Today’s Writers’ Tip: Common Mistake No. 6 in Fiction – No Significant Conflict

Fast paced culture = fast paced audience = fast paced story telling

Marsha Hubler: Author of THE KEYSTONE STABLES BOOKS

October 27, 2014

Twelve Common Mistakes Found in Fiction Manuscripts

Mistake Number Six: No Significant Conflict

 

This is the sixth blog discussing some common mistakes found in fiction manuscripts from early readers and chapter books to adult novels of all kinds of subgenres. Several weeks ago, we started this list and will continue until we’ve done all of what I believe are the most important common mistakes. Today we’ll look at “No Significant Conflict.”

Too much description and narration

Switching viewpoints in the same scene

A negative tone throughout the story

Infallible or underdeveloped characters

Stilted or unnatural dialogue

No significant conflict

Weak transitions between paragraphs

Impossible resolutions

Redundancy

Passive verbs instead of active verbs

Lack of sensory detail

Lack of emotion or action

There’s nothing more boring than a “slow” book. What do I mean by that? A slow book is one in which the plot never quite…

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“Fools have no …

“Fools have no interest in understanding; they only want to air their own opinions.” ~Proverbs 18:2

The Circle

He was here because one day a man and a woman decided to make love.  Driven by lusts of the flesh and the need for two to become one, they danced in a storm that, given the chance, spirals so easily out of control.  He was the result.  Out of all possible combinations that could have been made that night, his was the one to emerge and walk the earth.

She was here because one day her parents one day made love.

They too one day will decide to make love, and the pattern will continue.  Like their parents before them they will meet and have eyes for one another.  Like their grandparents they will stumble into each others’ hearts without proper invitation.  Like Adam and Eve they will be fruitful and multiply.  Like God they will witness Love beget new life, and see that it is good.

Elevators & Wheels

My day was full of dropped this, broken that, forgotten this, late to that. I forgot about due assignments, that I had a class at 2, and came into work an hour late because I forgot I HAD a JOB. I bought a planner to help me get back on top of things.
After buying it I got onto an elevator to the 4th floor. It stopped and a woman came in wheeling a bunch of stuff. A crate full of binders and assorted paperwork. I rolled on out with my rolly-backpack, stopped, realized it was the second floor and zoomed back in before the doors closed. I made a long, heavy sigh.
“Elevator time,” the woman said, “is a good place to breathe. Breathing is good.”
“A moment and place of introspection,” I said.
“Yeah, a moment to think about stuff like, I donno, life.”
“Yes, life. Life is good,” I say despite how terrible my day had been. I was just happy to be alive, no bitterness, but perhaps a pinch of exasperation with my ditsiness.
“Life IS good,” the doors opened, “thank you for reminding me,” and she wheeled out onto the third floor.

I guess my day stunk, but it was a good day anyway.

Homework

And my vocabulary is rendered to thus…

Do It Anyway

Because life is short and made by the “little things”.

Throw It Away

“The real truth is we porn actresses want to end the shame and trauma of our box office lives but we can’t do it alone, We need you men to fight for our freedom and give us back our honor. We need you to hold us in your strong arms while we sob tears over our deep wounds and begin to heal. We want you to throw out our movies and help piece together the shattered fragments of our lives. We need you to pray for us so God will hear and repair our ruined lives. Don’t believe the big top fantasy. Porn is nothing more than fake sex, bruises and lies on video. Trust me, I know.” -Shelley Lubben

I am an Extremist (You Got Me)

There are some things I read and watch just for the purpose of infuriating myself.

Today I followed a breadcrumb trail of claims on the Internet that I hope to God are not true.  Someone, please, right now, show me something that will convince me this is not true, because right now, as Jefferson once said, “[i]ndeed I tremble for my country when I reflect God is just.”

This is why.

“Nowadays, instead of dressing in sheets or publicly espousing hate messages, many extremists will talk of individual liberties, states’ rights, and how to make the world a better place.” – EOAC Guide.

Wait, wait, a guide used to teach our American military boys and girls states this?  Yes, yes it does.

Also: “Extremist Ideologies” the document states, “In U.S. history, there are many examples of extremist ideologies and movements.  The colonists who sought to free themselves from British rule and the Confederate states who sought to secede from the Northern states are just two examples.”

I thought this was a good thing!

