Writers in the Storm

By Janice Hardy

You might be missing opportunities to make your conflicts stronger. 

Conflict is one of those terms frequently used as a catch-all for compelling storytelling, when it’s really just one aspect of what makes a strong story. We use it even though we really mean the scene needs a clearer goal, or more tension, or a better character arc, but saying “this scene needs more conflict” sums it up in a convenient—if confusing—way.

It doesn’t help that so much advice out there (mine included) describes conflict as “the obstacle preventing the protagonist from achieving the goal.” This is technically true, but also false. The obstacles in the way of the protagonist’s goal are the challenges that need to be faced, and usually, there is conflict associated with overcoming or circumventing those obstacles, but an obstacle in the way isn’t all conflict is.

“Stuff in the Way” Doesn’t Equal Meaningful Conflict. They’re Only Obstacles. 

This misconception can lead to stories that might look conflict-packed, but actually bore readers.

To be fair, there’s nothing inherently wrong with random obstacles, and they can make for some fun storytelling. Overcoming a random obstacle can show an aspect of the character or reveal a skill. Sometimes a scene just needs “something in the way” to achieve the author’s goal for that scene, and that’s okay.

The problem occurs when the majority of the conflict in a story is a series of random obstacles that do nothing but delay the time it takes for the protagonist to reach and resolve the problem of the novel. 

They serve no purpose and could be swapped out or deleted, and the story would unfold pretty much the same.

For Example:

• Imagine the fantasy protagonist who must navigate the desolate wasteland to reach an oracle with answers she needs. While the wasteland could contain conflicts, if nothing has changed for the protagonist between entering the wasteland and leaving the wasteland, she likely faced no conflicts.
• Picture the romance protagonists who always have “something come up” to keep them from kissing or getting together. While this might work once, or even twice if done with skill, the “near miss” is a contrived obstacle that doesn’t create actual conflict, because nothing is truly keeping the two lovers apart.
• Consider the mystery protagonist who speaks with multiple witnesses and no one has any information to move the plot along. While speaking to people of interest is a critical part of a mystery, if nothing is ever gleaned, suggested, or learned from those conversations, they were only a delaying tactic and did nothing to create or affect the conflict. Speaking to one witness or twelve doesn’t change anything about the story or character.

It all sounds like conflict—overcoming the thing keeping the protagonist from achieving the goal—but it’s not.

What Meaningful Conflict Does Not Look Like

Let’s explore this further with my fantasy wasteland example:

Getting through dangerous terrain is a common trope for the genre. The protagonist’s goal (to reach the oracle) is on the other side of a set of trials and obstacles, and getting through that wasteland will be quite the adventure for the protagonist.

Say the protagonist’s first obstacle is that she must find water or she’ll die. It’s not easy, but she figures out how to get water.

She travels on until wasteland monsters attack. Again, it’s tough, but she’d prepared for this and fights them off and keeps going.

Then there’s a storm of some type, forcing her to face off against the elements. She hunkers down, waits it out, and emerges when it’s over.

Finally, she reaches a chasm she must cross. It takes effort, and she nearly falls and dies several times, but she gets across.

At long last, she reaches the end and consults the oracle and gets her answers.

At first glance, this sounds like a story with tons of conflict, right? But look closer…

1. Do any of these challenges intentionally try to stop the protagonist from reaching the goal?

Nope. None of those obstacles show anyone actively trying to prevent the protagonist from reaching the oracle. Any random person entering the wasteland would have encountered the same issues she did. It’s not personal, it’s just the wasteland.

And even though these obstacles seemed hard to overcome, were they really? Was the reader ever in doubt the protagonist would overcome them, or even be changed by them? Good conflicts come from a problem that creates a personal challenge to overcome, and one that matters to the protagonist. And my above examples don’t do that.

