Something explodes, a bomb, a volcano, emotional tension…but can it be prevented?

So far we’ve looked at Cause & Effect in the sense that it’s a set thing, but is there something your characters could have done to prevent it from happening altogether? In this post, we’re going to look at the magical time travel of hindsight.

As with previous posts in this series, we’ll look at the literal explosions first, and ask a few choice questions to help uncover what could have been changed to affect the story in different ways.

• If a bomb exploded, could they have caught the person or people responsible beforehand? Were there warning signs?
• If there is an infrastructural cause to an explosion, such as a gas leak, could inspections have prevented it? Is there a reason why there weren’t inspections in the past?
• Were warning signs ignored by the people with any authority to do anything about it?
• If the explosion isn’t a once-off event, what can be done by your characters to prevent a repeat?

As far as human actions are concerned, there are things we can do to make changes to prevent an incident. When it comes to nature, we need to look at things a little differently.

• Does the technology exist to predict the explosion?
• Was anything done to alleviate the fallout of the explosion? (e.g. a volcano erupting)
• Did anyone warn about impending disaster?
• Were they ignored? If yes, why?
• Is the character unreliable? Do they have a backstory that marred their reputation?
• Are those with the power to act unwilling to put resources into making change?

When it comes to genre fiction, we can see a lot of opportunity for predicting disasters and making changes. Whether you want to introduce time travel into your narrative, or substitute ‘something explodes’ for ‘a kaiju arrives at Tokyo’, we can examine a growing number of ways to turn the card into more than just an explosion, and treat prevention as a matter of changing the past instead of the future.

How about emotional explosions? Most arguments are avoidable. Answer the questions below to explore how an emotional explosion might be prevented.

• Is someone overstepping boundaries?
• Are people purposely using language that they know will be hurtful?
• Are people putting their own needs ahead of the other characters?
• If both characters know the intent of the other involved, does that make things better or worse?
• How much of what your characters are arguing about is a result of something that happened recently, and how much is a result of long-term tension building?
• Is there a dominant person in the relationship? Have they used their position in the relationship to overshadow the other person?

There are many more ways to look at this, from positive and negatives points of view. Emotional explosions are often the result of someone containing something for too long, whether it’s hope or sadness, regret, expectation or a grudge.

The key thing to look at it is how to use the long-term relationship between characters, and individuals’ personal histories, to influence how a narrative plays out. This can also affect man-made explosions, and cases of people ignoring the evidence in front of them that would otherwise prevent an explosion. Personal biases and undisclosed histories from before a story begins can be used to alter the plot of your story, and help determine whether something could have been avoided.

In previous posts, we’ve explored literal and emotional explosions, dire consequences and Cause & Effect, and I promised we’d explore that more as the expansion of the ‘Something Explodes’ card continues.

When discussing Cause & Effect, and specifically when focusing on something so charged as an explosion, one question must be asked that, unfortunately, rings through the news on a regular basis: is it political?

Without getting too deep into current affairs, the political nature of an explosion, literal or emotional, can have a rolling effect on the entire story, and can inspire the origins of a much wider plot than you originally attempted to write about.

In this post, we’ll look at the multiple ways of writing politics.

The first thing most people might think of is extremism, so we’ll start there, and ask a few keys questions:

• Is the political position in opposition to how your protagonist feels?
• Is your protagonist affected by the explosion?
• Does the explosion take place near your protagonist (e.g. in their hometown, or the place they’re living) or is it a faraway experience that drives conversation and controversy?
• Is the political movement old, or is it a new level of extremism?

Answering those questions can help uncover a number of major plot points for your story, and guide the emotional fallout of the explosion for the rest of the narrative arc.

Another point you might want to look at with regards to politics and explosions: is there a political rally occurring in your story? If the plot, or a subplot, centres around an election or a dictatorship, how would an explosion disrupt one side’s attempts to gain popularity, or increase the notoriety of the marginalised position? Further questions you might want to ask:

• Is your protagonist on the marginalised side of the political debate?
• Is the explosion designed to injure or to inspire terror?
• Who orchestrated the explosion?
• Who benefits from the explosion?
• What does the fallout of the explosion look like for all parties involved?

With those questions asked, we can move on from the literal explosions that centre around politics, and move onto emotional explosions.

During elections, emotions are raised. Families can argue. Neighbours can fight. Use the following questions to help guide the emotional stakes of a political event in your story:

• Is your protagonist at odds with their family, friends, neighbours or co-workers?
• How is the general public acting against controversy? Are there protests? Are they peaceful?
• How is your protagonist involved in the politics?
• What is on the line that has caused emotions to get raised? (Some examples from recent history: voting rights, abortion, divorce, legalising drugs, marriage rights.)
• What can your protagonist do to escape the political drama?

Whether we like it or not, politics are a major aspects of our daily lives. We don’t need literal explosions in faraway regions of the world to inspire debate and discussion, and we don’t always need controversy to get riled up. Remembering to write about the political background of your story can be a game changer in making your world-building more believable and engaging.

And, if you really need the push, a political event can shift the entire focus of your story and raise the stakes of your plot from something that affects your protagonist to something that affects their entire city, country, or world.