Conflict Fuels the Story by Rebecca Talley

In life we generally try to avoid conflict. We tend to avoid confrontation and contention in hopes of finding peace and tranquility. We work hard to avoid problems at home or in the workplace.

In writing fiction, we must create as much conflict as possible because without conflict there is no story.

Conflict can be classified in the following categories:

1. Man vs. Man
2. Man vs. Self
3. Man vs. Society
4. Man vs. Fate/God/Nature

Man vs. man is when the antagonist is another person. The main character, or protagonist, is trying to obtain his goal but another person stands in his way, preventing him from his goal.

Man vs. self includes stories when the protagonist fights against himself and he stands in his own way of accomplishing his goal. Perhaps, his goal may be to become a heart surgeon but his fear that he’ll never be smart enough to get through medical school paralyzes him and prevents him from becoming a surgeon. Self-doubt can be a strong adversary and makes for dynamic stories.

Man vs. society is when the protagonist fights against the rules or laws of society to obtain his goal. A woman may want to marry a man that her society forbids her to marry. She must then struggle against society in order to reach her goal of marrying.

Man vs. fate/God/nature includes stories when the protagonist fights against elements out of his control. A man who wants to reunite with his family after an argument but runs into a hurricane, must fight against the hurricane in order to reach his goal: his family. Natural disasters or other unexplained difficulties placed in the way of the protagonist would be classified as man vs. fate/God/nature.

You must include conflict in writing your fiction because conflict is what fuels the story. You aren’t limited to only one type of conflict, but whichever conflict, or combination of conflicts, you choose to use make sure they are not only realistic, but that they are organic to the story. Otherwise, your story will soon run out of gas.

 

Rebecca Talley grew up in Santa Barbara, CA. She now lives in rural CO on a small ranch with a dog, a spoiled horse, too many cats, and a herd of goats. She and her husband, Del, are the proud parents of ten multi-talented and wildly-creative children. Rebecca is the author of a children’s picture book “Grasshopper Pie” (WindRiver 2003), four novels, “Heaven Scent” (CFI 2008), “Altared Plans” (CFI 2009),  “The Upside of Down” (CFI 2011), and “Aura” (2012), and numerous magazine stories and articles. You can visit her blog at www.rebeccatalleywrites.blogspot.com.

Finding Story Ideas by Rebecca Talley

I’m often asked where I find ideas for my stories. As a writer, I’ve learned that ideas are everywhere.

Many of the magazine stories I’ve written have been based on a true experience. One such story was about my son. He’d saved money to buy a set of Legos. He was so excited when he’d finally accumulated enough money from doing odd jobs and chores to buy the Legos. He thumbed through the catalog and found the order form. He placed the order form and his money inside an envelope and left it on my desk. While the envelope sat on my desk, Hurricane Katrina hit.

My son came home from school and talked about the devastating effects of the storm and how many children had to leave their homes, pets, and toys. He then ran to my desk and scooped up the envelope. He told me he wanted to donate all of his money to a local Katrina fund. Not only was I proud of my son for his decision, I had a basis for a story that I then sold to a magazine.

Ideas are everywhere. Tidbits of conversation can become the base of a story. Newspaper stories, friend’s experiences, historical accounts, local folklore, myths, or dreams can all provide nuggets for stories. The trick is becoming aware of potential stories.

Here are some ideas:

Take a notebook to the mall. Write down different bits of conversation, descriptions of people you see, and play with various scenarios.

Sift through some newspapers and look for human interest stories. I once read an account of a woman whose husbands all ended up committing suicide in the same way. Children of the dead men accused the woman of killing the men. Is there a story? Perhaps.

Watch TV news and see if it triggers ideas for stories. What about a man who risks his life to save homeless people over and over again? Or the woman who lives with a chimpanzee that then goes berserk? These wouldn’t be full-blown novels, but could form a foundation for possible novels.

Family history can also be a valuable place to find story ideas. I have an ancestor who emigrated from Italy, became a chef, and cooked meals for some of the presidents of the United States. Or what about the ancestor who was a horse thief when America was still a frontier?

Look around you. Ideas are everywhere. Once you start looking, you’ll discover so many ideas you’ll have a hard time keeping track of them. Be sure to write them all down in an idea notebook. And then you’ll be like other writers who declare, “I’ll never live long enough to write about all the ideas I have.”

Beware of POV Shifts by Rebecca Talley

Point of view, or POV, can be tricky. POV can be defined as the character(s) through whose eyes readers experience the story.

