#Wickham Road IV

[the-home]

[danfanciesphil]

I disagree with you slightly. I do believe that tension is important to drive stories forward, but tension does not equal angst. You can have action and conflict without dipping into angst. And also, one example of angst-free multi chaptered fics are fics that explore the development of a relationship. Maybe not the longest out there, but friends-to-lovers and slow-burns are entire genres of fanfiction.

they all have angst! they do i promise!! friends to lovers will have a dip in the middle which is angsty, it makes the resolution sweeter. 

honestly, i would call the fic im writing now the closest i have ever gotten to non-angst lmao. it’s barely got any, it’s just the smidgen it needs to make it interesting. it just wouldn’t be a story without any worry for the characters. 

im gonna prove this to you with some technical stuff now because im a writing nerd and ive studied story-writing for years. 

I use the following two structures when planning my writing: 

or

Depending on the complexity of the story, and the direction I want to take it, I will pick the structure that fits best. In the first, you can see that the tension rises to a mid point, then hits an all time high, then falls back to a reasonable level. This is what I did with Birthday Sex (though in that fic the climax happens a little earlier on than pictured. Hint: the climax is dan’s dramatic hospitalisation). 

For L’Histoire Française, I used the second structure. 

In this one, there is virtually no tension, and instead there are ‘pinch points’ along the way which serve as things to keep the reader’s interest (Jonah, John interrupting them, Phil’s flirtatious comments). The climax comes near the very end in this structure. It serves a purpose to pull the rug out from under the reader’s comprehension of the story (briefly) in order to surprise them and draw them out of their complacency. if the story turns dramatically (good to bad) then the reader will pretty much always want to read on to see it resolve itself.  Pinch points and climaxes are different things. Pinch points are the little blips of excitement that keep the pages turning. The climax is a necessary focal point of the story, without which, it would have no narrative, no point, no satisfying conclusion. 

Let’s take a random example of a popular love story. I’m going to use Pride and Prejudice. 

It takes the first structure, but the point still applies. 

Act One- Lizzie lives with her family in a poor-ish household- Inciting incident: she goes to a ball and meets mr darcy/thinks he’s handsome- Second thoughts: he’s a prick, calls her a name and she’s like... hell nah. - Climax of Act One: Jane gets sick at Mr Bingley’s house- Obstacle: Lizzie is forced to spend time with Mr Darcy- Obstacle: Mr Collins conundrumAct Two- Midpoint (big twist): Mr Bingley dumps Jane- Obstacle: Mr Collins marries Charlotte- Disaster: Kitty runs off with Mr Wickham- Crisis: Mr Darcy runs off to find themAct ThreeCLIMAX OF STORY- Mr Darcy fuckin proposes and Lizzie wrings him out to dry- She realises he broke up Mr Bingley and Jane out of concern & paid for Kitty’s wedding- She realises he’s a cool dude and falls in love- End: he re proposes, she says yes. 

Now, that’s simplified obvs, but without that motherfuckin proposal and rejection, do you see how tame the story would be? Nobody would consider a novel that was just about a headstrong woman and a grumpy dude falling for each other with a few bumps in the road as one of the greatest love stories of all time. Stories need the angst. 

Other examples: Cinderella (the angsty climax is her stepfolk locking her up after the ball so the prince wont find her). Snow White (she dies and the prince has to save her). Stardust (she thinks he leaves to go back to his original love and she almost dies as a result). 

I’m having a really hard time coming up with classic love stories that have happy endings to use as examples lol, but there are some. I dont mean to go on at anyone about this, i just feel very strongly haha. Anyway, that’s my opinion on it, and that’s what I’ve spent years learning and perfecting.