Sailing on the seas of NaNoWriMo, is your quill sword powerful enough to help you fight against the evil pirates of writer's block? Is your determination strong enough to lead you across the sea of procrastination so as to reach the island of victor...
There is only one more day until NaNoWriMo begins! Are you ready, Wrimos? Prepare your story with this excellent tip from Cari Noga!
Fiction is conflict.
You've probably heard something like that before, and filed it away with other writing advice. Take it out, shake it off, and prop it up it next to your coffee mug. Besides caffeine, you won't find a better buddy on your NaNo odyssey.
First—a definition. Conflict is the obstacle(s) between a character and his or her desire. It varies with novel genre: the enemy agent out to kill the hero; Mom's new job that forces the middle-school kid to move and change schools; the character's yearning to spurn expectations and do what she really wants.
Conflict is fundamental to advancing plot, setting it back, twisting and turning it, as the characters wrestle with their particular nemeses. It's also crucial to reader engagement.
In the best stories, we become invested in a character overcoming their conflict. We root for them to get what they want, worry when they seem to succumb, and, above all, keep turning pages to see which way it goes.
Steven James, one of my favorite writing coaches and a bestselling thriller author himself, puts it this way: You don't have a story until something goes wrong.
Sold? Then how do you insure conflict? Key to my two NaNo wins (out of four tries) were the Goal, Motivation and Conflict (GMC) charts I created for each character during prep week. The charts are a grid of nine squares.
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Left column contains the labels: Goal, Motivation, Conflict. Middle column contains each character's EXTERNAL goal, motivation and conflict. In the right column goes each character's INTERNAL goal, motivation, and conflict.
(Not all characters will have external and internal, but your protagonist and other major characters likely will.)
It's a simple way to approach what can be hard for new novelists. We typically like our characters, at least our protagonists, so we want them to get what they want. That leads to making their lives too easy, which gets boring for the reader.
In contrast, think of Star Wars. Nine films and 40 years on, they're still pulling in millions (people and dollars) to watch the same basic conflict of good guys trying to save the galaxy from bad guys. Since that conflict is compelling, and because we care about the characters, we'll show up for No. 10, too.
The GMC charts help you create compelling conflicts because as you'll likely see in the grid, some goals are inherently at odds. In my first novel, one character, Deborah, wanted to have a baby, badly. Her husband, Christopher, wasn't so sure. Presto! External conflict, and a highly resonant one at that – a couple wants different things. When I visit book clubs, the different reactions readers have to this couple's conflicts make for the liveliest discussion.
While not as formal as an outline, I've found the GMC charts help keep me on track, too. If (when) the story veers off course, the chart is a touchstone. Is what's happening on the page consistent with GMC? If not, does the story need to change, or the GMC? Does someone's conflict need to intensify? Motivation made clearer? Goal denied longer? Your original GMC decisions can guide the answers.
Your ultimate goal as a Wrimo is to reach 50,000 words by Nov. 30. Your motivation will vary. Your conflict: whatever dares to get between you and those 1,667 words per day. There's plenty. Armed with your GMC charts, you're ready to slay a big one.
We're excited for NaNoWriMo, and we hope you are too! We are still taking last-minute signups to join our NaNoCRATE Slack group, and meet other Wattpaders doing NaNo and your genre mentor!