Usually, the POV character is the main character, but that’s not always the case. Once you decide which character will be telling the story, you’ll also need to decide if it will be in first person (I) , second person (you), or third person (he, him, she, her). Only you, as the writer, can determine how best to tell the story, and which character needs to tell it. If you decide that more than one character needs to tell the story (mysteries and romances often employ more than one character POV) you’ll be using multiple POV.

First, you need to decide which character needs to tell the story and then how to best tell that story. To help you determine this, you can ask yourself which character grows and changes the most. Usually, that’s the best character to tell the story. If you’re unsure, try writing the first few scenes from different character’s viewpoints and experiment between first, second, and third person. (Most writers shy away from second person because it presents such a difficult voice).

Once you know who is telling the story, and why that character is telling it, you can start writing your novel. However, you need to be very careful that you don’t slip into the wrong POV. Unless you’re using omniscient (all-knowing, all-seeing), your character can only relate what he/she sees, hears, feels, thinks, remembers. If you find yourself describing what another character feels, sees, thinks, hears, knows, or remembers, you’ve had a POV shift.

For example:

Jenny felt scared. She didn’t know where the noise was coming from and she feared it was the intruder. She looked over at her best friend, Angie, who was remembering when someone broke into her house. Warning: POV shift! If it’s in Jenny’s POV, she can’t know what Angie is remembering unless Angie communicates that to her somehow. If you’re in Jenny’s POV, you can only know what Jenny knows. Otherwise you’re head-hopping (or in omniscient).

It’s easy to slip out of POV when you first begin to write. Beware. As you write, ask yourself, “Can this character see, hear, know, remember, think, or feel this?” If not, you’ve slipped out of POV and need to rewrite it.

 

Rebecca Talley grew up in Santa Barbara, CA. She now lives in rural CO on a small ranch with a dog, a spoiled horse, too many cats, and a herd of goats. She and her husband, Del, are the proud parents of ten multi-talented and wildly-creative children. Rebecca is the author of a children’s picture book “Grasshopper Pie” (WindRiver 2003), three novels, “Heaven Scent” (CFI 2008), “Altared Plans” (CFI 2009), and “The Upside of Down” (CFI 2011), and numerous magazine stories and articles. Her newest novel, Aura, was released in 2012. You can visit her blog at www.rebeccatalleywrites.blogspot.com.

Read to Write by Rebecca Talley

When I give my school presentations to young aspiring writers I always tell them that in order to write, they must read.

Of course, there’s no substitute for actually writing and no matter how many books you read, you won’t be a writer unless you write. But, the best writers are generally those who read.

You can read books on writing. There’s no lack of books on how to write and you need to be careful to read each one with a discerning eye. Some books will advocate one thing and others will insist you must do something completely different. In the end, you have to decide for yourself what works for your own unique writing style.

It’s extremely valuable to read books in the genre in which you hope to write. The more books you can read, the better. As you read, pay attention to how the author uses plot, characterization, setting, pacing, and description. Ask yourself if you think the author has successfully used different techniques and why, or why not. See if the author shows you the story rather than tells it to you. Watch for voice, style, and word choice.

To really understand a genre I recommend you dissect 5-10 books. Use a notebook and detail each entry with title, author, word count, and audience. Next, write a synopsis of the story. Include passages that you found particularly clever, or clumsy, and list reasons why. Keep track of the events and how they lead up to the climax. Examine how long it takes to get to the climax and how quickly the resolution comes.

After you’ve analyzed the books, you’ll find yourself automatically searching published books for these same things. In fact, once you start to examine books in this way, you’ll never read another book the same way again. The more you can understand what’s successful, and what isn’t, in books you read, the easier it will be to apply this knowledge to your own work.

Read books with the purpose of understanding why it was publishable and you’ll soon be on your way to publishing your own book.

Here are a few books I recommend on the art of writing fiction:

 

 

Rebecca Talley grew up in Santa Barbara, CA. She now lives in rural CO on a small ranch with a dog, a spoiled horse, too many cats, and a herd of goats. She and her husband, Del, are the proud parents of ten multi-talented and wildly-creative children. Rebecca is the author of a children’s picture book “Grasshopper Pie” (WindRiver 2003), three novels, “Heaven Scent” (CFI 2008), “Altared Plans” (CFI 2009), and “The Upside of Down” (CFI 2011), and numerous magazine stories and articles. Her newest novel, Aura, was released in 2012. You can visit her blog at www.rebeccatalleywrites.blogspot.com.

