• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Home
  • About
    • About WHW
    • Press Kit
    • Resident Writing Coaches
    • Contact Us
    • Podcasts & Interviews
    • Master Storytelling Newsletter
    • Guest Post Guidelines
    • Privacy Policy
    • Charities & Support
  • Bookstore
    • Bookstore
    • Foreign Editions
    • Book Reviews
    • Free Thesaurus Sampler
  • Blog
  • Software
  • Workshops
  • Resources
    • List of Resources
    • Recommended Writing Books
    • WHW Descriptive Thesaurus Collection
    • Free Tools & Worksheets
    • Grab A Free Show-Dont-Tell Pro Pack
  • WRITERS HELPING WRITERS®
  • Nav Social Menu

    • Email
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
    • Twitter
WRITERS HELPING WRITERS®

WRITERS HELPING WRITERS®

Helping writers become bestselling authors

Frustration: Your Novel’s Best Friend

September 12, 2011 by BECCA PUGLISI

medium_3161747118You’re thinking that title must be a typo, aren’t you? It isn’t, I promise. 🙂 Frustration is awesome.

Sure, as writers, we want NOTHING to do with this emotion. Between manuscripts returning from critique partners with their guts ripped out to agent form rejections to a book review that compares our writing skill to that of a lobotomized hamster, frustration awaits at every turn.

We develop coping strategies to avoid it: pep talks before opening email. Chugging Diet Dr. Pepper by the six pack. Sucking on the sweet innards of M&Ms, pretending each one contains a Muse’s orphan tears and gives us writing superpowers. *coughs* What, you don’t do that? Erm, yeah….me neither.

So, on the keyboard side of things, frustration sucks. But on the page? MAGIC.

Frustration–that hair-pulling, chair-kicking delight–is what drives our novel. It juices our plot, makes our characters twitchy and unfulfilled, and glues the reader to the page. Keeping characters from their goals creates Frustration (AKA Tension, the Heartbeat of a story).

So while WE try to avoid this emotion, it’s important we make sure our CHARACTERS don’t.  In this state a character reveals who they really are. Frustration is emotional GOLD, forcing them to ACT, which pushes the story forward.

Of course, no two people express their Frustration the same way, and neither should characters. Understanding their Emotional Range (how they express emotion and to what degree) is key to creating believable emotion.

When up against a wall, a character might:

Retreat inward
Run from the problem
Try to manipulate/influence
Give up
Get angry
Vent out loud
Cry
React with violence
Feel depressed
Lay blame
Seek revenge
Take out anger on others
Berate themselves
Ask for help
Analyze what happened in hopes of understanding
Fall into a bottle, feed an addiction, drink orphan tears
Act like it doesn’t matter
Bounce back & try again

Do Reactions Fit the Character? 

A hardened criminal character isn’t going to ask for help or have himself a weepy moment. A skittish, shy teen isn’t about to rant and rave in the middle of the school, and I doubt a Kindergarten teacher would whip out her AK-47 to get her rage on. These things don’t belong in their Emotional Range.

Who our characters are at their core–their values, their sense of self, their confidence levels and insecurities–dictate how they behave. The hardened criminal is gonna get himself some revenge. The timid teen might blame himself or simply retreat inward. Our Kindergarten teacher would rethink the situation and maybe ask for help. Or jump back in because of the try, try again conditioning she promotes in the classroom. These reactions fit their personality types and so are believable to the reader.

Responses to frustration must evolve as the stakes raise, but stay within a logical range. Just like a thermometer, a character’s reactions become more and more extreme as the novel progresses until the frustration causes them to explode. But, depending on the character, that explosion will come across differently. The teen might grow frustrated enough to break his silence and open up about what’s happening. The criminal may become so blinded by revenge that he takes ludicrous risks, putting his freedom in peril. The teacher could sweep everything off her desk or even quit her job.  In each case, the reaction is extreme, but remains believable because it stays inside that character’s Emotional Range.

So the next time you’re frustrated as a writer, sit your butt in front of the keyboard and write. Pass it on to your characters and your book will thank you for it. 🙂

NEED SOME TIPS ON HOW TO SHOW FRUSTRATED BODY LANGUAGE? CHECK OUT THIS EMOTION THESAURUS ENTRY!

photo credit: Melissa O’Donohue via photopin cc
BECCA PUGLISI
BECCA PUGLISI

Becca Puglisi is an international speaker, writing coach, and bestselling author of The Emotion Thesaurus and its sequels. Her books are available in five languages, are sourced by US universities, and are used by novelists, screenwriters, editors, and psychologists around the world. She is passionate about learning and sharing her knowledge with others through her Writers Helping Writers blog and via One Stop For Writers—a powerhouse online library created to help writers elevate their storytelling.

Share this:

  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Tumblr (Opens in new window)
  • Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window)
  • More
  • Click to print (Opens in new window)

Related

Filed Under: Characters, Emotion, Tension

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Jessica M says

    September 23, 2011 at 10:51 am

    Great post, thanks for this because I’ve quite had it with my story. Now I’ll see how injecting some of that frustration into there livens things up for me! Love the pictures, by the way.

