Thanks for the tips! I have been really helped by interviewing my characters. I was surprised at what they feared and wanted of me. I get into trouble because I don't want conflict as a person or as a writer. And where is the story in that?! Some of the things that storytellers do to cause conflict really annoy me. The number one strategy that frustrates me is the paternalistic protective type of mistake, where the, usually male, character doesn't tell somebody what he is doing to protect them. Or he gets into stupid conflicts because he's protective. I also get frustrated in general when characters don't tell each other the truth. That's soap opera methodology. I am really interested in how personal history will cause people to do irrational things. The novel I am writing at the moment is based on a travel narrative I study as a historian, which ends violently with only a few escaping death. So there's plenty of conflict in the buildup to that. Still, I will struggle to kill off any of the characters that have grown beloved. Even though I love that feeling of sorrow as a reader and viewer. I guess it's good to know that I am a conflict avoidant person and writer!
Thanks for your comment. One thing I find is that every reader is different. Things that annoy one will not bother another at all. But I do agree that conflict is essential. We want to identify with characters and, I think, sympathize with their struggles. Your novel sounds interesting.
Thanks for the tips! I have been really helped by interviewing my characters. I was surprised at what they feared and wanted of me. I get into trouble because I don't want conflict as a person or as a writer. And where is the story in that?! Some of the things that storytellers do to cause conflict really annoy me. The number one strategy that frustrates me is the paternalistic protective type of mistake, where the, usually male, character doesn't tell somebody what he is doing to protect them. Or he gets into stupid conflicts because he's protective. I also get frustrated in general when characters don't tell each other the truth. That's soap opera methodology. I am really interested in how personal history will cause people to do irrational things. The novel I am writing at the moment is based on a travel narrative I study as a historian, which ends violently with only a few escaping death. So there's plenty of conflict in the buildup to that. Still, I will struggle to kill off any of the characters that have grown beloved. Even though I love that feeling of sorrow as a reader and viewer. I guess it's good to know that I am a conflict avoidant person and writer!
Thanks for your comment. One thing I find is that every reader is different. Things that annoy one will not bother another at all. But I do agree that conflict is essential. We want to identify with characters and, I think, sympathize with their struggles. Your novel sounds interesting.