Conflict = Tension = Emotion - Part II

In Part I, I defined conflicts and described the kinds. As I said, conflict is the backbone of fiction, and understanding this important element helps the author become a better writer. Hopefully I have added a few new thoughts to this blog.

Nature of Conflict
 1. Complexity
Conflict, especially internal conflict, is complex because it tests the character’s problem solving abilities and wiles. It forces the character to devise a plan and to test his or her strength, and it results in change. The conflict inherently opens emotional doors that add to the tension.

2. Choices
Conflicts offer choices. The character must make decisions which path he will travel to resolve the conflict. These choices are important to the integrity and worth value of the character. If he fails, his self-esteem crumbles or his life could end, depending on the type of genre. Making choices is when backstory comes into play. What were the beliefs of the character’s family? What was right and wrong? What old saying did they believe as true? A stitch in time saves nine. A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush. Do to others as you would have them do to you. These beliefs influence the way in which a character thinks and acts, so make sure to use these childhood/family’s beliefs to enhance poor decision-making or unexpected choices. Surprise the reader. With choices, you have tension, and whether the right or wrong choice, an emotion is a result for both the character and the reader.

3. Conflicting Choices
In real life, people are often faced with decisions in which they must choice the “lesser of two evils.” Decisions are rarely easy and sometimes they are not perfect. When a character must make a choice that creates a new problem or clashes with a deep-seeded belief or value, a new conflict is created. When clashing into a value or belief, emotion is expelled.  Let’s say to save himself from being accused of a crime, he must incriminate his brother or a parent. Or Finding a lottery ticket, he wins a large payout, but he knows the person who lost the ticket. Does he keep the money? Split it? Or tell the person who lost it that he won the million dollar jackpot? Can you imagine the emotional reactions characters have dealing with this kind of conflict.

4. Conflict Grows and Deepens
When you peel back one layer of an onion, beneath you find another thicker layer. This is conflict. A novel depends upon layers of conflicts—the thin ones first and then they grow deeper and more dramatic. As a character believes he is resolving one issue, it is important to add another problem in his path that creates a new conflict. Always save the most dramatic and worst one for last. Don’t make your character’s life easy. Drama and emotion go hand in hand.

5. Immediate Conflicts
Every novel opens with a conflict. This is what hooks the reader and keeps her reading. Often the early conflicts come from a situation appearing on the first pages that causes the character to act or to make a decision. This can happen from a letter, a telephone call, a new character with a message, a strange situation, finding a clue to something important or a person needing to run away from a situation. Whatever it is don’t plop heavy backstory into the opening chapters. Hint at the past through introspection or dialogue. Cause the character to do something that leaves the reader with questions (he receives a letter and hides it). But don’t spew out information that pulls the reader from the action. Let the conflict tug the reader along.

6. Conflict Introduction
Introduce a new conflict building before ending the current one. Don’t give the character a moment without a conflict. Be real. Life is filled with small and large problems. Organize the difficulties in the character’s life and present them one at a time. This keeps the novel moving along, and allows emotion to build in a realistic way.

Conflict = Tension = Emotion - Part I

So many articles offer tips on creating conflict and talk about the kinds of conflict and why they’re important. The reason is simple. A novel is not a story when it lacks conflict because conflict breeds tension and tension is offers emotion in your novel which is a vital ingredient to a story that grabs the reader and lingers in his mind.

What is conflict?
Too often writers present disagreements and arguments as conflict. Although in a broad sense, disagreements and arguments are a form of struggle, they do not arouse a reader enough to glue her to the book. You and I have conflicts daily. They’re commonplace and boring. Obviously then those two types of conflict are not what a plot needs. I’ve talked about this before, but I hope this new article will provide some different takes on the issue.

Conflict is when a need or goal are opposed by another character, a serious situation or an internal struggle that holds the character back from reaching a goal.

Two people who want land to use for their important purpose creates an opposition. Two people vying for one job that will make all hte difference in each one's life is conflict. A family illness that ties a character to the same town or the same job when an  offer draws him away, yet he cannot fail his dying mother or his love interest. Those scenarios are conflict. A woman, needing money to resolve a serious problem that endangers her well-being, is tempted to steal money from her employer, and though she has a plan and the capability, something in her values or experience, causes her to struggle with the means to resolve her need. These are all examples of the external, internal and even inherent conflict that can result in strong tension and create grabbing emotion.