Our founding fathers were extremists, I agree.  What they set out to do was pretty extreme, I mean, talking about rights.  That’s completely crazy, rebellious, and whoa there, how dare you ask for rights.  You listen to your mother country right now, or you and your extreme attitude are going to get it…

The men that made our country happen are not perfect, ideological stars without a single moral flaw.  Many of them were jerks, and dare I say complete assholes (look to your right.)  They also had the audacity to say “I’m done.  I don’t want to be part of this anymore.  I have a right to rebel against a government I think is treating me like trash.  I want something else.”

And America was born.  Small, frail, and should have come out stillborn, but it managed against the odds.  Lucky little prick.  Who would have guessed.  Thank heavens she was around when World War II broke out.

But Mr. U.S. Government,

I thought I was supposed to be a cute little patriot.

I thought I was supposed to idealize the country these men made happen.

I thought this county could never go wrong.

Isn’t that what you’ve been trying to tell me?

I thought it was a good thing to challenge one’s government.  

Isn’t that what we were founded on, and didn’t it work?  Aren’t we challenging the government to change its stance on equality of marriage?  How about that fuss over civil rights and dreams we had?  Nope, sorry, that’s a bit too extreme for your government.  Sit down, be a good boy, and have some tea.

“The spirit of resistance to government is so valuable on certain occasions, that I wish it to always be kept alive.”  Thomas Jefferson.

I understand that this these statements are currently meant to apply to “dangerous” extremism, but for the love of humanity, don’t say it like that.  It makes the rest of us who actually want to “make the world a better place” a potential target when it suits someone’s purpose.  Technicalities, you know?  The devil is in the details.  If your idea of making the world a better place is blowing up those who don’t fit your idea of a perfect world, you like in Hypocrisy Land.  If you think the world would be better if we opened up our hearts to love and equality, you’re on team awesome.  Really, so long as your aren’t seething with hate or advocating bloodshed in your quest for a better world, I think that makes you part of Team Awesome.

But just so you know, you are considered an extremist.

“Society is produced by our wants and government by our wickedness.” – Thomas Paine

Truth

“Just because someone sees the Truth doesn’t mean they will accept it or allow that truth to change them.” ~ Ted Dekker

Practice Makes Print – Training For the Final Race

Johnny woke up one morning and thought to himself “I would very much like to run a marathon.”

Now, Johnny had never run before, but that was OK.  He put on a pair of shoes never meant for running and leapt out the front door.  The wind blew through his hair as he trotted along down the street.  “My, this is easy work, this running stuff,” he thought.

So Johnny ran off into the sunset and became a world running champion.

The End.

Run, Johnny!

It doesn’t take a brilliant mind to understand that this is both ridiculous and rather uninspiring.

There’s a reason for that.

It takes blood, sweat, tears, guts and piss to become a great athlete. It requires taking your heart and sacrificing it upon the alter of hard work, dedication, determination, perseverance and pain.  To become greatest at anything it requires your very soul.  And most importantly, to get anywhere close to greatness, the universe demands of you… your time.

Practice is what I’m getting at here.

I will never sit down one day and begin to churn out the greatest novel there ever was.  I will never wake up one morning and say “By God!  I’ve got it!’ and roll in the money twelve months later.  I’ll tell you what I will do.  I am going to practice.

Whether I feel up to it or not, I will write.  I will cover page after page in worthless, unsalvageable writing that will never see the light of day.  Hundreds of pages will be covered in my shotty handwriting, and will bear the half-formed babies of my mind that only I will adore, and even then the adoration will be born purely out of a secret narcissism.  I will run.  At first my running will be short lived, of poor technique and of Made in China quality, but I will run all the same.  I will build myself up to that marathoners strength and speed, and one day I will cross the finish line, sweating, stinking and crying.  My years of scribbling in notebook after notebook will hold up that first published hardcover in my hands.  No one else has to see how much work was behind it, only I will know how many sleepless nights, broken pens, and ink stained pages it took.  I and shall shelve my victory with a dance to Bruce Springsteen in celebration.

“Dancing in the Dark” by C. Money

I dream of becoming a great writer.  I dream of becoming published and of my stories being read by hundreds, maybe even thousands of minds.  I dream of having my stories heard.

I and every other human being on the planet dreams of something great.  People dream of becoming a great musician, or a great doctor, a great writer (hey buddy!), a great parent, a great runner, a great businessman, a great human being, or simply great.  To myself and those who also dream of becoming great I say…

Get your ass of WordPress.  Go!  Those manuscripts aren’t going to write themselves!