Monday, June 15, 2020

How Much Conflict is Too Much? You Need to Be the Judge

You know, if you put all of this into a book...

Everything that's happened since New Year's Day....

And submitted it to an editor, they'd politely refuse to publish and remind you that your conflict was over-the-top and advise you to focus your story on a more realistic situation unless you're writing a dystopian novel, in which case, they're the wrong publisher anyway.

:)

When life throws more at you than a book allows, how do you pick and choose what goes into the book?

Carefully!

If you've ever read a book that just hammers a protagonist repeatedly and wanted to throw it across the room because the conflicts were conflicts-of-convenience rather than organic, that's kind of 2020 to a "T", isn't it? Enough already!

And Mother Nature can keep her stupid Murder Hornets to herself, thank you very much.

Picking and choosing what chaos, problems you're going to include in a contemporary or historical is clutch. You can have a classic family or town problem and all of its internal and external effect... crime, infidelity, divorce, death, illness, etc and show the ripple effect as it progresses outward, and then throw in a storm (pick one that fits the time of year) or a medical emergency (a train derailment, all hands on deck, a major crash on an interstate, food poisoning at a local wedding venue) or something major, and then the spillover of your major problem.... But if you pile it all on, creating a full-on quagmire of 2020 style problems, it borders on disbelief, even though we're living it.

Why?

Because it's so far beyond the norm that it might not connect with the reader.

Writing a novel is a lot like planning a wedding dinner, beginning with the appetizer:

Pick two:  Stuffed mushrooms, Shrimp-and-artichoke spread on Bagel Crisps, meat and cheese tray with crackers, lobster puffs, mini-quiches

Two many appetizers and the meal is wasted.

When you begin your novel, you don't necessarily have to have it all plotted out. But you do need to Aim For The End.

As you weave your story blanket, all threads need to progress across the grain and end up at the same place.

And that's the tangle of adding in too many conflicts. How can you do justice to the ongoing cause-and-effect if everything's in a knot?

I've seen good authors miss the boat on this and I see lots of new authors go both ways... way too much unrelated conflict and too little conflict, tied together with a loose structure of words/scenes bare of emotion.

Give yourself the fun of writing but don't be afraid to tackle into the deep subjects and then the willingness to edit like crazy to make it work, to tie those threads, and if 2020 pushes you to add too many toppings, either resist the urge...

Or possibly write the Next Big Thing. :)

Just be willing to do the work to make it shine from beginning to end.

Multi-published, bestselling author Ruth Logan Herne lives on a pumpkin farm in WNY that welcomes fairies and/or faeries to her gardens and trees so that children can look up-- or down-- and smile. :) With almost sixty published books to her credit, she's loving the opportunities she's been given and loves to encourage others to keep forging ahead. Don't give up! You can friend her on Facebook, email her at loganherne@gmail.com or visit her website ruthloganherne.com.

41 comments:

  1. Am I first this morning?!

    Great post, Ruthy. I have to work a LOT at adding conflict, because if I don't I end up with a bunch of people sitting around talking about things. That might have worked for "Seinfeld" or "Friends" :) but not what I'm aiming for. Thanks for another kick in the pants. I need them!!

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    1. We've talked about this before, Glynis! Conflict is not my favorite, either!

      Maybe we could start a new genre. "People sitting around talking for the whole book." :-)

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    2. Glynis, I don't know about you, but when God is really trying to hammer something home on me, He speaks in multiples. Seems we keep having conversations about conflict here on Seekerville. Me thinks God is trying to tell you something. ;)

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    3. Ah, conflict is tough at the beginning especially because moms like to FIX THINGS!!! I bet men authors don't have this kind of issue the same way.

      So we have to learn to hang up the fix-it hat and create a rough road, like the kind love songs sing about. :) And that makes that happy ending so much better!!!!!

