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Closer to home, we have bosses and co-workers, family members, neighbors, and even friends who can drive us crazy when their needs are in opposition to our own. These conflicts can stress us out, give us headaches, and can cause us physical and emotional pain. Some people resort to violence when they find themselves in conflict with someone else. Most of us, though, strive to resolve and manage the conflicts in our lives in a way in which no one gets hurt. (Though I’m sure some of us fantasize about going all “9 to 5” on our bosses!)
Personally, I hate conflict in my life! I was forced to deal with other people’s conflict on a daily basis when I was a cop. Now that I’m an ex-cop, I find I have little desire to deal with any kind of conflict.
But when I don my writer’s cap, strangely enough, I find that conflict is the best thing I could possibly have. A character without conflict is a cardboard cutout without life. A story without conflict has the excitement of a grocery list. Conflict is the engine that powers both our characters and our plots.
Have you ever had writers block? Do your characters ever feel flat to you? Do you find your plot wandering? If so, focusing on the conflicts in your story can be a sure-fire remedy. Most problems with characterization and plot can be solved with proper use of conflict.
But what does this involve? What are the different types of conflict you should be building? Once built, how do you sustain it for your entire story? How and when you do resolve it?
Please join me for my workshop “Conflict – How to Build It, Sustain It & Resolve It” from September 6– 13 and find out how a bad thing can become a very good thing!
For a full list of my 2011 workshops, please visit my website at www.jroycraft.com
Jaye Roycraft
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