Writing Lessons You Can Learn From a Drama Queen

Photo Credit: www.wetpaint.com

We all know at least one person who makes a big deal out of everything. They root for conflict like a pig looking for truffles. They thrive on gossip. Their name automatically came to your mind as you're reading this. 

For the next 5 minutes, they're your new best friend. 

Okay, not really. But you can use them from a writing standpoint. This person teaches you the importance of conflict. Listen carefully:

Most people hate conflict in their life. People love conflict in books, or watching other people's conflict. 

Think about it. What makes up a story? If we break it down into simple terms:

There is a person, their name is ______. They have a problem because _______. To solve this problem, they need to _______. While trying to solve the problem, they run into ______. Finally, they solve the problem and the story ends.

I've highlighted the conflict areas in red and blue. Now, most authors get the first conflict area correct (why else is there a story if there's not an issue, right?). But the second conflict area is often overlooked or underestimated. Here's a list of problem's I see over and over again:

1. It's Too Easy. The story line was great, but the main character was never in any danger. They knew what to do and they went for it. There were no road blocks, no obstacles to over come, nothing to set them back. 
• Jack needs food.
• Jack knows there is food in town.
• Jack takes his horse to town to get food.
• Jack pays for food and returns home.
2. The Character Always Gets Aid When He/She Needs It. STOP DOING THIS. In real life, sometimes you are all alone and there is no one that can help you. Your mom doesn't appear out of nowhere to help you get out of a rut. Your best friend isn't always by your side. When you constantly aid your protagonist every time they run into trouble, the story get's boring and predictable.
• Jack needs food.
• Jack knows there is food in town.
• Jack goes to take his horse to town, but his brother is mending her hoof.
• Jack asks his mom if he can take her horse, she says yes.
• Jack goes to town, but realizes he has no money.
• Jack's dad is around the corner and gives him money.
• Jack pays for food and returns home.
3. The Character Starts Out at Level 100. Okay, so imagine you're playing a video game. When you start out, you start out at level 1, right? You have to earn experience points to progress in the game. You have to follow quests to get that special armor, or that magic sword. Now imagine if you started out at level 100. You already have all the best armor, the best magic spells, and a whole bunch of experience points. You're slicing through bad guys like they're butter. Not as challenging anymore, is it? Don't do this to your characters! Make them humble to start out with. Sure, they can be excellent in certain areas but make sure to even it out by giving them flaws. What are their weaknesses? What can't they do? What do they have to do to overcome that? 

When you write your book, pretend you're that drama queen back in high school. If there's something that can be taken away from your character, do it! If there's a road block you can throw at them, go for it! Give the audience a reason to fear that your character will fail. 

Read through what you have. Pick out the conflict points. If there's not enough, here's some ideas:

• What are your character's strengths? Take them away.
• Embarrass your character.
• Hurt your character mentally or physically. How do they cope? 
• Have a fight between your main character and their best friend.
• Give your character what they want, then take it away.
• Take an ally and turn them into an enemy.
• Your character planned on taking ____ route to reach their goal. Block it off. Force them in a different direction. 
• Your character was going after their goal but realizes they have to  ____ first. 

© Writing with Vengeance 2013. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Writing with Vengeance with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.