2. Does the protagonist make choices that change her view or force her to struggle to find the right path?

Again, nope. Nothing about the obstacles in my example challenges the protagonist mentally or emotionally. No hard choices were made to find water or beat a monster. There was nothing really at stake and no soul searching to choose the right path to the oracle. She just dealt with whatever appeared in front of her.

The scene would have been stronger if overcoming these obstacles required internal struggles, or caused a change in the character’s viewpoint or belief that made facing (and maybe failing) them matter to her character or growth. Readers would have cared more and been more uncertain about what might happen, because then the obstacles would have obviously had a point for being there.

From a larger story standpoint, the external challenges (physical problems) didn’t do anything to affect the plot or character. Similarly, the internal challenges (mental or emotional problems) didn’t exist. This series of obstacles were just things in the way. They provided no conflict to the goal, even if they did provide obstacles to the goal. Reaching the oracle wasn’t hard, because no matter how difficult those obstacles might have seemed, they caused no struggle or challenge to the protagonist on a physical, mental, or emotional level.

And that’s the difference between conflicts and “something in the way” obstacles.

Obstacles vs. Conflicts

Remove any of these obstacles and the protagonist consults the oracle exactly the same way, because the obstacles did nothing but kill time until the scene could occur.

Which is an easy way to find obstacles vs. conflicts in your scenes. 

Conflicts involve struggle. They’re about facing a challenge and having to decide what to do about it—and there are consequences to making the wrong choice and losing (and, remember, death isn’t a real consequence, as protagonists rarely die). 

Now, this doesn’t mean you can’t ever have an obstacle in your story. They’re a perfectly useful way to add a little excitement or interest to a scene, as long as you also have true conflict in there as well. 

If the wasteland protagonist was uncertain if seeking out the oracle was the right thing to do, or she doubted her ability to traverse the wasteland alone, and she made choices to do this that had real consequences, then they might be perfectly fine. They might trigger some deep soul searching about her choices, or make her realize she was risking more than she wanted to for the answers, or prove to her that she wasn’t ready for something, and that would have serious repercussions for her future. 

And thus, those obstacles become more than just “stuff in the way.”

Just a quick heads up before the end…I’ve just started a daily writing tips email, sending story-based writing tips four times a week. They’re quick, fun tips that take just minutes to read, and you can use right away to improve your writing. You can sign up for it here.

Have you made this mistake? How often do you use obstacles vs conflicts on your scenes?

About Janice

Janice Hardy is the award-winning author and founder of the popular writing site Fiction University, where she helps writers improve their craft and navigate the crazy world of publishing. Not only does she write about writing, she teaches workshops across the country, and her blog has been recognized as a Top Writing Blog by Writer’s Digest. She also spins tales of adventure for both teens and adults, and firmly believes that doing terrible things to her characters makes them more interesting (in a good way). She loves talking with writers and readers, and encourages questions of all types—even the weird ones. 

Find out more about writing at www.Fiction-University.com, or visit her author’s site at www.JaniceHardy.com. Subscribe to her newsletter to stay updated on future books, workshops, and events and receive her ebook, 25 Ways to Strengthen Your Writing Right Now, free.

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by Jenny Hansen

We all have things that keep us from writing. It might be a lack of time, or analysis paralysis. It might be an inability to start or to finish. Perhaps it is a lack of knowledge -- of craft, or story structure, or even your own characters. Maybe, just maybe, it is the flat-out fear that you are [fill in the blank]. Not good enough, not talented, or -- heaven forbid -- a hack.

Creatives have very fertile imaginations and it is our special talent to create mental messages strong enough and scary enough to fell a rhino.

Let's leave that talent on the back doorstep for a moment, and talk about something else...

Perseverance Matters

One of my favorite allegories from Aesop is "The Tortoise and the Hare." Allegory is a story form with an underlying message, and boy does this one resonate with me. You have the bouncy boastful rabbit with all the running talent and speed in the world. Then you have the plodding methodical tortoise whose only talent is perseverance, and keeping the goal in mind. Mr. Tortoise has that Dory the fish mentality of "just keep swimming" that is an absolute gift.

