trajectory of the relationship or story itself.

Like the external plotline, the climax is when that objective is achieved or not--when the characters definitively draw closer or become more distant (or successfully maintain the relationship as is).

But I'll be honest, with the relationship plotline, this can get surprisingly complicated, because often it is interweaving with the external and internal plotlines.

For example, let's say we have two allies who both want to defeat the main antagonist, but they want to accomplish that in different ways. The protagonist wants to challenge the main antagonist openly. The ally wants to use covert methods to undermine the main antagonist. Within this scene, the protagonist and ally are "antagonists"--they want opposing things. This creates conflict. Maybe they want to stay allies, but this argument is threatening to drive them apart and end their alliance.

See how this is a little more complex to untangle?

Let's add the internal plotline to it. The protagonist believes covert methods are cowardly, and he fears he's already turning into a coward, which is an identity he wants to resist.

So now there are objectives, antagonists, and conflicts of every dimension--external, internal, and relationship--in this single scene.

While it's complex to untangle, I personally find these scenes easier to write, strictly because you have so much to draw from.

But this will likely also be a very intense, tension-filled scene, and we usually can't operate at that level all the time--the audience would get burned out.

We need "quieter" scenes too.

But if they go on very long, they still need an objective, antagonism, and conflict of some kind, usually--that is the important thing to keep in mind.

Let's consider some real examples of relationship-driven scenes.

In Spider-Man 3, Peter has the objective to propose to Mary Jane at a nice restaurant. This scene is almost entirely relationship-focused, though the internal plotline is obviously helping shape it. The antagonism is Peter's own "blindness" to Mary Jane's thoughts, feelings, and current life situation, as well as his own arrogance. He is trying to draw closer to Mary Jane, but in his efforts, he is unwittingly pushing her further away, creating conflict. This escalates until at the climax, Mary Jane walks out. This scene has created distance in the relationship, in a defining way--moving its trajectory from potential marriage, to a potential breakup. So it carries significant ramifications. It also clearly communicates the stakes upfront--the audience knows Peter wants to marry MJ, so what happens at this dinner matters.

This scene is rather tension-filled, and it's all about the relationship.

Let's consider a scene that is less intense.

In Wicked, in "Popular," Elphaba and Galinda are friends now, and they want to be friends. While Elphaba is the true protagonist of the story, Galinda is the true protagonist of this scene--she's the one who holds the main goal and is working toward it, meeting resistance. (As a side note, it's totally okay to have the other character be the "protagonist" in a relationship scene.) Galinda's objective is to teach Elphaba how to be popular, which she considers a great act of service; she wouldn't share her secrets with just anyone, so this is a genuine gesture of friendship. But Elphaba proves difficult to make over. This is the main conflict. There's no real fighting, and little-to-no ill feelings between each other. But there are still obstacles and an escalation that hits a peak when Galinda successfully finds one thing that makes Elphaba look beautiful.

So this is a purely relationship-driven scene, and while these characters want to be in a positive relationship, there is still antagonism and conflict--it's just not the loud, violent, and intense kind. There are also stakes, though in this case, the stakes are a bit more external--if Elphaba does this, she'll be popular instead of looked down on. But there are some relational stakes as well--if she outright rejects Galinda's help, it will likely offend her and create distance.

While Elphaba is ultimately moved and needs some personal space, we see in the very next scene, that this moment has successfully brought them closer, since Elphaba is trying to do what Galinda taught her. 

All in all, the most important things to remember with relationship-driven scenes, are that they still usually need those basic plot elements and that basic structure, even if those components show up in different ways in a relationship. It doesn't matter if the scene is about enemies, rivals, allies, or lovers. You need to look at the scene and find areas of antagonism and conflict that you can utilize. In fact, this is often particularly important when it is about allies, friends, or lovers--because your options for conflict will likely be less obvious, so you'll need to stretch yourself to brainstorm antagonism and conflict.

Remember, you have three basic places to look: outside the relationship itself, the other person in the relationship, or the protagonist's own weaknesses and flaws. One of these areas should help you find something that creates friction.