I’m editing and I keep wondering, is there enough conflict in my story? Though I could do without it in real life, it’s different in my story. In a book, conflict is key. It’s so important.
So, I did a bit of searching and found some sites on conflict. If you’re like me and wondering if you have enough of it, these might help.
http://www.helpingwritersbecomeauthors.com/2013/11/double-storys-conflict-seconds.html–How to double your conflict in seconds. Thanks to K.M. Weiland.
http://blog.nathanbransford.com/2009/03/on-conflict.html–Nathan Bransford weighs in on conflict and why you need it.
http://blog.janicehardy.com/2012/11/guest-author-cj-redwine-how-to-escalate.html–10 ways to escalate conflict in your story.
http://blog.janicehardy.com/2010/11/find-your-plot-fridays-forcing-issue.html–By Janice Hardy again. Another great post on how to add conflict to scenes.
http://thewritepractice.com/creating-conflict/–by Joe Bunting on how to create conflict.
http://www.helpingwritersbecomeauthors.com/2012/09/why-your-storys-conflict-isnt-working.html–A very important point about adding valid conflict by K.M. Weiland.
And finally, a cute and funny test by Janice Hardy to see if you’re too nice to your characters. http://blog.janicehardy.com/2010/12/do-you-suffer-from-nws-living-with-nice.html
P.S. Yes, I did take the test and, no, I don’t want to talk about how I did.
Ha, ha! It sounds like you are in a bit of conflict about putting your characters through some conflict! But it really does make for a more interesting story and helps the reader relate better to your characters. Good Luck to you.
Thank you! And thank you for reading and commenting!
I attempt to shoot for some kind of tension on every single page. It worked for 50 Shades and Twilight 😉
Ah….so funny! But there’s something to that idea…tension in every scene at least might be a good idea…hm….
Some great links 😀 It’s always good to learn more, conflict in a plot is one of the most important things to make strong!
Absolutely! Thanks for the comment!!
It’s a good point to raise. It can be tricky striking the right balance between enough conflict to keep the reader hooked and not so much it dilutes the impact of the plot. Great post!
Thanks so much, Callum!!
Thanks so much for linking to my post! I’m so glad you enjoyed it.
You’re so very welcome! Thank you for writing such great content!
Interesting links (thanks!), and great topic. In a way, you have to be like a surgeon operating on someone you know: put all emotion aside (because you get to love your own characters) and cut where necessary, even if it hurts some characters, it’s going to be good for the greater story.
You’ve got it. That’s exactly it. My first book I tended to protect my characters until reason reasserted itself and I threw them under the bus–and made the story so much better.