The Right To Write

Notes On Conflict

Recently, a question that has been bugging me has to do more with what. What makes us care so much about what the protagonist is up against? I had a talk with Fox-ishCat yesterday that brought me to the light. And (Adrienne) I hope you don't mind if I use Midnight's Son as an example. 

Stakes Need To Be Fully Acknowledged. Stakes is one thing that can't be lightly implied, they need to be emphasized. Chapter two of Midnight's Son was full of suspenseful battles and high stakes, but there was a slight problem. Chapter two depended mainly on mere guesswork to draw readers to the stakes. The main issue was that stakes were implied but not directly set. So the majority of the readers wouldn't understand the true danger of the situation.

A quick reminder: always emphasize the price of victory and loss.

Relativity. When I read Adrienne's manuscript, the first thing I took notice of was the transition from a battle scene to mentions of a disease. The latter was when the book got wildly interesting. Why? Because disease is far more relatable. We all know what it's like to suffer from a disease, over battling a demonic who-knows-what-that-is. Not just that, the stakes of disease are far easier for the reader to determine. They can see the negative potential of a contagious, unknown disease without much input on its stakes.

I will admit that fantasy and high-stake plots are very tricky to make relative. The main device of relativity is your character, not necessarily the situation in relatable circumstances, but through your character's thoughts and emotions, through the reality they feel as normal human beings. Because can't we all relate to being human?

I'm a huge fan of the TV series Merlin. It's completely set in high-stakes, life or death, and fantasy. Nothing is down to earth, but everything is down to earth. The conflict of the plot is based purely on morals and the matter of feelings over fantasy. It is what goes on in the hearts and minds of the characters that propels the limitation of time, and life or death situations. I'm sure we can all relate to willing to go after a band of bandits to save a love interest from being burned alive in a thousand-year-old cursed castle. Well no, but on a more personal level, you'd want to perform a deed for someone you care about.

Characterizing Opposers and Conflicts. A huge issue with opposing force is it's flat. It's dull. Readers can see nothing more than a grey blob of trouble flopping about when there is nothing but the enemy to face. Adrienne's characters were battling a creature they knew exactly nothing about; it felt rather one-dimensional. Every force of opposition has feelings of its own, ideas of its own, and values of its own, and that is something your readers have to know to appreciate the battle. 

Layers. Your characters, Your character's enemies, Your battle scenes. They need layers. They need to be piled on with answers to why and what. Why did the beast lunge at them from nowhere? What exactly could the situation result in? And so many more.

I didn't know if that's any help to y'all, but I know this helped me understand the mysteries of books that "do it all." I highly recommend you check out Adrienne's book, Midnight's Son. It is truly beautifully written, and I scowl upon it with jealousy, one of the reasons I repeatedly look for faults within it. And a huge thanks to Fox-ishCat herself!