Conflict management
Nov 15th, 2006 by Sandra
What makes a story “last” from the opening page to the final paragraph? Conflict, preferably in-your-face, life-threatening (or career-threatening or family-threatening) conflict.
Ever read a book or manuscript that seems to just quit around Chapter Four? It likely suffers from lack of conflict, and usually on two levels.
Level 1
The protagonist’s goal probably isn’t strong enough. The killer diagnosis question for every writer is: If the protagonist fails to achieve her goal at the book’s end, what will happen? If the result of failure doesn’t involve some sort of profound loss, her goal isn’t strong enough.
Or let’s say you’re writing a category romance story and you’re setting up conflict between the hero and heroine. If their goals are diametrically opposed — she’s trying to save the bankrupt family acreage as a sustainable organic farm and he’s the developer who wants to turn the lush property into a toxic waste dump — then the conflict will sizzle on every page. Why? Because her goal and his goal will collide head-on in every scene where they interact.
Level 2
Okay, so you’ve got the colliding goals that promise a train wreck on every page. Now, don’t resolve that conflict until page 296 of a 300-page novel.
Too many times, the conflict promised in Chapter 1 dies out halfway through the book because the conflict gets resolved too soon. Suddenly the toxic waste dump idea is dropped, the heroine comes up with a loan, and viola! all is well. Then it’s just down to watching the hero and heroine dance around their attraction for the rest of the story.
This is a symptom of mistaking sexual tension for conflict. Sexual tension isn’t the primary conflict (unless, perhaps, you’re writing romantica or erotica). Sexual tension is what wells up between the characters when they allow themselves to look past the external organic farm-toxic waste dump conflict so that he sees she really is a level-headed businesswoman and she sees he really does care about the environment and has insisted on state-of-the-art containment for toxic material.
Yes, I know, people will tell you ad nauseam that you have to have sexual tension on every page. But I think that’s crap. I think you have to have emotional tension on every page for a romance to work. Because inexperienced writers so often get confused about sexual tension. More on sexual tension tomorrow.
Some remedies
Start with the protagonists’ goals. If the protagonist fails and suffers little or no consequences, the goal isn’t strong enough. If you’ve already written the book, have a close look at what you might consider to be “secondary issues.” Chances are, one of those secondary issues could actually be the primary one. No matter how commercial our writing, books are ultimately organic; your writer’s mind has likely populated the story with hints and clues about what the book is actually about. Perhaps one of the secondary characters is suffering a situation that could be given to the protagonist to heighten her goal and conflict. Have a look around and keep an open mind.
Keep the conflict on page every time the hero and heroine appear together. Conflict should keep things tense. Your hero and heroine may be forced into working together, but their basic values and attitudes can still come out “sideways” in the scene. What makes the heroine want to be an organic farmer? What makes the hero want to manage toxic waste dumps? These underlying attitudes will emerge even in an innocent conversation about, say, the merits of barbeque or foster parenting — topics that have nothing to do with the overt conflict.
Keep the hero and heroines hands off each other for a hundred pages. This includes looks, stares, scents, shudders, being “intrigued,” and all the other code words for sexual attraction. I don’t know about you, but if I’m mad at a guy, I’m busy being mad and can’t get all hot and bothered over him. So why should the heroine? And if the hero really is busy being concerned over his abused sister’s fresh black eye, is he really going to take a moment for a brief fantasy about the heroine?
Conclusion
Keep writing, no matter how strong or weak the conflict. We learn to write by writing. And if anything here doesn’t ring true for you as a writer, ignore it!