conflict | Meredith Mansfield, Author

Posts Tagged ‘conflict’

Potpourri

Posted in writing, tagged characters, conflict, e-publishing, fantasy, first drafts, Learning, marketing, serialization, writing, Young Adult on May 8, 2013| Leave a Comment »

A little of this and a little of that, today.

Work progresses on the WIP, MAGIC AND POWER. It had slowed to a crawl for a couple of days as I had a really difficult scene to write. It’s one where my main character is assailed by doubts and is unprepared to make a difficult choice. I’m sure that it’s one that’s going to need plenty of work in the revisions to strengthen it. Sometimes int the first draft, you just have to put down what you can and move on. Now I’m on the scene where my characters can get really angry with each other. This one’s going to be a lot more fun to write.

In other news, Amazon made me really happy this morning when this turned up in my inbox.

Gotta love free advertising.

On the chain mail front, I know I haven’t posted anything recently. I finally ran down a new set of instructions for European Four-In-One. This is the standard pattern of actual chain mail used as armor back in the middle ages.

Sometimes, it just helps to try something a different way. That’s what finally worked for me with the helm pattern. The different perspective can just help it make sense. It works for writing, too, by the way. Stuck on something? Try writing it from a different point of view.

Also, as usual, new chapters of FIRE AND EARTH and BLOOD WILL TELL are available on wattpad. You know, though, it’s going to take over a month to get to the end at two chapters a week. Both books are available on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Kobo, and other places.

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The Importance of the Central Conflict

Posted in writing, tagged conflict, fantasy, first drafts, revisions, serialization, short stories, writing, Young Adult on May 5, 2013| 2 Comments »

The central conflict is what drives a story forward. Without that, you have a vignette, maybe a very long vignette, but not a story. I learned this 0ne the hard way. I learned it with the second book I wrote after I got serious about writing. (We’re not counting that thing under the bed I wrote in college, all right?)

I wrote roughly 100,000 words and, literally as I was writing the last page, I looked up and realized that it didn’t come out to a story. I had characters and a setting and things happened, but I knew instinctively that it didn’t come out to be a story. I’m ashamed to admit how many different things I tried to fix before I realized the real problem. It didn’t have a strong central conflict that unified all those things that happened to my characters and made the final resolution feel like, well, like a resolution.

Lesson learned. I’m willing to plunge into a project, particularly a shorter project, and discover the story as I go. But I won’t start anything until I feel I have a handle on the central conflict.

I’ve mentioned before that my current project, working title MAGIC AND POWER, has surprised me more than once. The first surprise was when it decided to grow from an intended novelette or maybe novella into a full-fledged novel. It’s currently at almost 58,000 words and I project 65,000 to 70,000 when I reach the end of the first draft. (It’ll grow a bit more in second and third draft. They always do as I flesh out descriptions and give more attention to the secondary characters.)

Why this is a problem and how it relates to the title of this post is this: the original conflict for a nice little novelette can’t sustain a novel. I’ve had to work in a bigger conflict and allow the original to become a subplot. Unsurprisingly, this is something that’s going to need a lot more attention in the next draft. It’s sort of a hodge podge right now. But it has to be done for the whole thing to come together.

The irony of this situation is that I took up this story at this time (intending it to be much shorter) as a way to keep the writing muscles flexed while I try to work on the central conflict of what I intended to be my next novel. The best laid plans of mice and men . . .

Don’t forget, FIRE AND EARTH is now available just about everywhere.

And, as always, new chapter of FIRE AND EARTH and BLOOD WILL TELL are available free on wattpad. (Although, if you like the stories, you can read them much faster then two chapters a week if you buy a copy.)

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Stirring the Pot

Posted in writing, tagged characters, conflict, fantasy, first drafts, serialization, writing, Young Adult on May 1, 2013| 2 Comments »

It’s what we writers do. We put our characters in situations and just when they think they’re getting comfortable, we stir things up and make them uncomfortable again. After all, stories require conflict.

