Reflecting on a number of things I've seen or read recently, I feel it's rather remarkable how void of meaningful persuasive intent many turning points in plotlines actually are.
The tropish "bad guy has a change of heart and does something good" plot mechanic is often handled with such clumsiness that you lose the audience, the entire exchange feels forced, and its predictable in a bad way.
I would like to discuss believable persuasion.
Worth noting is that as a writer you should probably be grounded in a fair understanding of typical human behavior/argumentative psychology.
The short of it, based on numerous recent psychological studies, is...
1 - We all have cognitive bias. People don't care about evidence. They cherry pick, disregard, and ultimately only utilize information that already reinforces their beliefs while disregarding contrary data as quackery even if that data is more true and accurate than their beliefs. (The sky is brown and I don't care what you say! Blue sky claimants are shills, and they're paid to lie to you!") Remember, for every one genius wrongfully disregarded as a quack, there are a hundred rightfully disregarded quacks who believe they're a genius.
2 - Very, very few people actually listen to reason. The overwhelming majority of people make decisions based on their emotional feelings towards any given thing. Logic and reason must be pursued as a course of action by both parties to work. For most people, it's poorly wielded as a bludgeon to reach their desired result, which doesn't work, because it's simultaneously disregarded as a tool for self reflection by the other party (because how dare you ask me to question my own beliefs?!?!?).
3 - Challenging someone's deeply held beliefs pushes them further from your viewpoint, entrenching their belief.
4 - People need to be encouraged to make self directed change, you cannot force change on someone else.
5 - If change happens in the breadthe of one scene, it's lazy writing and unbelievable.
All of that said, let's discuss "talking someone down off a bridge".
In what way, as a writer, can you establish a believable scene where you talk someone down off a metaphorical bridge? How do you change the mind of a character with agency, intent, and a goal?
I don't have an answer, by the way. I'm just encouraging discussion.
The tropish "bad guy has a change of heart and does something good" plot mechanic is often handled with such clumsiness that you lose the audience, the entire exchange feels forced, and its predictable in a bad way.
I would like to discuss believable persuasion.
Worth noting is that as a writer you should probably be grounded in a fair understanding of typical human behavior/argumentative psychology.
The short of it, based on numerous recent psychological studies, is...
1 - We all have cognitive bias. People don't care about evidence. They cherry pick, disregard, and ultimately only utilize information that already reinforces their beliefs while disregarding contrary data as quackery even if that data is more true and accurate than their beliefs. (The sky is brown and I don't care what you say! Blue sky claimants are shills, and they're paid to lie to you!") Remember, for every one genius wrongfully disregarded as a quack, there are a hundred rightfully disregarded quacks who believe they're a genius.
2 - Very, very few people actually listen to reason. The overwhelming majority of people make decisions based on their emotional feelings towards any given thing. Logic and reason must be pursued as a course of action by both parties to work. For most people, it's poorly wielded as a bludgeon to reach their desired result, which doesn't work, because it's simultaneously disregarded as a tool for self reflection by the other party (because how dare you ask me to question my own beliefs?!?!?).
3 - Challenging someone's deeply held beliefs pushes them further from your viewpoint, entrenching their belief.
4 - People need to be encouraged to make self directed change, you cannot force change on someone else.
5 - If change happens in the breadthe of one scene, it's lazy writing and unbelievable.
All of that said, let's discuss "talking someone down off a bridge".
In what way, as a writer, can you establish a believable scene where you talk someone down off a metaphorical bridge? How do you change the mind of a character with agency, intent, and a goal?
I don't have an answer, by the way. I'm just encouraging discussion.