Creating Conflict

Every story needs conflict, not just mysteries or thrillers. Romances need conflict, so do Sci-Fi novels, even Humor pieces and Mainstream. Not all of it, in any genre, is physical. Conflict can be psychological, mental, the tug and pull of opposing ideologies, man versus nature, man versus woman, man versus animal, man ... boy, man is contrary, isn't he?

As you write, and especially as you re-write, you need to be aware of the conflict in your story. Rarely do authors have to lessen the conflict. Usually, the problem is revving it up.

As you work on your story, here are some things to keep in mind:

As much as possible, keep the action on stage. As readers, we don't want to be told what happened. We want to see it occur. Whether that conflict is a physical fight, an argument, a debate, sexual tension, or whatever, let us live it along with the characters. Maybe it's hard for you to write about the subject or maybe it's difficult to get the dialogue right ... all the more reason for you to put it on stage.

As the story progresses, the problems facing the characters, especially the protagonist, should get tougher and tougher to solve. The tension should wind tighter. The conflict should become more important. Obviously, some problems will be resolved along the way, but don't be too quick to get your protagonist out of trouble. Just when he or she gets out of one situation and takes a deep breath, put them in another.

To do this, look at each scene and ask yourself, what could go wrong here? What is the worst thing that could happen? What would this character NOT want to happen? Then do it. Put your character in an even worse situation. Give him a conflict that he didn't expect. And when he maneuvers his way out of it, do it again, each time upping the stakes.

Go through your novel. Make sure every scene has conflict. One way to manage this is to look at each character as an individual, with his or her own story. No matter what the situation, no two people want the same thing. Whether the conflict is overt or hidden, it's there. Each character has an agenda, a backstory that affects the way they talk and think and react.

Your novel will also contain more conflict than just what is going on between the protagonist and antagonist. Layer the conflict. Doing that will make your secondary characters more interesting. It will enrich your story, give it depth.

Make your story more of a "big" book than just a one-dimensional plot. Build up, spread out, intensify the conflict. Just because your book is Mainstream, don't think it doesn't need or have conflict. Life would be pretty dull without conflict. And life is what you're writing about.

Do you try to keep your characters on a roller coaster ride? Do you take your readers along on the ride?

Getting Out of Your Comfort Zone

Today we have author and motivational speaker L. Diane Wolfe visiting with us. If you didn't get a chance to watch the book trailer for her teen series, The Circle of Friends, you can still swing by, or visit her website for information on all five books, the latest of which is called Heather.

Diane is here today to urge all of us to step out of our comfort zone as writers. And if there's anyone who can get us to do that, it's Spunk on a Stick.

Welcome, L. Diane Wolfe.

Getting Out of Our Comfort Zone

New writers often hear, “Write what you know.” That’s good advice when just starting. Writing about familiar subjects provides confidence so we can focus on our writing skills.

However, if we want to develop, we need to stretch a little. Writing is all about growth. When we break away from predictable, we discover new things about ourselves. We prevent our readers and fans from growing bored. We provide our careers with a little longevity. Therefore, it’s essential we escape our comfort zone and enter unchartered territory.

By changing one or more of these aspects, we’ll stretch our writing muscles:

• Subject matter or genre. Writing outside of our niche induces growth. We grow complacent writing about the same topic over and over again. Consider tackling a new genre. Mastered mystery? Try an urban fantasy. Content with romances? Attempt a horror story. Tech writer? Move into motivational work. For the ultimate challenge, move between fiction and non-fiction.

• Characters. Often we begin with characters similar in feel to ourselves. However, what happens when we create someone who possesses different traits and views? It forces us to see the world in a whole new light. It helps us to create diversity in characters. Book V of my series forced me to stretch in this manner, as Heather was my polar opposite. She kicked my butt throughout the entire process, too! The story was stronger because of that fact, though, and I am now eager to tackle another difficult character.

• Setting. A location we know intimately provides accuracy and security, but unless ‘world traveler’ is on our resume, we’ll find ourselves stuck in the same setting. What happens if we move from the city to the country? Or to the beach? Or to another world? Setting applies to our character’s profession as well. Instead of a lawyer, what happens if we focus on a stock car driver? Or a foreign tour guide? Changing the setting ensures research, but we will learn so much in the process - and the freshness of our ideas will come across in our writing.

