まろ's writing classroom: Lesson 4 [Preparation homework] Creating conflict (Part 2)

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The author of this article まろ is the author of the light novel “Southern Cross”. He hopes to use his own experience to help more friends write good stories. Thank you for authorizing the “Content Hacker” website to reprint it. Thank you hereby. It is recommended that you read the previous article [Lesson 4: Creating Conflict (Part 2) - Character Psychological Analysis] (click to read) before reading this article. This article is not an academic paper. If the theorem interpretation is incomplete, please forgive me and write to maro.huang@hukaka.com for guidance.

In the process of pursuing desires and beliefs, the characters conflict with their surroundings, which is actually the core of the play.

Recently, netizens have been asking me about “how to write good novels”. Therefore, I organized my experience in writing light novels into 34 themes, divided into three stages: [Preparation Assignment], [Plot Process] and [Writing Management].

Whether you want to write a novel, a biography, or a business history, these articles can help. No matter what your writing level is, I will guide you through the two stages of [preparation] and [plot flow] to complete a piece of work, so start right away!

Academic theory is an auxiliary to observation, for the sake of efficiency in creation and breakthrough of the creator’s own vision.

After experiencing the previous article [Creative Conflict (Part 2) - Character Psychological Analysis], you already know how to use [“Iceberg Theory”](https://baike.baid u.com/item/%E5%86%B0%E5%B1%B1%E7%90%86%E8%AE%BA) and “Behavior Pattern” to construct the character’s emotions and past. However, “Psychological Defense Mechanism”, “Feedback Effect”, [“Loss Aversion”](https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki /%E6%8D%9F%E5%A4%B1%E8%A7%84%E9%81%BF), “Game Theory”, “Bess Theorem” and other theories may make friends question “Creation should be an unconstrained process, right?”

To be honest, I once believed this sentence completely. But now, I think this is at most 1/3 fact. You don’t have to copy all the theories in your work. This is just like you don’t need to use all the kitchen utensils to make a dish, but as a chef, you must know how to use all the necessary kitchen utensils. In simpler terms, the reason for learning theory is:

Don’t make all the characters look like the same person, that is, don’t all look like you.

We used the probability theory “Baye’s Theorem” to attend the meeting “Financial Statements” to write a demonstration story “Love Guarantee Class”. Usually stories of the same scale do not require special use of academic theory, but through this exercise, we can know how to steadily push towards the skill ceiling.

Our protagonist is a man who is unable to have a stable job due to constant emotional frustration and currently relies on odd jobs to make a living. One day he saw an advertisement for the “Love Guaranteed Class” dating center on the Internet, claiming that as long as he completed the psychological test, he would be able to help find a date, so he took the online test and started this story…

“Hello, Mr. Ma. Nice to meet you. I am your relationship consultant Xiaohe.” In the spacious and bright lobby of the dating center, the man sitting on the sofa in the corner looked up and glanced at the woman named Xiaohe. Xiaohe’s appearance is very ordinary. She is the kind of girl who will not be noticed at all on the street, but she has a gentle and friendly smile.

“Ah…yes, hello.” The man paused before answering. Xiaohe nodded and sat down with a smile.

“Thank you very much for choosing our company’s services. Let’s get to the point. We made the assessment based on the structure of the financial statements. What you need to improve most is stability, mainly because you don’t have a stable job; the second is profitability, because all the female friends I know say that dealing with you is very stressful. The good news is that in terms of growth, we think you have great potential because you have a high degree of compliance with psychological tests; and in terms of effectiveness, your past job salary was good, and general living expenses should not be a big burden for you.”

“Oh…” Even though Xiaohe’s tone was gentle, the man still looked like he was being asked to review. “Don’t worry.” Xiaohe smiled. “I will help you arrange an appropriate lecture first and communicate with you after the lecture.” Xiao He, who smiled softly, was like a warm current quietly entering the man’s heart.

※

“Congratulations, it seems that the work is going very smoothly. Oops, I just noticed now, have you cut your hair?” Today is the day to go back to the Dating Center to communicate. The man has been working hard at his new job for two months, and Xiaohe looks happier than him.

