"Anything that can go wrong will go wrong." When writing a story, you should live by this rule. That rule is what has me writhing on the couch, shouting obscenities while watching Once Upon A Time or reading Harry Potter.
The only way a story can survive is with conflict. That makes it interesting.
This is such a basic fact of writing, but it's one that's the easiest to forget when you get lost in witty one-liners that do nothing but make us laugh.
I remember in one of my first creative writing lessons (which they actually taught us 2nd and 3rd graders back in Kentucky) my writing teacher told the class that a story always has to have a problem. At the time, I thought that was stupid, but if there was no problem, we'd be sitting there listening to the character talk about how he likes his coffee.
So always have conflict. You don't have to have the huge one play out on every single page, but be sure that there aren't moments where the characters are standing around talking about their favorite Taylor Swift song. Make one of them speak up about how her songs are lame and she is a vicious slut-shamer.
That's interesting.
Back to the golden rule of writing (I dunno if it is, but I'm making it) when the character is getting to their destination they need to encounter obstacles. For fantasy, if they're on a quest to see the Great Wizard, they should have to fight dragons, run away from asassins, get into pub brawls. Everything and anything.
If you're writing a realistic fiction about a teenage girl trying to get through high school, and you're thinking how the fuck is she supposed to fight a dragon? You have it easy. Seriously. Think about it. High school is a battleground. There is always be conflict because it's basically bursting with hormones and angst. Have the girl realize she hates her best friend. Or something happens with her sibling or other family member. Starts a fight in the hallway. Gets sent to the principal's office. Didn't finish her homework because *insert family issue here* and is paying for it, and she freaks out. There are TONS you can do with this.
Just think of all the possibilities. Anything that can go wrong will go wrong.
Find holes in your main character's plans. If there are holes, don't throw all your papers up in the air and curse, use it against them. That creates interesting conflict.
And your readers, the ones who saw the hole at least, will be shaking their head in contempt but then
when you use it against them that's the point when the reader decides that the story is brilliant.
Torture the MC. You don't need to kill of his/her entire family in the middle of the night to do it. Just make everything bad happen to him. I mean think how boring Harry Potter would have been if he hadn't found out about the stone, tried to beat the heir, released the prisoner, didn't get his name put into the goblet...you get the idea.
If your character is winning so far and is in a good mood and confident, you know what you do? You don't pat him/her on the back and give him/her a passionate love scene with their love interest. That's when the stakes get higher. That's when s/he figures out something about a companion, gets someone killed because of their *insert fatal flaw*, have them lose ground. Anything.
When the character starts winning, make him/her lose.
Beat them up. Torture them. Literally anything.
I'm not saying never let them win, but just remember the rule: Anything that can go wrong will go wrong.
Hope that made some semblance of sense. Adios
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