Monday, April 2, 2012

C is for . . .


Conflict. 

As much as we hate it in our personal lives, writers eventually realize that without conflict, fiction is b-o-r-i-n-g! Character growth only occurs in the crucible of conflict. That’s true in the real world as well as in the worlds we create. 

So shouldn’t we welcome conflict into our lives? 

Okay, but you go first!

17 comments:

  1. I agree. Conflict draws us in. That's why newspapers focus on it. If all they had to report were stories with no conflict, they'd never sell any copies. LOL!

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    1. Very true. Good news isn't very marketable apparently.

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  2. Conflict for my characters? Yes, please. *maniacal laughter*

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    1. That's something to think about. I can take out my frustrations on my characters! *more maniacal laughter"!

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  3. Love it in books, turn off the news if they focus on it to much! And in my life....only engage in it if I have to; as a mother I'm usually the peace maker!

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  4. Very true. I get my best stories from personal conflict. How can you write a sad character if you've never been sad about something? How can convey anger if you've never been angry?

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    1. Yes, as you probably know, acting is supposedly a good way of developing a character. Not that I'd know anything about acting, for heaven's sake! I've been told I wear my feelings on my sleeve.

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  5. Conflict - I ALWAYS welcome it... and then I'm ALWAYS surprised when I can't handle it. Argh. But oh yes, I've had some great fodder for my stories!

    Becky

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  6. I saw your comment at Rosalind Adam's, the A to Z Challenge, and came over to meet you. I read your profile introduction and am happy to meet you, though I would like to know your name :o) Did I miss this somewhere?

    I've written stories as far back as I can remember, and then last year, at age 71, I got a full length book published by a small press. So don't give up. It's never too late. And congrats on the magazine publisher's offer. Awesome!
    Ann Best, Author of In the Mirror & Other Memoirs

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    1. Ann, please see my lengthy comment on your blog.

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  7. Yep, don't want any conflict in my life, but I do want it in the books I read.

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  8. If you want to see conflict, teach 5th or 6th grade. Talk about a simmering pot of conflict. Yikes. I do hate it in my life. I'm a pleaser, "please like me," type.

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  9. I often think about this. I hate conflict in my life. "Anything for a quiet life", that's me. I also shy away from reading books that take me into places that are too painful and yet I write and I know that I have to be horrible to my characters for them to grow. It's a problem.
    A to Z of Nostalgia

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  10. Much as we wish otherwise, conflict is all around us. And you're right, a book without conflict is discarded.

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  11. Not so sure about this...lol. I love it in my stories, but don't enjoy conflict in real life.

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