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  2. This is a good post, Ruthy. We definitely have to have conflict. I fondly remember Janet and her description of the "tea-drinking scenes." Jane Austen could elevate a tea party to high drama but none of us is Jane Austen. Last time I checked.
    I'm rereading Terri Blackstock's "Restoration" quartet and she does pile it on, a worldwide power outage throwing people back to the Stone Age, a couple of mysteries and a couple of murders, a sick child, but she makes it all work and again it probably takes a Terri Blackstock to do it.
    I try to aim for the trifecta of conflict: inner conflict, usually between the character and God; personal conflict usually between the H and H; and external conflict. External conflict is one of the reasons I like to write historicals. The Oregon Trail, the first or second World Wars, the Land Rush or a cattle drive or a plague sweeping New Orleans. The future can be pretty challenging too (Hail, hail dystopia). But if the characters have inner conflicts, conflict with each other and a challenging setting, you've got the germ of a plot.
    Even if we never write directly about the past six months, I believe it will influence our writing as we try to show people up against the wall and the triumph of the human spirit.
    Busy day, house work and yard work, may be back later.
    KB

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    1. That's one thing I like about writing historical fiction, too, Kathy. If you set your story in the middle of an external conflict that already exists, you've got it made.
      At least for the external conflict!

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    2. Jan, that's so true. A book set during war time or a pandemic or a shipwreck or plague.... so many external conflicts that push the other external conflicts which spawns internal conflicts!!! So that can be a best friend for us!

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  3. Ruthy, good post on story conflict. It's my biggest weakness! Thanks for the reminder that everything needs to be able to be woven into the main conflict.

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    1. Missy, I just remember how I hated to make people suffer when I was new!!!!

      And now I am not quite so recalcitrant. :)

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  4. Thank you for jumping in today, Ruthy! My brain told me this was the second Monday, not the third!

    And I'm so glad you wrote about conflict! I know I'm not alone in considering conflict one of the hardest parts of writing. I know it in my head, but getting it down in the story is another matter. Maybe that's one reason why I'm having fun writing a mystery - the conflict is the main thing, so it HAS to be there. :-)

    Thanks again!

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    1. You are so welcome!

      And that is the fun of cozy mysteries.... I can bring the person's character along as I go, but the conflict is there... right there! and all I have to do is set up the path. :)

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  5. Ruth!

    You tricked me! I read this whole post thinking Jan Dexler wrote it and never even suspected it was not Jan. Did you adopt her voice?

    I didn't notice any New Yorkisms. No Yiddish. No lil'darlings. No mylantas. I felt like I was clueless in Gaza. Not even a pumpkin. I was indeed a stranger in a strange land.

    From a marketing point of view, I believe an author needs to know her base readers and their expectations. She needs to know her voice and set the right tone for the story. Conflict can be off-stage or it can be in your face and graphic. "Who is Afraid of Virginia Woolf" is all about being in your face. Superhero movies demand as much conflict as you can fit in two hours and thirty-two minutes.

    I think the big question about conflict is much the same as with violence: "Is it gratuitous?" If it is gratuitous, even too little is too much.

    Oh, and one thing I would question, I think The End comes towards the story like a magnet to iron -- not because it wants to, or because it is being sought, but rather because it must.

    It's just good writing physics.

    Vince

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    1. Maybe Ruthy and I just hang out together on-line to much!

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    2. You may have a point Ruth. I've never seen you both in the same room at the same time.

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  6. I very much agree that 2020 is giving us too much conflict... and we still have the election to go! I think maybe that's why I am afraid to set any books in the time since COVID struck. How do you choose which parts to include and which to leave out. It's something running through my head as I write a chapter here and there on a new story idea. But I already have one character full of guilt and doubt because he introduced his brother-in-law to the woman he left the guy's sister for. And another struggling to support her dementia-ridden grandmother and war amputee brother with her cleaning business. I'm not sure they can handle much more!

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    1. Amy, I think you either choose to add the pandemic in (even though it dates the book specifically) or you choose to leave it out. Once the decision has been made, you can thread it seamlessly.

      (Says Ruthy with a grin....)

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  7. Oh, my goodness... I had to read the beginning of this to my hubby because our 2020 has been crazy.