“My colleagues are all very nice. Following the lecture’s advice, I am now more able to let go of other people’s unintentional jokes.” The man said so. “That’s good. I think the stability has improved a lot, and the profitability should also improve a bit.” Xiaohe tilted his head gently, thought for a moment and then said, “Then do you think there is any aspect that you particularly want to improve next?”

”…” Xiao He just finished speaking, and the man’s head collapsed as if he had lost his support. “What’s wrong? Mr. Ma?” This move made Xiaohe a little stunned.

“Can you accompany me… to choose clothes? Female colleagues said…” The hesitating man only dared to sneak a glance at Xiaohe’s expression. “Yeah… sure. Although this is not the main goal now, it means that your growth has also improved.” Xiaohe smiled brightly and said, “Let’s go this weekend, I happen to be free.” But she didn’t notice that there seemed to be other thoughts in the man’s awkward smile.

※

“That’s why I said all the dating centers are lies! What about ‘guaranteed dating’!” The man angrily sat down on the sofa in the corridor of the conversation area of the dating center. It had been four months since he came to the Dating Center, and he had just set a three-game losing streak.

”…I found you. Mr. Ma, how could you rush out without even talking to me!” Xiaohe, who finally found the man, had a worried expression on his face and tried to calm down his heartbeat that was so anxious to find someone.

“That woman is just looking for trouble! She’s always picky.” The man still complained to himself. “It doesn’t matter, let’s just keep working hard. You’ve made a lot of progress during this time, haven’t you?” Xiaohe tried to calm down the man’s anger with a smile, but it was of no use.

“Speaking of this…what kind of analysis! It’s just talk on paper! Then let me ask you, as a relationship consultant, you must also have a boyfriend! Otherwise, what else can you teach others?” The man who had lost control of his emotions asked Xiaohe forcefully.

”…No.” Xiaohe’s lips trembled, and she turned her head silently and whispered, “I don’t have a boyfriend.” “So! Why do you want to be a consultant!?” This sentence made the corner of Xiaohe’s mouth twitch.

“Okay! Even if you don’t believe in my expertise! Is it worthless that I have been with you and solved so many problems in the past few months?” Xiaohe, who was shaking all over, slapped the cement wall beside him. There were tears in her eyes, as if saying, “Does it mean that all my efforts are worthless?”

“That…I…” “If you want to terminate the contract, then terminate it!” Xiaohe turned around, “Otherwise, cheer up! There will be another meeting next week!” ”…I’m sorry.” Just as Xiaohe started to leave, faint words came from behind. She turned around and saw the man standing in front of the sofa with an apologetic expression.

“Can you please… don’t give up on me?” The man, who seemed to have regained his composure, said humbly. ”…Sigh.” Xiao He gently closed his eyes and sighed. “I’m going to buy a cup of coffee and I’ll be back. We have to do an analysis and review together later… I’ll bring you a cup. Wait for me here.” After finishing speaking, Xiaohe turned and left. The light steps seemed to say something, and she let go of the big stone in her heart.

※

“Dangdang! I told you that you will definitely meet someone who appreciates you!” Xiaohe happily jumped up and down beside the man. The two people who had just finished their fifth conversation were walking in the corridor of the dating center. Xiaohe was so happy that he almost flew into the air. ”…Well, the other party just agreed to go to the movies together. It’s not that exaggerated.” The man said with a bitter smile.

“That’s not what you said.” Xiaohe jumped in front of the man, paused for a while and said, “Do you think girls will just agree to go out with others? This is already a big improvement.” “That’s it…” For some reason, the man’s tone when he said this was particularly deep. “Okay. When are you free recently? I’ll confirm the time with the other party’s advisor.” Just when Xiaohe took out his calendar and pen from his bag, turned around and was about to walk forward…

“I think it’s better not to go.”

Xiaohe, who was stiff because of too much surprise, slowly turned around.

“Aren’t you going?” “Yeah.” The man’s eyes seemed serious when he replied. “Are you kidding me? You finally got a chance to get a girlfriend, and she’s a girl with such good conditions?” Xiaohe frowned, wondering what was wrong with the man to give up such a good opportunity.

”…Maybe to you, I am just a customer, someone you evaluate data against.” When the man said these words, Xiaohe’s expression was bitter and reluctant. The usually noisy dating center seemed as quiet as the two of them alone, and their breathing became heavy and clear.

