It’s Hard to Type with a Cat on My Arm

by Lisa Sledge

The problem is the cat’s purring. And his fur is so soft.

Now he’s kneading the bulge of chub on my stomach. That’s not exactly endearing, but it makes him happy and I can’t bring myself to shove him aside. I guess I’ll be writing one handed tonight. I’m such a sucker.

Everyone at my house has running noses and hacking lungs. In keeping with the spirit of Christmas, we all look like Rudolph. I’m just grateful that my own cold started last and I got everyone through the worst of theirs. I don’t know what we’ve got, but it came with a solid four days of fever for everyone it’s touched. Our house should be quarantined.

Which brings me, in a very roundabout way, to conflict. Sometimes I forget that an antagonist or opposing force doesn’t have to be a person—it can be anything. Remember your elements of fiction and the sources of conflict?

Man vs. Man
Man vs. Machine
Man vs. Nature
Man vs. Society
Man vs. Self

Too often we think of conflict only in terms of our main storyline, when in truth, it takes a never ending series of smaller conflicts to move your story toward the climax.  It could be something as simple as a cat that gets in the way, a red nose threatening to drip when your MC’s out of tissues, a shoelace that won’t stay tied, or a cell phone that splashes into a pot of soup. My favorite is internal conflict, but I find it’s the hardest to create on a page.

Look for the places in your story that drag, mark them, and see what new problems you can introduce to energize those slower scenes.

Three Things Thursday

Cheryl

I remember when I was 11 or 12, I became “inspired” to write the greatest Christmas story EVER. I had a special pen and a special notebook and I would get down under the Christmas tree to write with only twinkly lights to see by.

I’m pretty sure it involved an orphanage, snow, and a little girl that believed in Santa no matter what anyone told her. A terminal disease may have been involved.  I’m also pretty sure I never finished it.

I can definitely say that it wasn’t the greatest Christmas story EVER. The lights didn’t cast magic over my words and make them better.

But the experience of writing…that was magical. In this world of instant gratification and results-based judgment, we sometimes forget about how important experiences are. Sometimes you’ll work for months or years on a story and it will come to nothing. That’s not a failure. You only fail if you learn nothing from it.

So take the risk. Try that story you’re afraid to waste time on. It might be stupid. It might be unoriginal.

Or it might be the greatest story EVER.

Brenda

Some of us already have goals for next year.  Some of us are thinking about it.  Some of us haven’t made goals, unless they’re about NOT having goals and “setting ourselves up for defeat.”

In this week before Christmas, I’d like to suggest we all give ourselves a break.  For instance, one of my goals is to write AT LEAST 750 words a day.  Maybe I should think about NOT obsessing over the “every day” thing, just for this week.

I’d like to make writing a priority over most other things.  But here’s a list of things writing should NOT trump:

Family
Dear friends
The real spirit of Christmas
Taking care of myself: eating, sleeping, remembering to take necessary meds

Have a Merry Christmas season with all your REAL priorities in mind!

Carol

Tomorrow is our last post for a week.

And so I wanted to tell you several things–

Thank you for being my friends.

Thank you for loving good books and writing good books.

Thank you for following Ann Dee and me and Kyra along for the last few years.

The very best blessings to you and yours.

And may this season bring you the most joy possible.

Love, love, love.