    Truth is Stranger Than Fiction edition:
    House insurance issues with our roof and front porch. Switch to a different insurance provider because they are NICER and more professional. Lots of craziness involved in this. It would be a book unto itself.
    Hubby falls on black ice at work on February 19th, breaking 2 bones and severely displacing his ankle. Has surgery that afternoon.
    Oh, and he did that in the middle of a week when our roof was being torn off and completely replaced. (Note: Don't ever take Melanie's blood pressure in the middle of a mess!!!)
    More craziness with house insurance and waiting on approval for a big loan to tear off front porch and replace it. Papers were finally signed on March 30th, just when construction was shut down by our governor.
    Throw COVID-19 into the mix. Hubby said he was self-isolating before self-isolation became a thing. He couldn't drive (of course it was his right ankle), so I was chauffeur for everything, not to mention slave, haha. ;-)
    Second ankle surgery on May 13th--to remove the 2 long screws holding his ankle together. Thankfully he could walk!
    The day after the screw-removal surgery, he had surgery on his back to remove skin cancer layer-by-layer in hopes of getting it all. Which they did, thank You, Lord! :)
    Thankfully we didn't have to rely on workers' comp checks to pay all our bills as we were blessed early on by family and friends. And the stimulus check which we were dipping into out of necessity.
    Hubby's co-workers were laid off in March, then some called back. Hubby was told that he could come back part-time when he was cleared of all restrictions but that he would probably be laid off when the work set aside for him was done. So he returned to work part-time last Monday (June 8th), worked 4 partial days and was laid off on Friday. So now unemployment nightmares begin. (Work does want him in 1 day a week--to be there as many hours as he is up to putting in--because he can oversee some of the other guys in the shop and do some specialized work. He's a golf car mechanic.)

    Don't ask me about our Truth is Stranger Than Fiction year of 2005!

    So, yeah, we've had an even crazier year than a lot of people have had. Yet I still struggle with developing conflict in my books.

    And I haven't written at all this year (except late at night, when I work on different scenes in my head; it helps me get to sleep). It was going to be a year of rereading my novel which was turned down by an agent in early October 2019 and possibly submitting to a different agent. But priorities have been higher. And now our son and his family are coming up to NY from NC later this month to stay for a week. Haven't seen our daughter and family since 3 days after hubby's fall. I don't foresee much quiet time in the future for writing...

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    1. It sounds like you have enough conflict in your life already, Melanie! It's time to put the brakes on!

      But we don't get to choose, do we? We have to deal with the things that come our way, no matter how stressful or cruddy they are.

      That's why conflict is so important to our stories, IMHO. We need to show our characters shining in the face of whatever comes into their lives. :-)

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    2. Oh, Melanie, that's a lot, for sure. I've had years like that... maybe half-decades like that. In a big family, you kind of expect stuff to happen, and you roll with it, but you guys got hammered.

      Bless you and the whole family and I hope your husband is doing better!

      And I agree with Jan... it's so important to put that conflict in place depending on what kind of story you're writing. I figure that life has been my very best teacher and inspiration. :)

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    3. Melanie, you precious girl! God bless you.
      I had one in 1983...it was so bad I still remember it. Wow. Hard to top your story though.

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  8. I will never forget the fall of 2011. There was a wildfire threatening our ranch. We lost some acreage, but the structures were fine. A week later, my husband broke his back. The doctors were kind enough to add this little caveat, "And by the way, there's a mass on your kidney." Two months later, he was diagnosed with cancer and had the kidney removed. He was supposed to go home two days later. But there were complications and they discovered a pulmonary embolism. He was put on blood thinners and a week later he finally came home. Now, God had a reason in each and every one of those events, and they all worked together for good. But if I tried to put them in a book, my editor would tell me it was too much. So yes, life really is stranger than fiction!

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    1. What a roller-coaster ride, Mindy. I remember you had more than your fair share of worry at that time. So thankful your hubby pulled through it all!

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    2. Mindy, I remember praying for you and Richard then, but I don't think I knew the extent of things.... just that he was in trouble and you needed prayer and it was an absolute honor to do it!