  2. Eve S Nicholson says

    September 16, 2011 at 1:53 pm

    I love creating the frustration! What fun is a good ending if you aren’t jonesing for it?

  3. catherinemjohnson.wordpress.com says

    September 14, 2011 at 3:08 pm

    Fantastic post Angela. I hope I have given enough frustration to my shy pre-teen. She is stronger than I meant her to be but does have a crying session, so I hope I have balanced it.

  4. Joan Strading says

    September 14, 2011 at 1:25 pm

    I love this! Not only did I learn I’m eating M&M’s wrong (no one else ever told me they contained the orphan tears of Muses), but I now know what to do with my frustration!!

    I’ll offer myself as a beta when the time comes (almost sounds like I’m a human sacrifice LOL). The thesauri have helped my writing in more ways that I can express . . . though I could if I consult the ET (meaning emotional thesaurus, not extra terrestrial, of course). =D

  5. Gail Shepherd says

    September 14, 2011 at 12:56 pm

    @Stina, that is really funny. I sort of feel like that a lot of the time.

  6. Cynthia Chapman Willis says

    September 14, 2011 at 12:15 pm

    It’s so true that we try to avoid those nasty feelings of frustration (as if we can). Yet, as writers, we need to tap into these feelings and infuse them into our characters. As always, a fabulous post!

  7. Sara B. says

    September 14, 2011 at 1:02 am

    Awesome post! Helpful tips *plus* now I understand why I was inhaling the M&Ms today. Orphan tears. LOVE.

  8. Elle Strauss says

    September 13, 2011 at 5:10 pm

    Awesome recap here. Keep our characters frustrated but believable. Thanks!

  9. Nisa says

    September 13, 2011 at 4:48 pm

    “Frustration is emotional gold.” – I love that. So true!

  10. Rachna Chhabria says

    September 13, 2011 at 10:26 am

    I always thought frustration was bad. I like the idea of giving it to our characters. Thanks for turning me into a complete sadist. I am sure my stories will benefit from me torturing my characters.

  11. Sharon K. Mayhew says

    September 12, 2011 at 10:34 pm

    You are the master! Great post. 😀

  12. Bish Denham says

    September 12, 2011 at 8:50 pm

    Oh…so THAT’S what I’m supposed to do with it! Thanks Angela.

  13. Cedric J. Sims says

    September 12, 2011 at 8:38 pm

    I’m really loving these discriptions

  14. Lydia K says

    September 12, 2011 at 7:27 pm

    So true. We need to tap into that frustration so those pages keep getting turned.

  15. Carrie Butler says

    September 12, 2011 at 6:48 pm

    Hah! Angela, I love you and your commentary. This made my day. 😀

  16. Debbie Maxwell Allen says

    September 12, 2011 at 6:40 pm

    Fantastic analysis–you’re absolutely right about the difference between writer frustration and character frustration!

    ~Debbie

  17. Lisa Gail Green says

    September 12, 2011 at 6:39 pm

    Ah yes, I suppose torturing your characters provides some form of therapy. Cause MC frustration, lessen your own… It’s like a formula! LOL Great post!

  18. Theresa Milstein says

    September 12, 2011 at 5:21 pm

    HA! Let’s hope the kindergarten teachers aren’t whipping out AK-47s to get their rage on!

    You’re right, we must put our characters through the wringer and give them appropriate responses.

  19. Julie Musil says

    September 12, 2011 at 4:13 pm

    Thanks so much for this, Angela! And no, it’s not just you who psyches yourself up before opening emails 😀

  20. Angela Ackerman says

    September 12, 2011 at 3:24 pm

    Thanks everyone! I see this one hit a nerve, and that’s great! Frustration is something I had to learn to embrace because it’s something I naturally try to avoid. But in books, Frustration is the melty center of a warm lava cake. We can’t get enough of it!!

    Clarissa, Becca and I are working on it fast and furiously. I really hope we’re within months of being able to launch it, but we want to make sure it really meets a writer’s needs, so we’ll seek out a few test readers beforehand for feedback. I would love to be able to ask you to do this if you’re interested. 🙂

  21. Karen Lange says

    September 12, 2011 at 3:14 pm

    Yes, I agree with you; frustration is our friend. In this way, anyway! I need to apply this more in my WIP, so I appreciate the thoughts and tips. As always. 🙂

  22. Susan Flett Swiderski says

    September 12, 2011 at 2:34 pm

    What a super post. Take that lousy rejection frustration and make our characters suffer for it! Cool.

  23. Martha Ramirez says

    September 12, 2011 at 1:36 pm

    Great post, Angela!

    It’s true, a writer’s life is like a roller coaster life:0

  24. Sarah Pearson says

    September 12, 2011 at 12:43 pm

    This is a great post, I love the list of possible behaviours – there are a couple I hadn’t thought of.

