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nano_writersWithout it there is No Story. No drama. No interest.
Janet Burroway, in her classic text Writing Fiction, a Guide to Narrative Craft (now in its seventh edition) claimed it to be the “fundamental element of fiction” though the playwright Elia Kazan referred to it simply as “two dogs fighting over a bone.”
Trouble. Contention. Rivalry. Competition. Dissent. Hostility. Strife. Bad blood.
However you say it or play it, it’s really the one thing that drives an interesting story: conflict.
As a small experiment, read the following two sentences. Each provides the same basic information for the reader. But which is the more interesting?
I’m going to bet it was the second. Hard not to find the second sentence more interesting with words like “scar” and “conquest” even if the subject of both sentences is a sleeping cat.
But why this fascination with conflict? In real life, as Janet Burroway points out, conflict “often carries negative connotations, yet in fiction, be it comic or tragic, dramatic conflict is fundamental because in literature only trouble is interesting.” It may be that our interest as readers is as simple as not being able to look away from a train wreak - as a species, we’re hardwired to pay attention to spectacle.
However, Peter Hill in his essay “Elements of a Novel: Conflict” proposes this:
What do you think? As an author, do you believe that it makes you a better writer to understand why conflict makes a story interesting? Do you agree with Peter Hill when he says that conflict helps us “learn” something? Do you write with a moral in mind as a take-away for your reader (for example: live and learn, live and let live, don’t be greedy, etc.) or is this something that you discover yourself after the story is finished?
Later this week, we’ll look at external and internal conflict: what it is, how one type complements the other and discuss how you use one or both in your own writing.
Bibliography
Burroway, Janet. Writing fiction a guide to narrative craft. New York: Longman, 2003.
Clarke, Carol. "What is conflict?" Carol Clarke – writer. 10 May 2009 <http://www.caroclarke.com/index.html>.
Connealy, Mary. "Character conflicts." Story Sensei. 10 May 2009 <http://storysensei.blogspot.com/>.
Hill, Peter. "Elements of a Novel: Conflict." The Everyday People's Guide on How to Write a Novel. 10 May 2009 <http://www.musik-therapie.at/pederhill/index.htm>.
Lichtenberg, Jacqueline. "Conflict=Story & Writer's Block." Sime~Gen. 10 May 2009 <http://www.simegen.com/>.
O'Reilly, Kathleen. "Conflict Test." Novelist Kathleen O'Reilly. 10 May 2009 <http://www.kathleenoreilly.com/index.html>.
William., Noble,. Conflict, action, and suspense. Cincinnati, Ohio: Writer's Digest Books, 1994.
Janet Burroway, in her classic text Writing Fiction, a Guide to Narrative Craft (now in its seventh edition) claimed it to be the “fundamental element of fiction” though the playwright Elia Kazan referred to it simply as “two dogs fighting over a bone.”
Trouble. Contention. Rivalry. Competition. Dissent. Hostility. Strife. Bad blood.
However you say it or play it, it’s really the one thing that drives an interesting story: conflict.
As a small experiment, read the following two sentences. Each provides the same basic information for the reader. But which is the more interesting?
- The old calico lay sleeping in a square of dust-flecked sunlight on the back porch.
- The old calico, scarred and twitching with dreams of past conquests, lay sleeping in a dusty patch of sun.
I’m going to bet it was the second. Hard not to find the second sentence more interesting with words like “scar” and “conquest” even if the subject of both sentences is a sleeping cat.
But why this fascination with conflict? In real life, as Janet Burroway points out, conflict “often carries negative connotations, yet in fiction, be it comic or tragic, dramatic conflict is fundamental because in literature only trouble is interesting.” It may be that our interest as readers is as simple as not being able to look away from a train wreak - as a species, we’re hardwired to pay attention to spectacle.
However, Peter Hill in his essay “Elements of a Novel: Conflict” proposes this:
We're not attracted to stories without conflict simply because we can't learn anything from them. They are empty of the seeds that might nurture our own growth, in whatever direction that might be.
What do you think? As an author, do you believe that it makes you a better writer to understand why conflict makes a story interesting? Do you agree with Peter Hill when he says that conflict helps us “learn” something? Do you write with a moral in mind as a take-away for your reader (for example: live and learn, live and let live, don’t be greedy, etc.) or is this something that you discover yourself after the story is finished?
Later this week, we’ll look at external and internal conflict: what it is, how one type complements the other and discuss how you use one or both in your own writing.
Bibliography
Burroway, Janet. Writing fiction a guide to narrative craft. New York: Longman, 2003.
Clarke, Carol. "What is conflict?" Carol Clarke – writer. 10 May 2009 <http://www.caroclarke.com/index.html>.
Connealy, Mary. "Character conflicts." Story Sensei. 10 May 2009 <http://storysensei.blogspot.com/>.
Hill, Peter. "Elements of a Novel: Conflict." The Everyday People's Guide on How to Write a Novel. 10 May 2009 <http://www.musik-therapie.at/pederhill/index.htm>.
Lichtenberg, Jacqueline. "Conflict=Story & Writer's Block." Sime~Gen. 10 May 2009 <http://www.simegen.com/>.
O'Reilly, Kathleen. "Conflict Test." Novelist Kathleen O'Reilly. 10 May 2009 <http://www.kathleenoreilly.com/index.html>.
William., Noble,. Conflict, action, and suspense. Cincinnati, Ohio: Writer's Digest Books, 1994.
