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| woman reading* |
Whether you’re a pantster or an outliner, you probably have
an idea what your central story conflict is as you begin writing. If you don’t,
your writing instincts will kick in and demand one before you get too far. You’ll
find your own story boring, and a conflict will beg invention.
Since conflict is so necessary to your story, you’ll want to
ensure yours is strong enough to carry through the entire book. (Though, sometimes
the central conflict transitions over the course of the story, which is fine.) Throughout
the book, you’ll remind readers of the conflict. But there’s a fine line with
reminders because a reminder can feel redundant, and redundancy renders
conflict less effective.
The key through the middle of the story is to keep readers
engaged, and a fading conflict can defeat that goal.
Here are some tips for avoiding redundancy in regards to your story's
conflict:
** Approach the conflict from a different angle. Perhaps from
another main character’s point of view, or from an outsider’s perspective (as
shown through the POV character’s perspective).
** Dig deeper. Is there another facet you can zero in on to
help readers care more? Give us an aspect we haven’t seen before.
** Add another layer to the problem. This will give fresh
weight to the conflict and cause the stakes to motivate readers to keep reading.
For example, it was one thing when the late payment notice arrived, quite
another when the eviction notice came.
** Add more stakes. Make things personal. For example, a
school in lockdown is serious, but a gunman inside is an emergency. For a
parent of one of the students, this situation is a crisis. High stakes keep
readers committed to seeing the story through.
** Ask yourself if the conflict should transition as the
story progresses. Does the change you imagine fit the story? (Be careful that
the shift doesn’t feel contrived.)
Of course, there is a lot more that goes into keeping the
sag out of the middle of your story, but by maximizing conflict, you’re more
likely to hook and retain your readers.
Your turn: Have you read a book (or your own manuscript)
where the conflict wasn’t strong enough to keep you reading? What are some ways
you’ve kept your story’s conflict from feeling redundant?
One of your hostesses here at Seriously Write, Annette M. Irby writes fiction, edits freelance, and works in acquisitions for Pelican Book Group. She loves encouraging writers because she appreciates all that others have done for her. Learn more at her editing website or her author site.
* Photo credit: woman reading by stockimages at freedigitalphotos.net