Kinds of conflict
I’ve just named the basic kinds of conflict: inherent, external, and internal.

1. Inherent Conflicts in Plot
Setting is something in the novel from the beginning that causes problems: such as, the setting, distance in relationships, bad memories, or a dangerous environment.

2. External Conflict
This is the outside world pressing in, two or more whose needs or goals are in competition, or a person with two goals that oppose each other.

3. Internal Conflict
These are conflicts rising from a character’s fears, weaknesses, doubts, or failures. These conflicts also some from spiritual struggles or a character wanting to protect him or herself from another bad experience.

4. Extra Personal
Robert McKee identifies a fourth conflict as extra personal. These are often visual conflicts that are delivered in the form of action or farce. If you recall, the old I Love Lucy show with her classic chocolate factory plot, you will see how this create tension and emotion for the character as well as the viewer. The young camper lost in the woods finds an abandoned cabin—she thinks. Fear and foreshadowing danger arouses tension and thus emotion.

Part II will cover the Nature of Conflict

Submitting Christian Fiction For Publication

A question appeared on my guestbook comments and I answered the reader, but I wanted to share this with you, especially if you write Christian fiction.  As you know, this is my genre although I did write secular fiction early in my career. Though the whole idea of writing a good book is exactly the same, guidelines vary, but I thought this response to the reader/writer's question might answer some of your questions.

The reader said: I have written three historical romances and would like your suggestsion on how to submit.

Gail's response:
That's a big question and it's covered in detail in my book Writing the Christian Romance. Check your library or it is available on Amazon.com. You can also click the link on this page and it will take you to view the book.

Basically, if you want publishers who will get your books into stores and distribute them around the country and even to foreign countries, you need an agent. This means you need to find Christian agents and submit to them. You can find a good list of them on the ACFW site: http://www.acfw.com/ Look under conference information and then agents. All of the agents listed are approved as legitimate Christian fiction agents. There are many scammers out there. Don't pay a penny to anyone who claims to be an agent. A true agent earns money by selling your novel. The others earns money by telling you that they will try to sell your novel -- but they don't bother.

Very few houses accept without an agent. Love Inspired Historicals do, but that is category romance so the stories are shorter than the long romances and have very specific guidelines to follow.

Knowing publishers guidelines is important. The length of a novel and knowing what makes a great novel is something you need to study if you haven't already. Attending quality Christian conferences where you have access to workshops, agents and editors is helpful. Working with critique groups is great because you get feedback from people who are also writing and hopefully know the difficult rules of writing fiction. Most people don't sell their first novels because they haven't learned the techniques and skill of writing quality books. The competition is high.

Many people give up and self-publish, but that is often a losing game, because no one sells , markets or distributes your books. They will list them online but that doesn't sell books. There are millions of books listed online. You have to hand sell self-published books which is time-consuming and difficult. Digital is another road -- but that takes a miracle to make any money. I have over 3 million books in print and my royalties from a digital novel is negligable. I'm sure that will grow in time as Kindles and other readers become more popular.

To summarize, you need an agent and it's important to understand what Christian publishers will accept and what they won't. You can find that in my book that I mentioned also -- or you might find it in any newer published books on writing Christian fiction. I may have a little of that on my website www.gailmartin.com under For Readers. Check the articles and FAQs.

For Christian Fiction Writers:
If you write Christian fiction, take a look at our upcoming conference and our organization. I've known so many unpublished authors who joined us are now selling to the big Christian publishers and historicals are in demand. Both the organization and the conference has so much to offer. The organization has free classes, critique groups, marketing info and topics of the week, networking and access to archives on a multitude of research and writing topics. The conference opens the door for you to meet with agents and editors who are often be willing to look at your novel, and some of us serve as mentors where you can have a 15 minute appointment with published authors and have them look at your work or offer advice. All of this is covered under the cost of the conference. Our cconference is ususally the third weekend in September and the location varies around the country.

WAYS TO IMPROVE YOUR WRITING STYLE

Newer authors struggle with writing technique, and long time writers still find elements in writing that are their nemesis. Being aware of problem areas in your writing can help you move ahead as a writer when you focus on them and find ways to improve those techniques. Here are a few tips on become a better writer.

