Why Story Needs Crisis, Tension, and Bad Decisions: The Engine of Real Emotion

ayawinterromances
Jan 15
3 min read

Writers (and readers) fall in love with their characters. It’s natural.

We want to protect them. We want them to win. We want them to be understood. We want them to learn quickly, love cleanly, and never get their hearts broken more than once.

But here’s the truth:

If nothing bad happens to your characters, or they always make the right choices, you don’t have a story. You have a synopsis.

A good story requires tension, crisis, emotional failure, and decisions that crack things wide open. Not because we hate our characters, but because we believe in their growth.

1. Story Is Built on Conflict: Internal and External

At its core, story is movement through resistance.

Your character wants something. But something, inside them, outside them, around them, gets in the way.

That’s conflict. That’s story.

Wanting love but being afraid to be vulnerable.
Wanting to win but being ruled by ego.
Wanting to protect someone but lying instead of trusting.
Wanting revenge but discovering compassion.

These contradictions are the story. And they only come alive when:

The character makes the wrong choice.
Something goes wrong.
The plan fails.
The truth hurts.

No crisis equals no change. No mistakes equals no arc. No tension equals no emotional investment.

2. Pain Isn’t Gratuitous: It’s Transformational

Some writers (and readers) get squeamish about putting characters through too much.

And yes, pain without purpose is just cruelty. But pain with emotional consequence? That’s what makes the character real.

Let your character:

Say something they regret
Lose someone they love
Misjudge the villain
Betray the person who trusted them
Get broken, so they can choose to rebuild

Because if the character never truly breaks, how will the reader believe in their transformation?

Pain isn’t what weakens the story. Pain is what deepens it.

3. Good Stories Are Messy: Because People Are Messy

Real people make bad choices. They double down. They lash out. They act from fear, jealousy, guilt, and pride. And then they regret it.

Characters should do the same.

If your protagonist is always reasonable, always kind, always self-aware, they’re not a

character. They’re a fantasy.

A character who falls and gets back up is more compelling than one who never trips.

And that’s not just true in dramas or tragedies. It’s especially true in romance.

4. Romance Needs Conflict. Not Just Chemistry

A lot of writers fall into the trap of thinking the only obstacle to romance is external, a villain, a rule, a misunderstanding.

But real romantic tension comes from:

Emotional baggage
Differing values
Shame, fear, pride, insecurity
Power imbalances
Timing. God, the timing

Let your characters screw it up. Let them say the wrong thing, push each other away, fight for control, fall too fast, or hold back too long.

The more they break the bond, the more satisfying it is when they choose to repair it.

5. If There’s No Risk, There’s No Payoff

If your character never truly risks losing something, their pride, their relationship, their power, their self-image, the stakes feel flat.

Readers don’t want to watch characters succeed effortlessly.

They want to watch them:

Fight for it
Hurt for it
Break for it
Bleed for it: emotionally, morally, or literally
And then choose to rise

That’s what makes the victory hit. That’s what makes the love story land. That’s what makes us care.

Let Them Break So They Can Earn the Rebuild

If you’re hesitating to put your characters through hell, pause and ask yourself:

What will they learn on the other side of this?
What part of them needs to shatter in order to be remade?
What truth hurts so much that they have to be dragged through it to believe it?

That’s the good stuff. That’s the story.

Don’t protect your characters. Test them. Tear them down. Give them consequences. And then let them grow.

Because a character who’s never truly lost isn’t one we can cheer for when they finally win.