“Thank you for your help during this time, and… I like you.” ”…….” Xiaohe, with tears in his eyes, suppressed his trembling lips. The calendar and pen in his hand fell to the ground with a crisp sound. What fell next were silent tears.

She turned her head away in panic, wiping away the tears that streaked her pink cheeks. After taking a deep breath, he showed a bright smile…

Okay, that’s it for the demonstration. In this short story, two reference academic theories are used to complete the direction and trajectory of the character’s growth for us. This is how it is applied in practice. (By the way, there is such an article in Pan Science “Additional points and deductions for lovers, please abide by Bayes’ theorem”)

If it weren’t for “Life is a calculation!” 》 This is a book about mate selection based on accounting. I probably would not regard [profitability] and [efficiency] as part of love. But I think some people will, and this is how I surpass myself through theory.

In our daily lives, we are affected by “Survivor Bias”, which results in our inability to see the truth outside our field of vision. Therefore, academic theories that have been tested over time are a good tool for us. The first is psychology, followed by philosophy. If you still have some spare energy, theories such as logic, statistics, and sociology are also very useful.

Freud’s 18 “Psychological Defense Mechanisms”, it is recommended that you must understand it, because when your character encounters a conflict, you will definitely use it. In the teachings of Jung, [[Shadow]](https://zh.wikipedia.or g/wiki/%E5%BF%83%E7%90%86%E9%99%B0%E5%BD%B1) has become more and more important in recent works. Simply put, it is the dark side of heroes. When a hero finally succeeds for the first time, he will soon be corrupted by power and desire, and the more powerful the hero, the more corrupt he is.

Maybe you have noticed that movies in recent years often have plots where heroes fall. I think this is the charm of [Shadow]. The most famous character of this type should be [Darth Vader from “Star Wars”](https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E9%81%94%E6%96%AF%C2%B7%E7%B6%AD%E9% 81%94), Two-Face of “Batman”, all fell from heroes to super villains.

Relying on the teachings of Freud and Jung, I believe you can handle the character’s dilemma very well. This is important because the purpose of the play is to push the characters into dilemmas. To be more precise, all the main and secondary characters and events are designed to push the main character into a dilemma.

And more importantly, as an author, you must first push the characters into a dilemma, and then take them out of the dilemma. This is very difficult, so we must first have a solid premise as a direction, and find all theoretically feasible methods in this direction. Some methods may exceed the author’s personal experience, so other theories are needed to supplement it. As for bringing the character out of the dilemma, he would use [Adler’s “Individual Psychology”](https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E9%98%BF%E5%B0%94%E5%BC%97%E9%9B%B7%E5%BE%B7%C2%B7%E9%98%BF%E5%BE%B7%E5%8B %92) and Kohlberg’s “Levels of Moral Judgment”, which will be explained in detail in subsequent units.

Really, if you create a random character that doesn’t create a dilemma for the main character, he will naturally fade from the story and have no value in existing. A story without dilemmas will make people feel boring; if a dilemma arises but cannot be resolved, it will be unfinished. There is also a special situation that seems to have brought the character out of the dilemma, but it is not settled. This is [suspense], which is often seen in open endings and end credits of movies.

In the “Love Guarantee Class” just now, you should have seen the “suspense” of the ending and the “foreshadowing” hidden in the second, third and fourth paragraphs. You can regard these two dramatization techniques as previews of large-scale conflicts, which we will explain in detail in subsequent units.

I sincerely suggest that as a creator, you should keep learning with an open mind and not just rely on personal experience. Just like eating for a lifetime does not mean you can cook. The topic of conflict is very broad and has many aspects worthy of discussion.

The next article [Lesson 4: Creating Conflict (Supplement) - Playwriting Case Reference] (click to read) will share how to create conflict in my favorite works. See you next time.

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Further reading

• Misaki’s Writing Classroom: Lesson 4 [Preparation Homework] Creating Conflict (Part 2)
• まろ’s Writing Classroom: Lesson 5 [Preparation Assignment] Elements and World View (Part 1)
• まろ’s Writing Classroom: Lesson 4 [Preparation Assignment] Creating Conflict (Supplement)

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