By
Janice Hardy
How do you engage the reader and keep
the pages turning? Conflict. We welcome back author and blogger Janice Hardy who shares her tips on
creating the most important element of a story.
Great to have you back, Janice!
Conflict is at the core of every novel–so much so that the plot revolves around the “core” conflict. Without conflict to drive a plot, scenes fall flat, fail to hook readers, and go nowhere.
But conflict isn’t always about fighting or putting the protagonist face to face with the antagonist. It’s just two things that happen to be at odds with each other. You want to go swimming, but you don’t want to get wet. You want to tell your best friend a secret, but you know she’s a terrible gossip. You want that new car, but you need to pay rent. Something is in the way of what you want and that issue has to be resolved before you can have it.
Great to have you back, Janice!
Conflict is at the core of every novel–so much so that the plot revolves around the “core” conflict. Without conflict to drive a plot, scenes fall flat, fail to hook readers, and go nowhere.
But conflict isn’t always about fighting or putting the protagonist face to face with the antagonist. It’s just two things that happen to be at odds with each other. You want to go swimming, but you don’t want to get wet. You want to tell your best friend a secret, but you know she’s a terrible gossip. You want that new car, but you need to pay rent. Something is in the way of what you want and that issue has to be resolved before you can have it.
Because of the variety of conflicts
available, creating conflict in your novel is easier than it looks. Simply put
an obstacle in the way of what your protagonist wants to accomplish, either on
a physical or an emotional level.
Here are seven ways to create conflict
in your novel:
To read the rest of the post, click here.
~*~
If
you missed my writing & marketing tweets and retweets yesterday, here they
are again:
- Writer Unboxed » What’s a Pantster to Do When They’re Stuck? Go Tell It TO the Mountain. http://ow.ly/rNUBB
- 7 Free Tools for Creating Your Own Fonts http://ow.ly/rNVZw
- Quick Tips for Better Blog Design | Linky Blog http://ow.ly/rNWdR
- 7 Ways to Create Conflict in Your Novel by Janice Hardy | Romance University http://ow.ly/rNWnD
- Linda Clare's Writer's Tips: More Time Management for Novels http://ow.ly/rNX4M
- Writability: How to Write Strong Supporting Characters http://ow.ly/rNXhf
- 9 Reasons Why You Must Update Your LinkedIn Profile Today - Forbes http://ow.ly/rNXzO
- How to Write the Perfect First Page http://ow.ly/rOkyZ
- More Google+ Than Facebook Users Look To Twitter For News - AllTwitter http://ow.ly/rP5np
- Talking about your character: Posture: http://t.co/uoRFDxRZYZ @nownovel RT @elizabethscraig:
- Seekerville: Creating Your Fictitious Town http://ow.ly/rPc5n
- By Ken Levine: Symbolism in MASH: Now it can be told http://ow.ly/rPlch
- 5 Strategies to Grow an Epic Blog http://ow.ly/rPlwU
- Audio Books: Professional Studio Tips for Recording And Production | The Creative Penn http://ow.ly/rPnGI
No comments:
Post a Comment