• Write active. Passive voice has a place in writing, but passive writing is a negative element. The most telltale clue to passive writing is the “to be” verbs: was, were, is, are, be, been, and being. One of the main problems with these verbs are they tell rather than show. She was beautiful. Can you picture this? Not really. But can you picture this? Her long raven-colored hair hung down her back in thick waves, brushing against her slender arms and contrasting with her eyes, the color of a Caribbean sea. Now you can get a picture of this woman.

• Avoid phrases that tell rather than show, such as felt and seem. I felt sick. Why not show the feeling through more vivid language. Nausea roiled in my stomach, burning its way to my throat with the stench of the decaying body. This sentence is far more dramatic and makes an impact on the reader. Avoid those words, such as: I felt, He believe, She seemed and In my opinion. You want your narration to come to life more fully with description and emotion.

• Redundancy of phrases and description slows down a novel and makes readers wonder if the author thinks they’re stupid, otherwise why would they keep telling them the same thing over and over? If a character has an experience or if a telephone call is heard by the reader, don’t retell what happened to another character. Use transitions, such as: After telling Joe what she’d seen, Allie pulled up her shoulders and waited for his response. Or forming the awful words in her mind, she related the horrible situation to Joe. Now the author can move along with new information—a discussion on what happened, possible solutions to the problem or if in the other character’s POV, you can show that character’s emotion over the situation.

• Don’t overuse words. Authors tend to have favorite words. Run a “find and replace” check on those words that you seem to overuse and find a synonym that means the same or similar. Not only words but phrases can cause a problem. Romance writers tend to use phrases, such as: her heart fluttered or her pulse hammered. Find new and more interesting ways to express those feelings. This happens in all genre so all authors need to keep an eye on repeated phrases. Even something as simple as repetitive nouns: John invited her in and motioned toward a chair. She crossed the room and sank into the chair. Instead, use cushion or seat. This can also happen with verbs. He looked at her. He gazed at her. He eyed her. He studied her. He searched her face. Make sure you use a variety of verbs. In a long novel, you will find some of these words will be used over and over.

• Avoid adverbs. Adverbs trigger weak writing to an editor and many readers. Instead of using adverbs, select the most dynamic verb possible. For example: He said loudly . . How do you say something loudly? He bellowed. He yelled. He screamed. He roared. He hollered. You have many choices so don’t show weak writing by adding adverbs to said and asked. And don’t use tag words other than said and asked. “How have you been?” she queried. That’s almost laughable. Obviously she’s asking or querying by the nature of the sentence. Words like: replied, noted, responded, queried, questioned, and all those other tags jump out at the reader. Said and asked are words readers gloss over.

• Look for compound and complex sentences. Sentence that are two long and too complex can lose a reader. If he has to stop and reread a sentence, you have pulled the reader from your novel and broken the spell of your story. Keep sentence length fluid but be careful of making them too long. Longer sentences work best with quiet moments in a novel during introspection or sometimes romantic descriptions. Short sentences work well for drama, suspense, thrillers and adventure.

• Avoid $$$ words. If readers don’t know a word, they stop and look it up or ponder what it means. Although you might like using a “million dollar” word, you put the reader at a disadvantage. Keep the vocabulary in the POV character’s tone and verbal style. Vocabulary ties to your character’s education, experience and career. Make sure your vocabulary fits your character. Use language that most people can pronounce and understand.

• Avoid predict nominatives and predict adjectives. It’s the same as she was beautiful (a predicate adjective). The word “was” or any other form of the “to be” verb tells rather than shows. She was a ballerina (predicate nominative). Instead, describe her entrance into the room. She glided across the floor, her slender arms as fluid as music, as if she worn her tutu for the evening. Another example: He was a cowboy. Instead use description that shows he’s a cowboy. His Stetson sat cocked on his head like a rooster’s comb, reminding everyone he not only managed the ranch, he owned it. Much more vivid and showing.

Although this list could go on and on, tackle one these problem areas that affects your writing, and once you’ve strengthened that element, move on to a new one. Trying to change too many weak areas causes frustration. Improving one element at a time works best6, and you’ll make good progress polishing your writing and developing a quality style.