Build Tension With Cross Purposes
You'll need a secret and a triangle.
From mystery writer Kathleen George in Pittsburgh many years ago I learned a technique for building tension called "cross purposes.”
The Cambridge Dictionary says, “If two or more people are at cross purposes, they do not understand each other because they are talking about different subjects without realizing this.” One person means this year, the other means next year. It’s a basic misunderstanding that makes for mesmerizing dialogue with explosions of double entendre.
“He’s so hot,” is a double entendre.
Three-Way Secrets
George explained cross purposes as a three-way relationship in which two of the parties know something the third party does not.
Cross purposes is what makes an extramarital affair so phenomenally scintillating. It’s secret, it’s clandestine, and it’s at cross purposes in all kinds of ways.
The lovers know things the partners don’t.
One lover and his partner knows things the other couple doesn’t.
The other lover and her partner know things. And so on.
A Cautionary Tale
One of my neighbors once was having an affair during the week while he was out of town working. He would come home on weekends to his wife. For a long time things looked normal.
However, the woman my neighbor was seeing had a husband who became very suspicious—so suspicious, in fact, that he hired a private detective who followed his wife to a meeting-place with my neighbor. Now another party was at cross purposes, because the husband and the PD knew things that the lovers did not.
Once the other husband figured out what was happening, he did not confront his wife. Instead, he called the other wife, my neighbor’s wife, who was also my neighbor, of course.
For a long time the lovers knew something the spouses did not. But when the detective work was done, the spouses knew something the lovers did not.
It was all a messy mess.
Do It
Everywhere you look in your stories you’ll find triangles, and in those triangles are secrets—wonderful, shining secrets— and these secrets are dynamite.
Type out the phrase "cross purposes" and tack it above your desk. The next time you are writing, try to figure out a secret that two people know and a third person does not. Milk it.
This, my dears, will tip your readers to the edges of their chairs.
Writing Prompt
A secret that I keep still…
Workshop | Master the Flash
$55 | Saturday, July 27, 2024, 9-12 am Eastern Time | Live via Zoom
Writers with whom I've worked find almost instant success with the short form known as flash essay or micro-memoir. I love teaching folks how to write these, because this form can open doors to fabulous places. I got introduced to it only a few years ago, and it has changed my life and my thinking. The short essay holds infinite possibilities for publishing—from a magazine-ready piece, to a well-crafted social-media post, to meaningful newsletter copy, to a short chapter in a book.
I’ll guide you in writing a short essay in one morning from the comfort of your own writing room or backyard. Make yourself a thermos of tea and Zoom with me from idea to finished product in a matter of a few hours.
I Hope You’re Working on a DNA Story to Go in a Book
This week I got the first submission for the anthology of stories about DNA testing and how it changed your life. Yahoo! I was so glad to see that first submission because it lets me know that people are taking this seriously.
I hope you’re working on a piece.
Journaling Fools
We have 2 more Sundays of our Fools journaling sessions. They are designed to be stand-alone sessions, although taking all 4 makes for nice continuity. Cost is donation-based, sliding scale, pay what you will. Eventbrite will send you a link to get in, and that link is used for all 4 sessions.
Here’s more information and a link to register.
The secret I keep has haunted me for 25 years. It brings me great shame and guilt and has shaped the course of my life in ways I'm only beginning to understand here in midlife. It's not a complete secret that I've kept to myself. I'm no good at keeping secrets. But it is a secret I will keep unless and until the ones involved in it cross the veil before me.
That's as far as I can go with that in public. Thank you for prompting me to write about it though. I imagine I will find it very therapeutic to work through in my journaling. I am LOVING this idea of cross purposes and looking forward to adding it to some of my pieces.
Thank you for sharing yourself so freely with those of us who have a burning desire to put our feelings on paper.
Cross purposes are scintillating! From your examples, it is clear how they bring excitement and anticipation to a story. It will be fun to experiment with them. I would love to attend the flash fiction class, but have a prior appointment. Perhaps there will be another in the future. Thank you!