What would this character do in this plot situation?

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ironpony
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22 Jun 2020, 12:42 am

My story is a crime thriller, and a character has more than one choice in a situation but I'm not sure which one he would make.

So in the plot, a gang of criminals wants to recruit a corrupt police officer into their gang. But they want to give him a test in order for him to get in, where he has to commit a crime first. They also secretly video-record him doing this test. It turns out the corrupt cop cannot morally bring himself to go through with the test. The gang tells him that they recorded him attempting to go through with it, and that attempt alone, is enough to blackmail him to keep from talking, since he doesn't want that video to come out since it still shows him attempting the crime.

So out of fear that they may harm him, since he cannot be trusted now, he runs and the gang chases after him. During the chase, a cop on patrol spots these men chase after him. He doesn't see the corrupt cop's face during the chase, but manages to detain one of the gang members. The rest of the gang members turn around to go to their getaway cars and escape, while the patrol cop is detaining the one. The corrupt cop is now, not being chased anymore.

What does he do?

I thought of some options.

1. He just keeps on running, and doesn't do anything and stays quiet for now, hoping that the patrol cop, doesn't manage to catch the gang member that has the recording on the cop, or catch any further gang members at all.

2. The corrupt cop, acts like he was just nearby, while off duty, minding his own business, and tries to stage a diversion for them to escape, or to throw the back up cops who are coming off track somehow.

3. Or I could write it so that he tries to get away, but the patrol cop spots him during the chase later, and recognizes him and asks him for help, even though he is off duty, so the corrupt now has no choice to participate, if that's better?

Do either of these sound like something he would do? Thanks for any input! I really appreciate it!



Fnord
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22 Jun 2020, 8:40 am

This is your story, your plot, and your character.  Asking us to write it for you somehow defeats the creative process, don't you think?



ironpony
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24 Jun 2020, 1:30 pm

Oh sorry, I was just asking which of the 3 options I came up with is the best. Or how does one decide...



shlaifu
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24 Jun 2020, 3:42 pm

You decide by whatever outcome you require for the rest of the story.
If the outcome of alternatives is the same, you might toss a coin, go with your gut, or put them in a hat and pick one blindly.


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ironpony
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24 Jun 2020, 4:00 pm

Oh okay, and yes all the different scenarios all lead to the same pay off, it's just different ways of getting there, which of course makes it tricky. Here is an example:

I have written two executions to a script, each with pros and cons. I feel the difference is in the type.  One execution reveals more about the characters, which puts them through bigger scenarios, where you find out more about them in terms of what they would do when pushed to a higher limit.  However, the con is, is that you need more twists and turns to give these pushes, and some of them rely on small coincidences here and there in order to make that happen.

The second type is the opposite, where you do not get the characters pushed to the furthest limits they can go, but the plot does not rely on less twists and turns, and therefore no small coincidences therefore, to make that happen.  Which type of plot is better do you think since each has a pro and con, in the simplest breakdown?



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27 Jun 2020, 8:11 pm

How about your dirty cop killing the gang members to protect himself? That's the sort of thing I'd expect from crime novelist, James Ellroy.


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ironpony
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27 Jun 2020, 11:56 pm

Oh well this is right in the opening, so if the dirty cop kills them than the story is over in just a few minutes of course, unless you meant kill them later?



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28 Jun 2020, 12:19 am

ironpony wrote:
Oh well this is right in the opening, so if the dirty cop kills them than the story is over in just a few minutes of course, unless you meant kill them later?


I did mean later. And not all at once. Rather, he might return from hiding (maybe after faking his death?) and kills them one by one, till he finds the incriminating tape that he must destroy.


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ironpony
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28 Jun 2020, 1:33 am

Oh okay. Actually quite the opposite happens later and he gets killed, but his death creates a trail of bread crumbs which helps get the villains later, if that makes sense.

I actually considered him faking his death too, but couldn't think of a way in which that would be believable, compared to him actually being dead.



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28 Jun 2020, 1:47 am

ironpony wrote:
Oh okay. Actually quite the opposite happens later and he gets killed, but his death creates a trail of bread crumbs which helps get the villains later, if that makes sense.

I actually considered him faking his death too, but couldn't think of a way in which that would be believable, compared to him actually being dead.


Sounds cool.


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ironpony
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28 Jun 2020, 2:08 am

Oh okay thanks. Well would after he escapes the villains because the cops intercept, would he then pretend he is there as a cop off duty, who just happens to be there, in an effort to feed the other police false information to help the villains escape with the video? Or would he just take and not do anything to say he was anywhere near that area at the time?



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28 Jun 2020, 2:25 am

ironpony wrote:
Oh okay thanks. Well would after he escapes the villains because the cops intercept, would he then pretend he is there as a cop off duty, who just happens to be there, in an effort to feed the other police false information to help the villains escape with the video? Or would he just take and not do anything to say he was anywhere near that area at the time?


The choice is all yours.


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ironpony
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28 Jun 2020, 2:48 am

Oh okay, what if I the writer, am not sure though?



Kraichgauer
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28 Jun 2020, 4:05 pm

ironpony wrote:
Oh okay, what if I the writer, am not sure though?


Experiment. Write a few different scenarios if it helps you to decide. Stuff I've written has evolved and changed over time from an original idea.


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