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    3. Your husband's broken back helped reveal the cancer. The cancer revealed the embolism. As for the fire, I'm not sure how that fits.

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    4. My brother-in-law was recently diagnosed with kidney cancer... and the nephrologist told him that most kidney cancers are discovered accidentally because something else happens. Isn't that a weird stat?

      I like Mary's chain of events and she didn't even try to make an excuse for the fire because that was to warn someone else of something. :)

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    5. Mary, the fire is what spurred him to trim this one particular branch and when that branch fell, it knocked the ladder out from under him, resulting in the broken back. That entire series of events has been a living example of how God works ALL things together for good. Even when things are tough, God is still at work.

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    6. Debby, all of you Seekers covered us in prayer during that time and I can't tell you how much it meant to me. They sustained me.

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    7. Ruthy, you are exactly right. Kidney cancer has no symptoms until stage four, and by then it's usually too late. To this day, Richard grateful he broke his back. And I am, too. ;)

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  9. This year has been historic, to say the least. And you're right, Ruthy, an editor would claim a story based on what we've experienced is over the top. A pandemic followed by riots! YIKES! At the beginning of January, I kept saying 2020 was going to be a great year. Hmmm? I should have said 2020 would be memorable, which is has been, for sure!

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    1. Memorable, yes! :) Oh my stars, when I look at it, it's almost unbelievable, but then we lived it and it makes us stronger.

      Stronger is good!

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  10. it fits 2020 to a T. So stinking true.

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  11. Yep, perfectly describes 2020. Wayyyyyy too many plot threads with much too much conflict! I believe now would be a good time for a reaction scene rather than another action one! Time to breathe, reflect upon what's happened, and make some decisions...

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    1. My first decision would be to leave a city if I lived in one of the overcrowded ones.

      My second would be to keep a stocked cupboard and freezer.

      My third would be to practice with my firearms because I believe people should know how to work and handle a gun. Where would we be if those colonials didn't know how to shoot for food or freedom?

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  12. I recently read a book that jumped from one conflict to the next and became so unbelievable to me. Thank you for sharing. Blessings

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  13. In 1983, before many of you were born, I had my third child in November.
    She was four days old on Thanksgiving and my family was celebrating Thanksgiving in a town 90 minutes away.
    My husband would NOT go because the weather forecast was so bad, even though the day was fine. I HATED IT! I wanted to show everyone my pretty little baby!
    So that ended in a blizzard and we were off...the winter of 83-84. Bitter cold.
    I had three kids under age 5. I knew that if I took them anywhere and we had car trouble, we would die. Literally. I couldn't walk anywhere with three little ones. No cell phones. Awful cold. My husband got the flu that settled in his kidneys and really made him terribly sick, and yet he never quit working, hard work everyday to keep his cows alive. And I had a two year old with chronic ear infections, so always another doctor visit that culminated in her getting tubes in her ears in February 84.
    Christmas cancelled, New Years cancelled. I almost ran out of food. Rather than go to the grocery store (with my three little ones threatening to freeze to death) I just cooked whatever was in there. I still remember opening a cupboard and staring at a near empty shelf.
    We had meat in the freezer and canned vegetables so we could keep eating.
    But there wasn't much room for being creative.
    The weather. No food. A sick husband. A sick two year old. A new baby.
    More conflict that I wanted.

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    1. Goodness, Mary! That would be challenging for anyone, but to have all those little ones counting on you? No stress there. And poor hubby. I bet you felt like you'd thrust back in time and were living like the pioneers.

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    2. Out setting snares for rabbit!!! :)

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  14. This is a wonderful post today.
    Just be willing to do the work to make it shine from beginning to end.
    And this should be in every area of our lives.
    I dont write, but I make greeting cards and quilt. This definitely applies to those.

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  15. Thanks for the post Ruthy. I'm not sure I want to include the events in 2020 any time soon in a novel - although I did see an indie fiction book on pandemic romance stories. So there are some stories out there already!

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