Genius can't be rushed.

I think about books like Lord of the Rings (J.R.R. Tolkien) and Gone with the Wind (Margaret Mitchell) that took more than a decade to write, and wonder how society would be different if they'd given up.

It's hard to be patient while you get the story out. Sometimes writers rush to publication. Or we give up on our stories to early, before we've really given them a chance to grow up and be who they were intended to be.

One of my favorite quotes is about how much you can accomplish with simple act of perseverance:

"Most people overestimate what they can accomplish in a year, and underestimate what they can accomplish in five years."

~ Tony Robbins

Our books aren't comprised of a single writing session, they're the product of weeks and months and years of effort. If we just focus on our characters and getting them onto the page, we can create something from nothing in that time.

How profound is that??

How do we stay engaged over the long term?

Obviously, there are dozens of ways to master our goals, but here are the five things I think make the biggest impact over time.

1. Remember Your Dream  

It's easy to get lost in the weeds in this writing life. To forget why you want to tell stories, and who you want to tell them to. Some people set mantras around their house - their workspace, their bathroom mirrors, their refrigerator. A lot of us use quotes that resonate.

Any of you who have hung out here for a while know Laura Drake and her favorite quote from The Last Lecture.

“The brick walls are there for a reason. The brick walls are not there to keep us out. The brick walls are there to give us a chance to show how badly we want something. Because the brick walls are there to stop the people who don’t want it badly enough. They’re there to stop the other people.”

~ Randy Pausch

You don't have to be the best or the fastest writer out there if you simply stay engaged and persevere. Remember the dream that started you down this path, and keep it at the forefront of everything you do.

2. Stay Hungry

When I say "stay hungry," I'm not talking about cookies and chips. (Although both of those are the shizz.) Writing success is defined differently by each of us, but nobody gets there without a hunger to publish their stories.

Hunger makes grandiose statements like, “I will not stop. I will not give up. I will find a way.” 

Hunger is why you get up two hours early to write, or why you remain at your computer deep into the night.

Hunger drives you to the next level. It pushes you to visit blogs like this, go to classes, learn skills, and find resources. 

That hunger to see your book in print, or on a movie screen, keeps you reaching for more and refusing to settle for less.

There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you. 

~ Maya Angelou

Stay hungry, my friends. Stay hungry.  

3. Acknowledge Your Fears

Whether it's fear of success, or failure, or something else entirely, a lot of writers have to overcome the barrier of their fears. Step one is to acknowledge them. Step two is to know that you are not alone. Step three is to read posts like these, so you have some tools to overcome those fears.

• Writing Past the Fear by Laura Drake
• The 5 Fears that Spook Most Writers by Me
• Is Fear Freezing Up Your Creativity (also by Me)

Having just finished a cancer journey, I've got a lot to say about fear...and how to do what you need to do anyway.

4. Get Your Butt in the Chair

I'll share a little secret with you -- this entire post was inspired from a comment Mary Tate Engels made on a January post by William Wu. Here is what she said:

I am the Queen of Writing Procrastination so this really speaks to me. Long ago I took an online class from Holly Lisle.

She coined the 4 thinking barriers:
SAFE never starts
PERFECT never finishes
VICTIM never acts
FEEL never thinks

‘I’m not ready’ encompasses all of those. They are all barriers and stories we tell ourselves. I’m practicing a different mindset.

"Butt in Chair, Hands on Keyboard" works!

(Did she nail it, or what? If you sit in front of your manuscript with your hands on your keyboard -- or however you do your writing -- great, glorious, story-making things will happen!)

5. Bring Back Playtime

I follow a delightful writer and teacher named Jill Badonsky, "who lives life like creativity is her oxygen." She's playful and funny and wise. She says Creative Play is the key to keeping your muse in good condition. Because, "Procrastination, resistance, overwhelm, fear, and perfectionism will be confused and leave the vicinity."
 
