If you have a story idea, you need to figure out how you can generate conflict in the world of that story. Because story is conflict, you need conflict. Oh, want an example? Sure thing.
In my story, the main character, Jakko, falls in love with a girl. Note: Jakko is a half-elf, and in the country he is in, there is an elven clan dedicated to killing half-elves. You have been backstory-ized. Jakko is traveling with this girl to her city, but when her father finds out that Jakko is a half-elf, his desire to keep his daughter locked in a tower until age 30 protect his daughter from that elven clan rears up... Conflict.
Please note my book is not a love story, and this is a minor sub-plot compared to the main arc. Please believe, I would not write a romance novel. I'm not that type of guy.
Back to our regular broadcasting. Where was I? Oh, yes. Conflict. You need conflict in your novel. End of story.
Yes, I have been known to make the occasional pun.
Nice post, Matt. I did think that your book must be a romance! Too funny...
ReplyDeleteConflict is important, yes, indeed. :-) I found you on the A to Z linky-list.
Haha, no. Fantasy-- Hopefully a fantasy epic, but that's for the reviewers and critics to decide. There is a love story sub-plot that weaves through most of the series, though.
DeleteAre you in the middle of penning any sort of book yourself?
Yep! That's a given. We ned conflict. Sometimes it's hard to hurt your characters though. But we must.
ReplyDeleteI always wind up having conversations with them that usually end with the phrase: "It builds character."
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