Conflict is the core ingredient to fiction, even literary fiction. Conflict in any novel can have many faces and often you will hear this referred to as the antagonist. The antagonist is absolutely essential for fiction. He/she/it is the engine of your story. No engine, and no forward momentum. Like cars, plots need momentum or they …
Tag: conflict
Mar 07 2011
Dare to Be Excellent (This Might Hurt a Little)
Years ago, when I first started writing, fiction was my passion. The problem, however, is that passion devoid of training is a formula to end up with 174,000 word tome that is the stuff of agent nightmares. I wish I was one of those talented people who “got it” from the start. I didn’t. I …
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Feb 28 2011
"In the Beginning" Part One–Normal World
Anyone in publishing will tell you that one of the most important parts of your novel is the beginning. As an editor I hear, “Oh, but wait until you get to the good part on page 50. This is all the lead up.” Um, no. Doesn’t work that way. You might have a humdinger …
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Feb 21 2011
Hooking the Reader and Never Letting Go
What is the one ingredient we MUST include to have great fiction? CONFLICT. No conflict, no story. One of the biggest stumbling blocks I see in new writers is that they fail to understand the difference between authentic conflict versus a bad situation. Bad situations do not make good fiction. Bad situations are boring …
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Feb 18 2011
Stress Happens–Surviving and Thriving Despite Life's Setbacks
This week has been really rough. One problem after another. No Internet. Printers wouldn’t work. It has been one setback after another. On and on. I have felt like I have been trapped in Hell’s Whack-A-Mole. Just about whack one problem on the head and two more pop up in the peripheral vision. It is …
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International Association of Professional Writers & Editors
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