Free Getting Into Character: Seven Secrets a Novelist Can Learn From Actors by Brandilyn Collins Page A

a family, but wanted the money for his own gain, not theirs. We wouldn’t like him. Nor would we understand his poor choices. We’d just think he was an idiot, deserving everything he gets. But a Desire that involves the well-being of a loved one, especially a child, is a different matter.
     
     
    The Third D: Denial
     
    The third D is the Denial of your character’s Desire. The Distancing conflicts have built up to such a degree that all now appears hopeless. Tension and suspense are at their peak. No matter how hard your character has tried, how much he has hoped, he now faces the worst conflict of all, which brings a terrible realization—he just might not attain his Desire at all.
    The Denial occurs at the time of your story often called the “crisis.” It is nearing the end of your novel. Usually it takes place in one pivotal scene. Sometimes a quick sequence of scenes forms the Denial.
     
     
     

     
     
    Example of Denial
     
Kino, along with his wife and baby, set out on their journey to sell the pearl. They leave at night, trying to hide from all who would steal their treasure. They travel all night, then take cover and sleep most of the day. As they’re preparing to walk again, Kino discovers three men are following them. Kino decides they should hurry up a mountain to elude their pursuers. They hide in a cave.
The three men catch up with Kino and his family, making camp near the cave. During the night Kino decides he has to attack the men to save his family. Just as he prepares to attack, Coyotito lets out a cry, alerting the three men of their presence. One of the men fires his rifle. The once-peaceful Kino falls upon the men in a violet attack. This is it for Kino. If he—one man against three with guns—doesn’t win this battle, all is lost.
     
    At the Denial stage, just when all seems lost, in stories with happy endings the character somehow manages to turn things around, pushing aside the Denial and once again aiming himself toward his desired path. However, the most exciting plots add a final zinger before the character man- ages to overcome the opposition. That leads us to the final D.
     
     
    The Fourth D: Devastation
     
    The Devastation suddenly twists the fate of the character from mere Denial of his Desire (as if that wasn’t bad enough) to an outcome so terrible, so devastating , that he hadn’t even imagined it. This occurrence shoves the character so far off course he’s worse than when he started. A Devastation serves as a final “gotcha” for the readers. Just when they think things couldn’t possibly get worse—they do.
     
     

     
     
    As exciting as a Devastation can be, some stories simply can’t include them because of certain constraints. A novella, for example, may lack the word length needed for this final twist. ( The Pearl , a short novel of about 100 pages, does include one. But the Devastation comes immediately after the Denial.)Or a romance may not want to take the conflict this far.
    In my novels, both suspense and contemporary, I usually include a Devastation. In my Seatbelt Suspense® novels, which are known for their twists, the Devastation often provides the final, strongest twist. At that point my protagonists face the worst conflict yet. Still, since my novels turn out with generally positive endings (although there’s a price to pay for all that happens along the way), the character does finally manage to overcome. In the case of a tragedy, as with Steinbeck’s The Pearl , the protagonist is left defeated.
     
    Example of Devastation
     
In the Denial,Kino begins a fight to the death with the three men. He manages to overcome them all. Grabbing one of their rifles, he shoots the last man. Kino revels in the following silence—until he hears a blood-curdling scream from his wife. Running back to his family, Kino realizes the first wild gunshot from one of the men has hit and killed Coyotito.
From this Devastation there is no fighting back. No final