In a post on Writers Helping Writers, Angela Ackerman says strong stories require you to force your characters to make hard choices. “When we make choices a bit more complex, they go beyond black-and-white options, which creates tension and potentially painful consequences,” she says. Ackerman examines nine types of choices your characters may need to make.
- Minor – Choices about simple day to day activities, with no real stakes
- Win-Win – A great option, but rarely given. “Win-wins are conflict killers, so if you use one, make sure it comes with some unforeseen price tag attached to it,” Ackerman says.
- Win-Lose – One good option, one bad. In such cases, your character might win and his enemy lose. That’s a happy ending. However, if your character’s best friend is the loser, you’ve got a much more difficult choice on your hands.
- Dilemmas – No matter which choice is made, the outcome will be painful. “These choices often come down to what the character is willing to sacrifice and for how long,” Ackerman writes.
- Hobson’s Choice – a choice to accept something you don’t want, but is better than nothing.
- Sophie’s Choice – As in the book and film, a choice between two equally horrible outcomes.
- Morton’s Fork – When multiple choices lead to the same end.
- Moral – When your character has to choose between two moral beliefs. In The Crucible, Elizabeth Proctor must choose between telling the truth or lying to protect her husband, John.
- Do Something or Nothing – When your character has a choice to act or not act. While your character may not be immediately affected by the choice, there is often a hidden cost.
