Every scene should contain conflict. This idea set me on my search to figure out what that meant and how I could achieve it. I found that conflicts create tension which encourages readers to turn the page.
The tension lies with the wanting. It can be a small thing: to escape an emotion, to get a cup of coffee. Every main character in the scene should want something out of the exchange in each scene: to vent, to get information, to cause trouble, to ease trouble, to find something, to lose themselves in something.
Whether or not they get it is up to you. They can get it and be satisfied, not get it and need to try again, get it and find out it wasn't what they needed or requires something further. This is how you propel the reader as they meander or speed through your story. Goals and obstacles supply the gas that keeps the story motor running.
Here are some articles on how to craft conflict to create tension.
Responses to Obstacles
The information on genre can also be found in the book Story Building Blocks The Four Layers of Conflict in ebook and print editions as well as on my website
www.dianahurwitz.com. Much of the material from my Story Building Block books is available in my blog posts and website along with free forms such as:
Books can take the reader anywhere in the world, into space, across time, and into fictional worlds.
In the hands of a master storyteller, the setting can become a character in its own right. It can set the tone of the story, the mood of a scene. It can shed light on universal truths.
Setting can be cheerful, funny, poignant, dramatic or terrifying.
Setting can reinforce a theme or turn it on its head.
Setting details make your story world come alive.
Successful scene setting is not just a laundry list of details. The backdrop of a scene can create obstacles or solve them.
Here are some articles on utilizing setting to enrich your story.
Where in the World?
Scouting Locations
Ten Tools for Crafting A 3-D Setting
Landscaping Your Story World
Climate and Weather
Story Research: Maps
Build A World Map Sites
Story Scrapbooks
For more in-depth tools for setting, check out the Story Building Blocks Build A World Workbook in ebook and print.
The information on genre can also be found in the book Story Building Blocks The Four Layers of Conflict in ebook and print editions as well as on my website www.dianahurwitz.com. Much of the material from my Story Building Block books is available in my blog posts and website along with free forms.
Whether a writer prefers stream of consciousness or in-depth planning, a basic understanding of story structure is invaluable.
Reading books helps familiarize one with stories. However, analyzing a story's architecture, identifying the things that make it strong and things that make it weak, is a good way to learn the craft of storytelling.
I spent thousands of man-hours poring over books, movies, and television shows scene by scene, beat by beat. Outlining and analyzing story structure, character development, setting, worldbuilding, that I used as fodder for my Story Building Blocks Book Series. I hope the wisdom I distilled can help other writers too.
Here are some articles on understanding story structure.
Are You Plotting or Plodding?
Where to Begin?
First Steps: Situation or Story?
Stretching the Story Seed
Why Pick Genre First?
Does Genre Matter?
Keeping Your Promise
Writing for Children
The Central Question
Genre and the Overall Story Problem
Story Frame
Do You Need A B-Story?
Parallel Plots
What's Your Angle? (Choosing Points of View)
5 Tips For Avoiding POV Speedbumps
Shifting POV
Structuring a Series: The Trilogy
Structuring a Series: The Serial
Structuring a Series: The Relay
Framing the Plot Part 1 Protagonist and Antagonist
Framing the Plot Part 2 Friends
Framing the Plot Part 3 Foes
Framing the Plot Part 4 The Synopsis
No Stakes No Tension
Four Layers of Conflict
External Conflict
Antagonist Conflict
Interpersonal Conflict
Internal Conflict
Layering the Conflicts
Organizing the Layers Part 1
Organizing the Layers Part 2
Shades of Doubt
The Takeaway
Perils of the Paranormal
Jumping the Sharknado
Top 5 Things that Bore Me
Top 10 Reasons I Quit Reading
Toxic Messages in Fiction Part 1
Toxic Messages in Fiction Part 2
History's Mysteries
The information on genre can also be found in the book Story Building Blocks The Four Layers of Conflict in ebook and print editions as well as on my website www.dianahurwitz.com. Much of the material from my Story Building Block books is available in my blog posts and website along with free forms.
This week, we offer resources for writing Mysteries. From cozy murders to graphic urban serial killers, readers love a good whodunit. Here are some tips for making a mystery:
The Mystery Skeleton
Mystery Subgenres
The information on genre can also be found in the book Story Building Blocks The Four Layers of Conflict in ebook and print editions as well as on my website