Don’t Give Up! by Rebecca Talley

As writers, it’s easy to get discouraged. Don’t.

With housework, full-time jobs, kids, appointments, volunteer opportunities, political involvement, grocery shopping, caring for aging parents, feeding animals, going to school, or a multitude of other commitments that eat away at writing time, sometimes it’s hard to not give up.

Add in rejection letters, time spent waiting to hear from an editor or agent, lack of support from family members or friends, and dismal news about the economy and you might wonder why you’d want to keep writing.

It’s simple: We don’t choose writing, it chooses us. For those of us who write, writing is an integral part of who we are. We think about characters and plotlines while we shower, drive our kids to appointments, or wait at the doctor’s office. We have voices in our heads. We turn on the light in the middle of the night to record a dream in our writer’s notebook. We research exotic locales, poisons, and ways to steal money all in an effort to make our stories realistic.

We have sticky notes on the computer, the walls, the bathroom mirror. We interview our characters and ponder on their deepest, darkest secrets.

We live to write and write to live.

And the good news is that publishers need our manuscripts to stay in business. Though some publishers may be scaling back, books are still being published. New authors break into the market every year and existing authors continue to publish books.

Yes, the writing world is difficult. Writing a novel is strenuous work and takes time and dedication. Marketing that book is arduous and not only takes time and dedication, it also takes a great deal of patience and persistence. But, if your dream is to be published, don’t give up. Keep at it.
Someone once said that the difference between an unpublished and a published author is persistence.

Never surrender. Believe in yourself and in your work. Keep honing your skills and someday, you will see your name in print.

When you feel like giving up, what do you do to keep yourself motivated and believing that you’ll make it?

 

Rebecca Talley grew up in Santa Barbara, CA. She now lives in rural CO on a small ranch with a dog, a spoiled horse, too many cats, and a herd of goats. She and her husband, Del, are the proud parents of ten multi-talented and wildly-creative children. Rebecca is the author of a children’s picture book “Grasshopper Pie” (WindRiver 2003), three novels, “Heaven Scent” (CFI 2008), “Altared Plans” (CFI 2009), and “The Upside of Down” (CFI 2011), and numerous magazine stories and articles. You can visit her blog at www.rebeccatalleywrites.blogspot.com.

What is Your Story Goal? by Rebecca Talley

The main character in a novel must have a goal. He must have something he works toward, something he desperately wants and if he does not obtain that something his life will not be the same.

Every novel should have a story goal and that goal should be clearly stated for the reader. In my novel, Heaven Scent, Liza is the main character. Her father has become obsessed with his career and has seemingly abandoned his family. Liza desperately wants her father back in her life. She wants her family to be as it once was. Throughout the book, she works toward the goal of trying to restore her family to its once happy state. In the first chapter, Liza clearly states this goal and she continues to restate it throughout the book.

Readers need to know what the goal is and what’s at stake if the goal is not obtained. Without a clear story goal, the reader gets lost and never fully engages with the story.

To determine the story goal you need to know what it is that your character wants. A new job? A husband? A child? A new house? Fame? Riches?

Once you know what your character wants, you need to know why. Why is this goal so important? What’s the underlying reason the character wants this goal? In Recovering Charles by Jason Wright the main character, Luke Millward, wants to reconcile with his father. His search to do so leads him to New Orleans in the aftermath of Katrina. Throughout the book, the reader wonders if Luke will be able to move beyond the past and repair his relationship with his father.

The story goal, or the desire to achieve it, propels the story forward. Without one, the story will flounder and finally fizzle. As a writer, you must be aware of the story goal and design smaller, scene goals that work toward the overall story goal.

Make sure your story has a clearly defined goal and you’ll not only have an easier time writing toward it, you’ll have readers anxious to read to the end to see if the character accomplished his goal.

 

Rebecca Talley grew up in Santa Barbara, CA. She now lives in rural CO on a small ranch with a dog, a spoiled horse, too many cats, and a herd of goats. She and her husband, Del, are the proud parents of ten multi-talented and wildly-creative children. Rebecca is the author of a children’s picture book “Grasshopper Pie” (WindRiver 2003), three novels, “Heaven Scent” (CFI 2008), “Altared Plans” (CFI 2009), and “The Upside of Down” (CFI 2011), and numerous magazine stories and articles. You can visit her blog at www.rebeccatalleywrites.blogspot.com.