Patricia G., May 6, 2009, 3:47PM EDT

Got a great question e-mailed to me from Sophie M that I want to post the answer for the whole group:

Q: I'm looking for ideas to put more conflict in the story. Oftentimes, if things go too smoothly, people lose interest. Don't you agree? Any ideas for the group about this?

Thx, Sophie


A: Part of what helped me was watching how dramatic TV shows were structured--a lot of times they leave you on a cliffhanger with one set of characters and then move over to a different set for the next segment--part of your brain is still feeling uneasy for the first set of characters even as you're watching the second set. You can do novels the same way--building the conflict a little at a time until the climax and resolution at the end.

People are drawn to conflict in fiction that they would want to avoid in real life. The hard thing as a writer (especially if you get attached to your characters) is there's a part of you that wants things to be resolved quickly like you would if you had a friend going through their situation. If you do that though, you're right in that people will get bored that things are being solved too easily. It's hard, but the longer you let the conflict stay out there the more it's going to drive the story forward. Plus your characters can grow and develop as they face the situations.