The four stages of character reaction
At its most basic level, a story is just an ongoing cycle of things happening, then people reacting to those things. This is an oversimplification, but it’s not incorrect. A story consisting of nothing but things happening would be exhausting, and its counterpart would put you to sleep. By ‘things happening’ I mean any incident—no matter how small—that could provoke a response. It could be grand in scale like a World War II tank battle, or relatively minor such as a snide comment from a colleague. The point is this: something happened and was reacted to.
This is not a new idea. Some authors call these action scenes and reaction scenes. Others refer to them as scenes and sequels. What they’re called doesn’t matter; what matters is that they flow smoothly, happen in the right order, and are believable.
Reaction scenes can be the most difficult to write. They tend to be introspective and inert, and therefore uninteresting. But, like most difficult things, they are really*really really important. A character’s reaction can reveal a lot about them to your readers, often more than the preceding action scene. Action scenes full of gun fights or zippy one-liners can make us interested in a character, but how they respond to things makes us care.
So how do we create the most believable reaction possible? By recognising that there are four basic things people do once an event is over and they have a moment to breathe. A character will (in this—and only this—order):
respond emotionally
respond logically
consider the future
make a decision.
Does this happen every time? Absolutely.
In that order? Oh, my yes.
Can I change that order? Goodness gracious no.*You can, however, limit a step to a single sentence (or even word) if it makes the most sense.
Let’s go through these one at a time. For this example, our action scene featured a young mother, Chelsea, discovering that her partner is having an affair with a co-worker.
1. Emotion
First, the emotion hits. Chelsea has lots of options here: shock, rage, depression, humiliation … She (or rather, her author) chooses depression, and goes empty and numb. Her stomach drops, she slides down the wall, and stares blankly at a wilted flower on the mantel (clichéd, I know, but pretend it’s a first draft). Time passes, and the numbness gives way to sobbing and shaking. She’s curled up on the floor, her chest heaving in anguish.
Eventually she stops and drags herself to the couch. Chelsea now enters the realm of …
2. Logic
Once the raw emotion has run its course, Chelsea thinks more rationally: she’ll review the situation and consider why it happened. While sitting on the couch she wonders if the affair was her fault. Was she not an attentive enough partner? Had she let herself go? She wonders what she could have done to avoid it. Spent more time at the gym? Worn sexier clothes? She wonders how the affair began in the first place. Was it a random hook-up at the bar? Was it a fresh-faced graduate on her first day of work?
During this stage something may occur to her that changes the trajectory of her thought process. Perhaps she starts piecing together seemingly innocent clues about his behaviour. She realises that the affair must have been going on since she gave birth to their daughter. Her partner had been staying late at work because he was so tired from the baby that his work was slowing down. The fiend lied in order to spend time with his new woman. It wasn’t her fault at all!
3. Future
Eventually, Chelsea will finish thinking about what has happened, and start thinking about the future. What is she going to do next? What are her options? She could pretend the affair never happened; maybe she’s frightened of confronting him, or of it affecting their child. She could have an affair of her own—there is that cute guy who works at her favourite café … She could lay a trap so that his friends and family discover the affair. She could befriend his new lover! Plot her murder! Set fire to the building they work in!
The point is this: there are unlimited possibilities for future action. Think about the ones that your character would consider. Or add a little dramatic irony and have them not even spot the most obvious choice.
This step is possibly the most important of the four, so don’t go easy on it.
4. Decision
Once the options have been gone through, your character needs to make a decision. What are they actually going to do? Or at the very least, what do they think they will do? Will the choice be based more on emotion or logic? Is that choice going to create drama and put your protagonist in a worse situation? Hopefully.
Chelsea is already overwhelmed with the responsibilities of motherhood, the skeezy shift manager at work, and the money she owes her sister. She was already about to snap, and figures there's no time like the present. Her decision is this: full-scale, guerrilla-style emotional war. Is that a smart choice? Heck, no! It’s the worst move she could make. A lot of people are going to get hurt, none more so than herself. But man will it be an entertaining read.
Putting it all together
Knowing how these stages work is half the battle. The other half is being able to apply them. You must ask yourself: how will my character work through them? Perhaps, like our Chelsea, it’s all contained within internal monologue and dramatic flailing. If you want another character to join in on the fun, have them present for the catalysing event, or just pop around for a cup of tea afterwards. Or, depending on your mood, they could run into the streets screaming their thoughts to anybody not freaked out enough to listen.
The amount of attention you give each step depends on your genre and characters. A murder mystery will generally favour Logic over Emotion. A romance will do the opposite. Thriller and horror will focus on Future. Miss Piggy will hit Emotion hard, leap right over Logic and Future, and dive into Decision (usually karate-chopping Kermit in the stomach).
A word of caution: don’t let this interfere with your first draft. In the same way that your first draft should ignore grammar, spelling, and personal hygiene, so too should it ignore The Four Stages of Reaction. Worry about that stuff once you’re happy with the big-picture view of your story. When your editor says your book has pacing issues, chances are they’re due to a problem with these stages. Does your story feel rushed? Beef up the emotional and logical stages. Too slow? Do the opposite.
The handling of these stages plays a huge role in pacing your story. Don’t ignore them, or treat them lightly. Remember what I said at the start, what a character does makes us interested in them, but how they respond to things makes us care.
(And to those who say that art has no rules: these aren’t rules. This is just how human beings*And anthropomorphic pigs. deal with stuff.)
As always,
Happy writing.
