Digging Deeper

I had the good fortune last Saturday to attend the Donald Maass Workshop, Writing 21st Century Fiction, put on by the Rose City Romance Writers (see Meggan's post from Tuesday). If you're a writer and ever have the chance to attend one of his workshops or lectures—do it. You won't be sorry.

A lot of the information was familiar, but it was presented in a way that it struck a new chord (for me, anyway). Here are the highlights that resonated the most with me.

"Don't write what is safe."

Writing what's easy, expected, common, familiar, will not touch readers. You need to dig deeper into the story—and into your own experiences—and write what you're afraid to write.

We—and by extension, our characters—never feel just one emotion at a time. Use those secondary emotions, instead of "skimming the surface" by writing the primary (expected) emotion in a scene, to create a visceral connection to the reader.

"Write the unexpected."

What is the one thing your character would never do? Write that. Now what happens?

Yes, this is a variation on "don't write what is safe," but I can't tell you the epiphany I had as I thought about this question. I'd done all the usual things while plotting and writing The Lazarus Gambit — escalated the conflict, made the bad moments worse, and, and, and...I realized I'd played it safe, for my heroine and for myself. Well, not any more!

"Stories are inherently bigger than life."

Don't be afraid of the fromage! Just be sure to set the context before you deliver the cheese. In other words, don't be afraid of writing "over the top." Readers are engaged with and want stories that are bigger than life.

"Story is an infinite well."

Don't save things. Series writers have a tendency to hold things back/save things up for future books in the series. Don't! Put them in — you'll find more later! Story is an infinite well, and the more you write, the more the ideas will come. If you hold back, out of the fear that you won't be able to think of something later, you'll short-change what you're writing now — and it will show.

These are a few of the things that stood out to me in a workshop packed with great information. I've already planned serious changes to The Lazarus Gambit, and I know I'll apply these to future books, as well.

Deborah Wright
Website: www.Deborah-Wright.com
Twitter: @DeborahBWright
Facebook: Deborah.Wright.Author

 

Make it Worse!

In Real Life®, I've tried to avoid conflict whenever possible. Personal drama so isn't my thing. Mind you, it doesn't always work, but I think I've been fairly successful in developing positive conflict-avoidance techniques. My life is primarily even-keeled, with only a few big waves now and then, and that's the way I like it.

As a writer, however, my job is to create as much conflict as I can for my characters. To give them seemingly insurmountable obstacles to overcome, and when they conquer those obstacles, throw even harder problems in their paths. Conflict, as they say, keeps readers turning the page.

You see the dichotomy, don't you? How does someone who does her best to avoid conflict in her own life figure out how to create conflict in her writing?

It ain't easy, let me tell you. At least, it hasn't been for me. I think one reason my early stories fizzled out within a few chapters was my inability to create strong conflict, as well as my inability to sustain that conflict. Who wants to read stories where everybody works at getting along and understanding one another? Can you say boring? I knew you could.

Even now, I struggle with writing conflict. In fact, one of the major things I check for during editing is conflict. Right now, as I'm working my way through THE LAZARUS GAMBIT for the third—and hopefully final—time, I have a list of things to watch out for and at the head of that list is this: Make it Worse! I've already strengthened the conflict in several scenes and won't be surprised to rewrite several more.

I wish I could say that I've figured out how to easily inject believable conflict into my stories and no longer have to worry about this impediment to my writing. But the truth is, I doubt that will ever be true. I'll always have to consciously work on conflict, because it doesn't come naturally to me.

How about you? As a writer, do you struggle with conflict, or do you find that aspect of writing easy (and, oh, how I envy you if you do)? As a reader, how do you feel about conflict — does it ever feel like writers are throwing everything but the kitchen sink at characters, or can there never be too much conflict?

Deborah Wright
Twitter: @DeborahBWright
Facebook: Deborah.Wright.Author