• Conflicts. These can grow stale and formula. Break out of the pattern and brew up some new struggles. Our resources are unlimited, too. There’s no end to life’s problems! The daily news can provide ideas for new conflicts, challenges, and sticky scenarios. Remember, fact is always stranger than fiction - we’ll discover new issues and concepts if we look.

• Storyline. This is a big one! Often we find out storylines contain similar themes. Boy meets girl. Someone is murdered. Evil plans to take over world. We can easily fall into a rut. Consider a new path. Brainstorm some fresh ideas. We always need new twists and turns, but deviating from our normal storyline or plot forces us to mature as writers. We prove we are not just one trick ponies!

Now that we know what to change, it’s time to stretch!

And in doing so, we will probably discover our best work is produced outside of our comfort zone.

Thank you, Diane.

Sounds doable to me. Who knew stretching was good for your writing and your body!

You can find out about Diane as an author and a speaker by visiting her sites:

http://www.spunkonastick.net

http://www.thecircleoffriends.net

http://www.circleoffriendsbooks.blogspot.com

You can also buy her books on Amazon or at Barnes & Noble or at Dancing Lemur Press L.L.C.

But, right now, what you can do is ask her a question, comment on her post, or give us your own experiences with stepping out of your comfort zone.

Conflict

Someone once said to me that they were having trouble with conflict in their story. For example, they had a protagonist and a sidekick and a problem. Both characters knew what they had to do, so they worked together and did it. Problem solved. But too quickly, too neatly. And the writer didn’t see how they could insert any conflict since the characters were working together and knew what had to be done. And yet … the writer didn’t want things to go so smoothly.

Of course, you can always insert problems that arise from outside influences or from the antagonist. But you can also have problems between the two characters, despite their common goal.

Look at your own life. I'm sure you have had occasions when you wanted to set up a lunch with friends or a family reunion. You think it's going to be easy. Everyone wants to get together, everyone is glad you're all finally going to have a sit down to discuss things.

And yet, when you try to work it all out, suddenly everyone has a different opinion, no one wants the same thing or even the same outcome. Lo and behold, even your friends and relatives see things differently than you do.

If you look at things not just from this is where my character is and this is where he needs to be and this is the straightest way to get there, but rather from the different points of views and concerns of all the parties, you will have conflict. It will arise naturally.

Character Conflict

Someone once said to me that they were having trouble with conflict in their story. For example, they had a protagonist and a sidekick and a problem. Both characters knew what they had to do, so they worked together and did it. Problem solved. But too quickly, too neatly. And the writer didn’t see how they could insert any conflict since the characters were working together and knew what had to be done. And yet … the writer didn’t want things to go so smoothly.

Of course you can always insert problems that arise from outside influences or from the antagonist. But you can also have problems between the two characters, despite their common goal. Just look at real life.

At the moment, I’m trying to set up a get-together between myself and my two sisters. We all want to get together. Solution -- pick a place and a date and do it. We’re working together and we know what the goal is. Simple right?

Wrong. Every one of us is different and it doesn’t matter that we have a common goal. Sister One lives in Minnesota. She wants us to come up there. After all, she came down to Texas last time and she really, really, HATES the heat in Texas. So Sister Two and I will go up there. Here comes the conflict. I love to fly, but Sister Two hates to fly. We could drive, but Sister Two also doesn’t like to drive long distance because it makes her sleepy, so I’d have to drive. If the drive was the trip and we’d be stopping along the way for side trips and overnights, I could do it. But the goal is not the drive. We could take the train, but it takes 31 hours and only goes as far as Chicago. Sister One doesn’t want to meet us in Chicago – that’s a full day’s drive for her, after all. Sister One suggested we go to the Outer Banks in North Carolina instead. I reminded her that’s a two day drive from Texas. Her solution – fly!

And we’re back at square one. The crazy part is – a get-together was my idea.

If you look at things not just from this is where my character is and this is where he needs to be and this is the straightest way to get there, but rather from the different points of views and concerns of all the parties, you have conflict. It will arise naturally