Geometry for Writers

For a long time, I never knew I wrote in triangles.

I discovered this phenomenon the day a writer friend told me that she adored romantic triangles in stories. I agreed that such made for interesting reading, perhaps a good deal more interesting than the usual "will they ever quit fighting each other and make love instead" variety of conflict. Then it occurred to me that the triangle makes an excellent framework for any kind of conflict. And the more you have, the more complex and interesting the conflicts become.

In other words, triangles are not just for lovers.

As all you math whizzes out there already know, triangles are composed of three points and three lines connecting those points. (If it turns out I'm wrong about that, break it to me gently.) In a novel, the points can be any three characters and/or situations that are in conflict with one another. Characters can participate in more than one triangle, creating branching or overlapping conflicts, or stand as the central point to a number of joining triangles until the plot starts to look like a geodesic dome. There can be triangles within triangles. And they don't all have to be of the equilateral variety. Sometimes two points will ally with each other, changing the shape and balance of the conflict.

I don't know what it says about me that I instinctively reach for the triangle when shaping the conflicts in my story. I don't know how many writers do this. But I do know that if anyone out there is struggling to add or deepen conflicts (and I'm told a dearth of conflict is one of the leading causes for a manuscript to be rejected), try adding a third element of opposition to your plot events or character interactions, and watch that boring line between two points take on new and compelling dimensions.