There’s an ongoing battle in our house: the eldest holds a much coveted possession high above his head. The younger sibling leaps, again and again, trying to snatch the remote/book/t-shirt … often screeching in protest. Occasionally the dominant child raises the stakes by standing on the furniture or racing around the house, taking much delight in torturing his fellow man. Eventually, an omnipotent force intervenes in the name of peace and quiet or the possession is handed off and the conflict is resolved. Until it isn’t.
Crafting a work of fiction, whether you’ve designed an outline full of meticulous detail or you’d prefer to fly by the seat of your pants, is a lot like witnessing sibling rivalry play out. As newbies, I think we have a tendency to write excessively about the color of the furniture, the exact shade of the character’s clothing or the dust bunnies dancing in the sunlight filtering through the window … We’re told to describe the setting using our five senses, but I’ve noticed (and my critique partners can attest to this) that I tend to overachieve on the descriptive details and under-perform on crafting believable conflict that I can sustain for 70,000 words.
But never fear: many brave souls have gone before us and shared their secrets. Here are 3 links to posts I’ve found extremely helpful. I hope they work for you, as well.
- multi-published author Eileen Cook reveals questions we can ask ourselves to enhance the conflict http://www.writersdigest.com/editor-blogs/guide-to-literary-agents/5-ways-to-increase-conflict
- Holly Lisle takes a humorous approach to crafting internal and external conflict http://hollylisle.com/creating-conflict-or-the-joys-of-boiling-oil/
- Fantastic post about the importance of ORCHESTRATION and conflict http://killzoneauthors.blogspot.com/2013/06/a-key-to-creating-conflict-in-fiction.html#.UlAw0dKUT1s
Your turn: What’s your secret to raising the stakes and making life difficult for your hero and/or heroine?
