Terrible Trouble

Hubble Bubble Toil and Trouble

I suppose we love to see our hero/heroines in terrible trouble so we can admire how they ultimately get out of terrible trouble. It’s what all good fiction is about, whether it be romance, horror, mystery or whatever.

The problem presents itself early on and usually the concerns and worries pile on as the story progresses.  But the thing that fascinates all readers is asking the questions of ‘how are they going to get through this or cope with that?’ This is where story gets to us because we put ourselves in their places and worry if we would do the same thing.  We root for them to succeed in their endeavours because if they can cope then so would we.  If it’s a good story, we identify with the character and we want them to succeed against all the odds. It confirms something to us about human nature and the will to survive, I think.  And when at the end they do rise up and overcome their terrible trouble we cheer for them.

As writers it is our job to create that terrible trouble and then throughout the middle of the story make the terrible trouble even more terrible until finally the hero has to step up to the mark in some way, deal with the terrible trouble and be heroic to save the day! Hooray!

 

So, do you find it easy to pile on the woe for your charcters?

Life Blood for fiction - Conflict

                                   CONFLICT

When I started writing fiction I did not fully understand the concept of conflict. My writing seemed dull and lifeless! I read James N Frey's books on writing and irealised what was missing. It was a eureka moment! A lightbulb flashed on and I finally understood how important conflict was. I was putting a little trouble in my stories but not enough to make readers worry or care about my characters. But when I grasped the concept properly my stories took on a life of their own as I infused them with MUCHO  TROUBLE!

I used to worry that too much conflict was not a good thing. That everyday people never (unless they were really unfortunate!) have to cope with the amount of conflict that there necessarily is in fiction. But then I realised fiction is NOT everyday life. It is made up and for the most part everyday life, for many of us, is pretty boring. Not something a reader wants to invest many hours in – especially if you are a busy kind of person with plenty of other stuff that needs doing. It’s why life stories, I think, are so boring – unless you’re famous or have done something outstanding with your life. And that doesn’t include the day you got involved with a row at your local supermarket!

Anyway, back to conflict. One look at the soaps and how they are written is enough to confirm we are not talking real life really (sorry!) We all know that but it doesn’t stop us watching and enjoying seeing other people tussle with the agonising mess they make. It’s how they cope and overcome their problems that fascinate us. So it is with conflict in novels. You have to make trouble, fling it at them and then make it worse! Finally you throw the kitchen sink at them and almost see them go down and succumb… And then… Then we see them come to terms, rise up and overcome the conflict and obstacles we have created. Ah…. Not so boring, eh?

We have to connect with our characters and see them as real people but the conflict they face does not have to be normal conflict. In fact if we raise the stakes the conflict should escalate to unbearable heights and we are on the edge of our seats wondering how on earth they are going to win through with it all!

So that states my case for more and more conflict to give your stories the life they deserve!

Do you put lots of conflict in your stories? Do you sometimes worry that you are over the top?





Intriguing Thrillers and Scary Chillers

Intrigue...

Misty or ghostly intrigue??

I just love this word. It conjures up a misty twilight kind of world for me as I associate it with mystery and skulduggery. Almost a Sherlock Holmes-kind of world in my mind…

Maybe that is why I tend to think of it as a kind of old fashioned word which is rather less used nowadays. It suggests a halfway stage between outright puzzling questions and curious, rather vague, passing fascination with something or other.

When I looked ‘intrigue’ up in the dictionary, I found it can in fact mean a puzzle or questionable scheme. But interestingly it can also mean conspiracy, double dealing, trickery and even, of course an affair. An old fashioned affair/liaison was often called an intrigue.

I think the word could also be used when referring to the questions that a writer poses at the beginning of a stroy to get the reader hooked into the tale. In writing thrillers it is unquestionably the raising of interesting questions and mini puzzles of the ‘will he/won’t he succeed’ variety that make up the entire plot of an 'edge of your seat' thriller. In other words the story must intrigue the reader from start to finish and that intrigue should rise to full on tension as the conflicts escalate and the hero get’s into worse and worse trouble.

So when I write my thrillers, I start with some intriguing questions (enough to pique reader interest, I hope) and pose some attention-grabbing dilemmas but then things get rough!

A good dollop of skulduggery helps as does some trickery on the part of the villain. Together with a large spoonful of double dealing and a splash of romance you have the recipe for a darned good roller coaster read.

Do you use the word 'intrigue' in your writing? Are you often in a state of intrigue when reading?