Family fights have a specific rhythm:
Family dramas rely on a range of storylines and tropes to drive the plot and character development. Some common storylines and tropes include:
This character escaped. They moved across the country, changed their name, or refused to play the family game. Their return (for a funeral, a wedding, or a bailout) serves as the audience’s surrogate. They see the dysfunction with fresh eyes, forcing the other characters (and the reader) to confront how abnormal their normal actually is.
No family sits in perpetual crisis. You need the inciting incident—what film theorist Robert McKee calls the "disturbance"—that forces the complex relationships to the surface.
Start with a single lie told at a birthday party. See how far it ripples. You may be surprised at what surfaces from the depths.