![]() Secular Truth: No one person can meet all your needs. Theological Truth: 1 Corinthians 7:28b: But those who marry will face many troubles in this life.ģ. It means you and your partner need each other's help to work out personality flaws and weaknesses. If It Takes Hard Work, We Must Not Be Right for Each Other.- Secular Truth: Hard work in marriage is the norm, not the exception. Theological Truth: Romans 2:1: You, therefore, have no excuse, you who pass judgment on someone else, for at whatever point you judge the other, you are condemning yourself, because you who pass judgment do the same things.Ģ. Marriage problems are rarely one person's fault. It's All Your Fault.- Secular Truth: It takes two to tango. (The posts in this series are tagged Creating Compelling Content.From the book "The Lies We Believe" by Dr. And most of them begin with the question, “What if?” There are countless ways to “up the stakes” of your story. In the end, of course, you will reveal information that shows yes, the good guy should win, but it won’t hurt to keep the reader concerned for a while. What if we had reason to wonder whether or not the antagonist’s cause was a worthy one? Create ambivalence in the reader. If the bad guy is so bad, the reader will hate him. Speaking of villains … give your hero/heroine one worthy of their time. Which character has the most to lose at this point? Is it the lead? His or her romantic interest? The villain? Write the scene in the POV of the character who has the most at stake. Use Point of View to enhance a scene’s conflict. Instead of a romance set on a sunny beach, what about … Siberia? Place your character in an unlikely setting for the genre. Place your character in an unfamiliar environment. So, how can we heighten the conflict without becoming cliched or comical? Some stories have been published without one, but the successful (and memorable) ones, give the reader a hero or heroine. ![]() This is why it’s important to have a lead character, or protagonist. When you block his path to a goal he’s worked toward most of his life, the reader will keep reading. Believable, emotional conflict derives when the author attacks what is near to the hero’s heart-his dreams & goals, his inner values, his loves. Have you ever seen an action or horror movie where every time the heroine takes a breath, she’s faced with another challenge? Soon, this becomes almost comical and doesn’t build emotion or concern, just annoyance. External conflict can range from an antagonist, setting (weather, wildlife, haunted mansion, etc.), circumstances (car wreck, getting lost), choices (who to date, where to work, where to live, etc.), health issues – the list is almost infinite.Įxhibit caution when building conflict. ![]() He wants her to stay with him and she begs him to stay, which increases his internal conflict. Rick wants Ilsa, but knows it would be wrong to keep her. Casablanca provides an excellent example of internal conflict. Most stories have two types of conflict: internal and external. If you’ve read Dwight Swain’s Techniques of the Selling Writer, you’re familiar with the terms “Yes, but,” and “No, and furthermore.” When we add to the hero’s problems, the reader worries more and loses a night’s sleep reading on to see the outcome. How we answer this question develops conflict (or lack thereof). We’ve discussed in previous posts that each scene should have a question (not necessarily blatantly stated), a piece of the puzzle to place. Conflict drives the plot, keeps the reader emotionally involved, and creates a page-turner. ![]() Your job is to stack grief upon grief, challenge upon challenge, and worry upon worry on your main character. If a boy finds a lamp, rubs it, a genie pops out and grants him his heart’s desire, and the boy lives out the rest of his days in splendor and peace, well…it’s a nice story, but it’s BORING!Īs a writer, especially if you’re writing fiction, you’re not paid to be nice. Somewhere between “once upon a time” and “they lived happily ever after,” you’ll find conflict. ![]()
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