Brava, Jill...Brava!

Final Thoughts

I could write about this topic for hours, but then y'all would stop reading...because you have stories to write. Just to sum up:

1. Remember Your Dream
2. Stay Hungry
3. Acknowledge Your Fears
4. Get Your Butt in the Chair
5. Bring Back Playtime!

That's the list I'm putting on my bathroom mirror. What is going on yours? What are the barriers you're working to overcome? If you feel comfortable, share some of your journey in the comments!

About Jenny

By day, Jenny Hansen provides brand storytelling, LinkedIn coaching, and copywriting for accountants and financial services firms. By night, she writes humor, memoir, women’s fiction, and short stories. After 20+ years as a corporate trainer, she’s delighted to sit down while she works.

Find Jenny here at Writers In the Storm, or online on Facebook or Instagram.

All article photos from Depositphotos.

by Ellen Buikema

A character's strengths and flaws are an important part of who they are. Well-rounded character need both. These qualities make a character unique and can have a major impact on the story.

It's important to find the balance between a character's strengths and flaws. Flawless characters may seem unrealistic and unrelatable, while characters who are too flawed can be hard to connect with.

Strengths are a character's positive qualities–not just things they’re good at. Also, strengths can help a character achieve their goals and overcome challenges. I think of strengths as a form of intellectual and emotional intelligence. Having a strong set of strengths can make a character more relatable.

When developing characters, consider these 24 cross-cultural strengths.

Courage

Courageous characters have emotional strengths that allow them to achieve goals despite the oppositions they may face—whether an inner struggle or an external one.

The character strengths related with courage are:

• Honesty: Speaking truth, genuine, characters take responsibility for their actions and feelings. Atticus Finch in Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird
• Bravery: Accepting challenges, difficulties, or pain, not running from threats. Matilda in Roald Dahl’s Matilda
  • Physical bravery (public servants of all kinds) Psychological bravery (facing self-painful aspects)
  • Moral bravery (speaking up for what's right, even if it's an unpopular opinion)
• Persistence: Doggedly, completing things once they’re started. Forrest in Winston Groom’s Forrest Gump
• Zest: Facing life headlong with energy and excitement. Ted in Stockman and Cogniglio’s Ted Lasso

Humanity

Characters who are strong in their own humanity have a variety of interpersonal character strengths that involve caring for and making friends. Humanity describes strengths displayed as caring relationships with others.

These character strengths are:

• Kindness: Doing good deeds and favors without expectations. Albus Dumbledore in the Harry Potter series.
  • Moral reasoning
  • Empathy/sympathy
  • Social responsibility
• Love: Valuing close relationships. Levi in Rainbow Rowell’s Fangirl
• Social intelligence: Being aware of other people's motives and feelings. Eleanor Oliphant from Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman

Justice

Characters who are strong in justice usually have civic strengths that emphasize the importance of a well-balanced community. Justice describes strengths to help connect in group-based situations.

The character strengths in the justice group are:

• Fairness: Treating all people the same, free of personal bias. Fairness involves two types of reasoning—Justice and Care. Grace in Amazing Grace by Mary Hoffman
  • Justice reasoning stresses logic and weighs principles to decide moral rights and responsibilities.
  • Care reasoning includes empathy and compassion. Putting on someone else’s shoes and walking around in them a while.

• Leadership: Organizing and supervising group activities. Ned Stark in George R.R. Martin’s A Song of Fire and Ice
• Teamwork: Playing well with others in a group or a team. Hermione Granger in J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series

Temperance

Characters who have temperance as a personal strength tend to protect against the excesses in life.

These strengths are:

• Forgiveness: The ability to let go of the negative feelings from those who have wronged them. The art of mercy. Molly of Danny Parker’s Molly and Mae.