  25. KarenG says

    September 12, 2011 at 11:50 am

    LOL, this is awesome! Take it all out in the writing and make the work stronger. Happiness doesn’t make for good writing!

  26. Matthew MacNish says

    September 12, 2011 at 11:37 am

    Great point! I was just thinking about how even as a reader, I seem to have a sick obsession with being frustrated. I happen to love reading books in which things don’t go as I would expect, even stories that piss me off a bit.

  27. Bethany K. Mattingly says

    September 12, 2011 at 11:24 am

    I never really thought of my frustration as a good thing, you might have me convinced.

  28. Shannon O'Donnell says

    September 12, 2011 at 11:16 am

    Oh my gosh! I think this might be one of my all-time favorite Muse posts. I am working SO HARD on the frustration element of my MS right now–this will be uber-helpful. 🙂

  29. SP Sipal says

    September 12, 2011 at 10:57 am

    Love the lobotomized hamster!

    And yes, you’re right. While I hate frustration in my own life, I have to dole it out to my characters in force. I think it might be interesting to read about a weepy hardened criminal. That would really present him with a conflict if everyone he tried to do someone in, he couldn’t stop crying! 🙂

  30. Clarissa Draper says

    September 12, 2011 at 10:33 am

    I love this entry. My characters deal with this emotion a lot. I can’t wait to buy your book, when will it be done?

  31. Kelly Hashway says

    September 12, 2011 at 9:26 am

    What a great post! It’s so true that we need to tap into emotions to realistically show our characters emotions. Why not use those frustrated feelings in a good way? Great idea!

  32. Heather Marsten says

    September 12, 2011 at 8:39 am

    Excellent post. Your Emotion Thesaurus is invaluable to me and I often recommend it to others. Thanks for your hard work.

  33. Anne Gallagher says

    September 12, 2011 at 8:27 am

    I love frustration in a character! It gives me such a better perspective to work from. What’s he going to do next? And I like to build the frustration. So when he does decide to do something, it’s kind of over the top. I like taking it to the extreme.

  34. Lydia Sharp says

    September 12, 2011 at 8:11 am

    Excellent post. 🙂

  35. Ava Jae says

    September 12, 2011 at 8:08 am

    So true! We as writers absolutely hate frustration, but if we don’t use it in our writing, we have missed loads of opportunity.

    And everyone totally drinks their muse’s orphan tears. Not weird at all. 😀

  36. Creepy Query Girl says

    September 12, 2011 at 8:03 am

    Absolutely! Frusteration, missed chances, fall backs, etc are all important parts of the conflict and what will inevitably keep a reader reading. Loved this- especially the reactions part. Just excellent reminders. Thanks!

  37. Traci Kenworth says

    September 12, 2011 at 7:46 am

    Love the intriguing title to this, as well as the post itself. I didn’t think about using frustration to spur my writing before, now I’ll know to welcome it for a better story!!

  38. Becca Puglisi says

    September 12, 2011 at 7:40 am

    Great post, Ange!

  39. Andrea Mack says

    September 12, 2011 at 7:12 am

    Great points, Angela. I love thinking about how to frustrate my MCs. And as usual, you’ve got some great suggestions in the Emotion Thesaurus (one of my favourite writing tools).

  40. Stina Lindenblatt says

    September 12, 2011 at 7:12 am

    So true. The only exception to this is my 9 yo. He reacts the same way, whether it’s a little or big frustration. It’s all a big frustration to him. 😛

  41. Laura Pauling says

    September 12, 2011 at 7:03 am

    I love seeing how others deal with frustration. Thanks for this – the picture are awesome.

  42. Natalie Aguirre says

    September 12, 2011 at 6:10 am

    What a great way to channel our own frustration. I never really thought of it that way. And yes, we all have LOTS of experience with frustration. Thanks for the tips.

Trackbacks

  1. Forty Years of SCBWI Wisdom | WRITERS HELPING WRITERSWRITERS HELPING WRITERS says:
    July 11, 2014 at 4:31 pm

    […] forward7. Frustrate your main character. We did a whole post on this, so I’ll just leave the link.8. Build your vocabulary. This doesn’t mean more words that are bigger. The idea is to use […]

Primary Sidebar


Welcome!

Writing is hard. Angela & Becca make it easier. Get ready to level up your fiction with game-changing tools, resources, and advice.

Follow Us

  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter

Subscribe to the Blog

Check your inbox to confirm! If gremlins tried to eat it, you might have to check your spam folder.

Read by Category

Grab Our Button

Writers Helping Writers

Software that Will Change the Writing Game

One Stop for Writers

WRITERS HELPING WRITERS® · Copyright © 2023 · WEBSITE DESIGN BY LAUGH EAT LEARN

Cookies are delicious and ours help make your experience here better. If you continue to use this site we will assume that you are happy with our cookie use. Cookie settingsGOT IT
Privacy & Cookies Policy

Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these cookies, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may have an effect on your browsing experience. More on our Privacy Policy here.
Necessary
Always Enabled
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
Non-necessary
Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.
SAVE & ACCEPT
 

Loading Comments...