Conflict is Key
Well, I had some notions for a post this weekend about how writing is about healing but I decided I didn’t feel like writing that topic yet so instead I’m going to say how much I love and hate conflict. But stay tuned.
So! I’ve just realized that every time I write myself into a corner, every time I become bored and my writing lethargic, the culprit is there’s not enough conflict. Or I’m just going on describing the architecture where my characters are walking when I really could just cut it—my readers will not need a play-by-play of the tiles my MC traipses over. I’m too disorganized to skip to scenes ahead, I could never write an ending first—at least, not where I am now, perhaps if I were writing a mystery—but I can skip the boring parts.
It’s a very refreshing thought. My new favourite writing mantra is, “If it bores you, it bores your readers.” But it does mean I need to stop and think a lot about all my character’s motives, because it’s so easy for me to want things to go smooth for my MCs, because I love them. It takes extra work to remember I’m supposed to screw up their lives. But when I do remember, a cackle of delight shivers over my hands, and I’m back writing again.