So, I’ve posted before about the love triangle in MAGIC AND POWER. Well, it hasn’t been that much of a triangle, really, until now. The main character had a boyfriend back home, before she left for school. She’s just developing a relationship with a friend/potential boyfriend at school. But, since the two potential love interests have never been in the same place, it’s not too complicated. Guess who’s about to show up at her school. (Where’s that evil little emoticon when you need it.)

So that’s what I’m working on now at about the two-thirds mark in this story. Things are getting a lot more interesting.

Meanwhile, I’m still trying to find new ways to promote FIRE AND EARTH.

Also, as usual, new chapters of FIRE AND EARTH and BLOOD WILL TELL are available on wattpad. (Or, if you want to read faster than two chapters a week, check out the “My Books” page for links to where both are available for sale.)

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Romantic Complications

Posted in writing, tagged characters, conflict, fantasy, first drafts, Romance, serialization, writing, Young Adult on April 28, 2013| Leave a Comment »

Oops. Got busy writing and almost forgot to blog.

So, now that FIRE AND EARTH has been launched, let’s get back to the new story. This is the one that was supposed to be just something short to work on while I got ready to write my weird Oz story. It’s approaching 50,000 words, so yeah, not that short.

Anyway, I’m in the middle of the romantic complication. This time, I’m trying to write a love triangle, something new and different for me. Right now, my main character should be thoroughly confused. I’m sure I haven’t gotten that strong enough, yet, but that’s what first drafts are for. Everything doesn’t have to be perfect the first time through. It has to be as close to perfect as you can make it the last time through.

So, coming up in the next couple of chapters are the places where the rivalry between the two love interests will really heat up and . . . the choice. Should be fun. Also, a challenge. I have to keep both guys as credible choices even though I know which one will ultimately get the girl. At least, I think I do. This story has surprised me twice already. Well, that’s what keeps writing interesting, isn’t it?

Also, new chapters of FIRE AND EARTH and BLOOD WILL TELL are available on wattpad.

FIRE AND EARTH finally showed up on Barnes and Noble.

And there’s a giveaway of a copy of FIRE AND EARTH on Goodreads.

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Love Triangles

Posted in writing, tagged characters, conflict, fantasy, Multiple Projects, Romance, short stories, writing, Young Adult on March 24, 2013| 4 Comments »

My current WIP (working title “Magic and Power”) took a turn of it’s own about a week ago. This turn leads me into unfamiliar territory–the first time I’ve ever written a love triangle.

Well, technically, it’s not a true triangle, because there’s no relationship between the two love interests. That added relationship, where it works into a plot, can add another layer of conflict. That’s just not going to work out in this story, though. It’s okay, my main character has other issues to add to the conflict. Plus some conflicts external to the whole romance element.

I didn’t plan this story, originally, to have a love triangle, but this second character popped up and said he loved my main character, too and to give him a chance. It’s not where I intended the story to go, but I think I like this new twist better. Still, it’s a little outside of my comfort zone, so making it work is going to be interesting. We’ll see what my critique partners have to say on whether or not I pulled it off.

I also hadn’t planned for this story to be this long. I thought it was probably a novelette (between 7500 and 15,000 words) or maybe a novella (between 15,000 and 50,000 words), which is why I was willing to dive in without more planning. I just passed 26,000 words, so it’s definitely at least a novella and might even decide to grow into a full novel. If I get to–or close to–50,000 words, I’ll have to give serious thought to expanding it to a full novel.

Well, meanwhile, I’m having fun with this story.

In other news, new chapters of FIRE AND EARTH and BLOOD WILL TELL are up for free on Wattpad. Take a look!

Also, although I missed out on Pitch Madness, I did get a partial request for THE BARD’S GIFT out of WriteOnCon’s Luck O’ the Irish Pitch Fest.

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When Stories Take on a Life of Their Own

Posted in writing, tagged agents, Alternate History, characters, conflict, Contests, fantasy, first drafts, Multiple Projects, Pitches, short stories, writing, Young Adult on March 17, 2013| Leave a Comment »

First, let me say Happy Saint Patrick’s Day!

