FICTION WRITING / WHAT MY STORY IS ABOUT / WRITING EXPERIENCE / CONFLICT
BEFORE I COULD draft my novel's full outline and supplementing it with the necessary details, I had thought I had the complete recipe for a good story. But, of course, you can never be sure about yourself unless another person tells you what the hell is wrong—or missing. That is why a writer-friend's advise (or from anyone reliable enough) is always essential.
A few months ago, I was at my 20,000th word writing the scene where Eli is speaking to Mama at the kitchen about his going out to have some coffee as an excuse for not wanting to go to church with her that day. I could still remember the expended hours rereading the whole scene and editing their dialogue. And then, writer's block.
A few months ago, I was at my 20,000th word writing the scene where Eli is speaking to Mama at the kitchen about his going out to have some coffee as an excuse for not wanting to go to church with her that day. I could still remember the expended hours rereading the whole scene and editing their dialogue. And then, writer's block.
So in order for me to achieve some clarity, I sought my writer-friend's advise. But I had to agree with my writer-friend about some of my dialogues being dry as overcooked chicken. (Well, in the end, we came upon a mutual agreement that my plot, conflict, and characterization, among others were unsatisfactory.) Getting back to Eli, even though his purpose was to never go to church that day, the way I presented the talk between him and Mama lacked some style and tension, including the rest of my dialogues. And tension is important to keep the readers hooked, among all other reasons. | tension ... is instrumental to exhibiting the story's conflict |
So why is there a need for some tension? Well, having none will definitely make it dull and pointless (to be presented in discourse). This can be very disillusioning to the readers. You could have just written a brief exposition and not jeopardize the reading experience. I learned that tension in dialogue is instrumental to exhibiting the story's conflict that progressively amasses to a magnitude that forces the character to take action—either he immerses himself and let the wave toss him about or he goes against it.
To give you an example of what I mean about adding some psychic strain to your dialogues, let me excerpt a passage from The Catcher in the Rye (1951) by J. D. Salinger. This is a scene where Spencer is speaking to Holden about his failures at Pencey Prep.
To give you an example of what I mean about adding some psychic strain to your dialogues, let me excerpt a passage from The Catcher in the Rye (1951) by J. D. Salinger. This is a scene where Spencer is speaking to Holden about his failures at Pencey Prep.
"What did Dr. Thurmer say to you, boy? I understand you had quite a little chat." "Yes, we did. We really did. I was in his office for around two hours, I guess." "What'd he say to you?" "Oh. . . well, about Life being a game and all. And how you should play it according to the rules. He was pretty nice about it. I mean he didn't hit the ceiling or anything. He just kept talking about Life being a game and all. You know." "Life is a game, boy. Life is a game that one plays according to the rules." "Yes, sir. I know it is. I know it." |
Click on the image to read about 10 things you should know about the novel from The Guardian.
Yes, Holden knows it, and, by the way he enunciates, "I know it," you can evidently sense his aversion, that, in due course, will further magnify into contempt which creates a traction into his ability to make decisions. Most, if not all, stories written by any good writer (same applies to fully contrived stories—I'm talking about outlines) are obviously woven by conflicts but it is the way the subtleties are presented in dialogues. They are not written just to break off lengthy paragraphs; they are written for a purpose and that is not only to intrigue your readers, but most importantly, advance your story.
If you live in an island and your friend who visits you using his boat tells you that he just crossed the sea from the other shore to your shore. Then, you would probably think, "How else could you get here if not by crossing the sea using a boat?" But if your friend tells you that a tsunamic wave just almost capsized his boat, then, that would be very intriguing—very intriguing, indeed. ●● ●
If you live in an island and your friend who visits you using his boat tells you that he just crossed the sea from the other shore to your shore. Then, you would probably think, "How else could you get here if not by crossing the sea using a boat?" But if your friend tells you that a tsunamic wave just almost capsized his boat, then, that would be very intriguing—very intriguing, indeed. ●● ●
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