I’ve described how from the beginning of our story until the very end our character is trapped in a cycle or wanting something, being presented by an obstacle that prevents them getting what they want, taking an action that risks something important to them, and then either succeeding or failing depending on how they handle their flaws.

In the last exercise we worked on writing the impact of failure to achieve what they want (they can make progress, by the by – the should make some sort of progress – but ultimate success has to wait until the last pages of the book). So how do we get from their to the next cycle of want/obstacle/action?

So, we have a conflict (want vs obstacle), an action (driven by a flaw or an attempt to overcome a flaw), and now we need a resolution.

The principal purpose of the resolution is to show the emotional consequences of the character’s flaws being challenged. Remember, a flaw is essentially a harmful world view – and learning that the world is not the way you think it is can easily be one of the most painful things you will ever experience.

Around the middle of the story, you’ll have a crisis point where your protagonist realises that they are at least partially responsible for making things work and attempts to change to overcome the antagonist. This does not, however, stop the character flaws from driving their course of action – the only difference is now they are driven by the attempt to overcome their flaws, rather than in ignorance of them.

In the last lesson we introduced the cycle of conflict, action, and resolution. This cycle begins when the character’s disappointed, ordinary life is first disrupted and continues until the moment when the book ends in success or failure.