 Distinguish forgiveness from:

• condoning (removing the offense)
  • forgetting (removing awareness)
  • reconciliation (restoring of the relationship)

• Modesty: Letting one's successes and accomplishments stand on their own. Samwise Gamgee in J.R.R. Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings.
• Prudence: A strength of restraint, prudence is thinking before acting. Objectively examine the potential consequences of your actions and control yourself based on that examination. Sylvester of William Steig’s Sylvester and the Magic Pebble.
• Self-regulation: A complex ability that helps manage habits and protects against excess, controlling needs and emotions. Severus Snape in J. K. Rowling's Harry Potter series.

Transcendence

Characters strong in transcendence can connect to the universe and appreciate the possibilities in life. They commune with nature, the Divine, the universe, or religions to better understand the joy of being. Character strengths associated with transcendence are:

• Appreciation of beauty: Notice and appreciate the beauty and wonder in all of life.
  • Physical Beauty. This may include any of the senses, producing awe in the experiencer. Lucy Honeychurch in E.M. Forster’s A Room with a View
  • Talent. This is often energizing and compels a person to pursue their own goals. It inspires admiration. The blond-haired stranger in Lightning by Dean Koontz.
  • Virtue. Virtuousness makes someone want to be better and creates feelings of great joy. Frodo Baggins in J.R.R. Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings.

• Gratitude: Grateful people tend to experience positive emotions. Those emotions inspire them to be humbler, kinder. Gratitude encourages the character strengths of kindness and love and is closely associated with empathy. Professor Minerva McGonagall in J. K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series.
• Hope: Expecting the best and having a willingness to work to make it happen. An optimistic, global point of view. Maathai in Wangari Maathai’s Unbowed.
• Humor: Humor is an important strength for social interactions, can contribute to team/friendship building, and is an invaluable way to deal with difficult situations. Mark Watney in The Martian by Andy Weir.
• Spirituality: The belief in a higher purpose and meaning of life. As a character strength, spirituality involves the belief that there is a dimension to life beyond our understanding. Siddhartha Gautama in Siddhartha by Herman Hesse.

Wisdom

Characters who exhibit wisdom have character strengths that lead them to obtain knowledge and utilize it in creative and useful ways. Core wisdom character strengths are:

• Creativity: Pondering of new ways to do things. Thinking outside-the-box to make something original, but useful. Jack Reacher in Lee Child’s Jack Reacher series.
• Curiosity: Actively seeking experiences with the intention of learning something new and interesting. Taking an interest in a wide variety of topics. Sherlock Holmes in Sherlock Holmes series by Arthur Conan Doyle
• Love of learning: Want to learn for learning’s sake. Motivated by expanding their breadth of knowledge. Hermione Granger in J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series
• Open-mindedness: Willingness to look at things from all sides. Thinking things through. Luna Lovegood in J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series.
• Perspective: Able to see the big picture in life. Characters that have a good grasp of perspective tend not to get wrapped up in the little problems and are good to go to for advice. Jubal T. Harshaw if Robert Heinlein’s Stranger in a Strange Land.

Final Thoughts

Having a firm grasp of characters’ strengths helps the writer know how their fictional people will act and react in the story. It’s helpful to see what makes characters unique. This understanding enables the writer to know how to help the characters use their strengths to improve their situations or outcomes as the plot goes forward.

What strengths do you use to help a character achieve their goals and overcome challenges? Is it possible for a character to have too many strengths?

* * * * * *

About Ellen

Author, speaker, and former teacher, Ellen L. Buikema has written non-fiction for parents, and The Adventures of Charlie Chameleon chapter book series with stories encouraging the development of empathy—sprinkling humor wherever possible. Her Works in Progress are The Hobo Code, YA historical fiction and The Crystal Key, MG Magical Realism/ Sci-Fi, a glaze of time travel.

Find her at https://ellenbuikema.com or on Amazon.

Top Image by John Hain from Pixabay