And fingers crossed for a little of the Luck of the Irish. (I am part Irish, after all.) I made it in to The Luck of the Irish Pitch Fest. We’ll see what, if anything, comes of that next week. And I have to wait a couple of weeks to find out if I make it into Pitch Madness. In both cases, I’m pitching my YA alternate history, THE BARD’S GIFT.

Next, a small announcement:

Chapter 2 of FIRE AND EARTH and Chapter 5 of BLOOD WILL TELL are now available on Wattpad. It’s free, so go check them out.

Now, back to the topic, stories taking on a life of their own:

I just passed 20,000 words on this story I’m working on now–and it’s starting to veer off in an unexpected direction.

This was supposed to be a short story or maybe a novella. I picked it up to fill the time (productively) while I figured out which of my novels-in-waiting to take up next and do a little more prep work on the chosen novel. This one is looking more and more like it might decide that it needs to be a novel, too.

That’s–I won’t call it a problem, let’s say interesting (as in the Chinese curese “May you live in interesting times”)–because I deal with short stories and novels a little differently. I’ve mentioned before on this blog that I’m a discovery writer by nature and a modified discovery writer by experience. I’m willing to freestyle (fly by the seat of my pants) with a short story or even a novella. After all, it’s only a few thousand words. If it doesn’t work out, well, no writing is ever wasted. Hopefully, I always at least learn something. Maybe I try something that I’ve never done before, like first person or a different genre. Short is the place to experiment.

But when I plan to start a novel, I do at least a little planning. I want to know the inciting incident (obviously), the central conflict, and if possible the try/fail cycles. I don’t outline, exactly, but I do usually have a separate file with a paragraph or so about key points that the story will hit. Most importantly, where the story is going to end. I have a plan.

I had an idea where this story would go, but it left a lot of room to explore. Well, now I’ve introduced a new character who has decided that he’s going to be a second love interest. I’ve never written a real love triangle before. Not as in there’s real doubt about who she’ll choose in the end. Now this new character is turning out to be maybe the better choice. Which wasn’t in the plan at all. Stinker.

Oh well, I better fasten my seat belt. I’m already on this rollercoaster. There’s nothing to do now but ride it to the end–and hope.

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Pitches Are Evil

Posted in writing, tagged agents, characters, conflict, Contests, fantasy, first pages, Learning, Pitches, revisions, world building, writing, Young Adult on January 16, 2013| 6 Comments »

You think trying to sum up a whole novel in 250 words for a query is hard? Try a 35-word pitch. They’re evil, I tell you.

This is what I’ve got so far:

Casora was raised as a warrior. Tiaran can barely swing a sword, but he knows palace intrigue. To win the war and make a place for themselves, they’ll both have to stretch beyond their limits.

I have to get this and the first 250 words ready for the alternate round of Pitch Wars by Sunday.

The first 250 words have changed, too. Sometimes, you just need someone to slap you on the side of the head. After getting the revision notes from my mentor and taking a couple of days to digest them, I realized that there was too much world-building in the first few chapters. Not that the world-building was bad, just misplaced. It got in the way of letting the story really get rolling. Just because I love world-building doesn’t mean it’ll draw a reader in. Well, sometimes . . .

Anyway, here’s the new first 250 words:

Casora restrained the impulse to get up and pace across the floor of the command tent. She couldn’t show emotion, not even frustration, in front of her troops, but the continued silence from home was troubling. She reached up to rub the little scar above her right eyebrow.

She glanced up at the mountains visible through the open tent flap. The snow crept lower every day and so did her hopes of a recall order to let the troop over-winter at home. Casora dreaded the prospect of a winter stuck in camp with a troop made up entirely of homesick teenagers and every one of them carrying the potential of the berserker curse. She’d better start planning a lot of training exercises.

“Riders coming!” The shout came from the lookout to the east, toward home. After a pause, the lookout added, “Two of them.”

Only two riders? She’d sent three out.

Casora walked to the front of the tent and cursed under her breath. They were her scouts all right, but whatever orders they brought had better be end-of-the-world urgent. There was no other excuse for abusing the horses like that. Then she realized that Varana’s braid was redder than it should be–blood red. Casora took off running. So did others from all parts of the camp. Varana fell off the winded mare just as Casora reached her.

“Report,” she said, but more quietly than her usual command voice.

“Stumbled into a scouting party just inside the pass. Ambushed.”

And that’s what I’ve been doing for the last few days–and will be for the next couple, too.

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Minor Characters

Posted in writing, tagged Alternate History, characters, conflict, fantasy, first drafts, revisions, writing, Young Adult on November 18, 2012| 2 Comments »

As I work through the second draft of THE BARD’S GIFT (now about 75% complete), I’m starting to think more and more about my side characters. Minor characters can add depth, conflict, and realism to a story. After all, would HARRY POTTER be as good without the Weasley twins or Luna Lovegood? Or LORD OF THE RINGS without Faramir and Eowyn?

My first drafts tend to be very protagonist-centric. Minor characters and even the antagonists tend to be underdeveloped in the first draft. That’s not a problem–as long as I realize it and fix it.

Through the second draft, part of what I’ve been doing is strengthening the antagonists. I’m not nearly done with that. There’ll be more to do in the third and maybe even in the fourth draft.

There are other minor characters, too, though. And they all have to be real, three-dimensional characters in the final draft. That’s one of the main things I have to work on in later drafts.

In particular, I’ve got my eye on a very minor character. Well, she was minor in the first draft. A friend of Astrid, my main character, who isn’t always on her side. She’s a friend, but she has her own issues and goals, too. And her own ideas of what is in Astrid’s best interest. This is good. It makes her more real. It’s also a potential (and currently untapped) source of conflict in the story. Next draft, Gerda is getting a lot bigger role.

Who are some of your favorite side characters?

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From Romance to Capers

Posted in writing, tagged Alternate History, conflict, e-publishing, fantasy, inspiration, Learning, Multiple Projects, paranormal romance, research, revisions, sequels, writing, Young Adult on October 24, 2012| 4 Comments »

My last post was about rereading Lois McMaster Bujold’s A CIVIL AFFAIR to help me work out some of the kinks in the romance part of my paranormal romance BLOOD IS THICKER. I’m still working on BLOOD IS THICKER, though I’m in the last quarter, now and my focus has shifted.

Now I’m working on a little mini-caper plot point. In this case, I haven’t read or re-read anything exactly. I’ve relied more on this episode of Writing Excuses. This caper will only last through a couple of chapters, but hopefully adds a bit of action and suspense to the story leading up to the action surrounding the final resolution.

This is something new for me. I’ve written action scenes before, but never tried anything resembling a caper before. I’m sure that this will need more tweaking in the next draft. That’s okay. It’s good to try new things and stretch yourself a bit.

Meanwhile, I’ve also started the second draft of THE BARD’S GIFT, which is a young adult alternate history. It’s interesting to be working on two such different stories at the same time. We’ll see how that works out, too.

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Reading as Research

Posted in writing, tagged characters, conflict, e-publishing, fantasy, first pages, inspiration, Learning, paranormal romance, Reading, research, revisions, Romance, sequels, writing on October 21, 2012| 2 Comments »

As I’ve been working through the first round of revisions to BLOOD IS THICKER, I’ve also been rereading parts of A CIVIL CAMPAIGN by Lois McMaster Bujold. Not just because it’s my favorite of the Vorkosigan Saga books, though it is. Also because it’s a good model for how a smart man can blow up his own love life–and then fix it again by realizing his own mistake.

That’s one of the things that happens in BLOOD WILL TELL, although obviously in a very different way, and it didn’t come off quite right in the first draft. It was too flat and a bit stereotypical. So, how to fix it. Well, it never hurts to try to pick up pointers from somebody who handled a similar situation extremely well.

I think I’ve made it better. It still may need some tweaking, but that’s what revisions are for.

BTW, I’ve finally built up some momentum in this one. I’ve passed the half-way point in this revision. Yay!

That’s good, because I’m very soon going to have three revision projects going at once: