Writers Horoscope December 21: You welcome conflict…

into your writing.

argument-conflict boxing glove

Things had been getting a bit drab, stilted.

Not so much after digging up my July-August 2013 Poets & Writers article, The Art of Conflict, by Dan Barden. [Sorry, link only provides a summary of the issue.]

A few noteworthy points:

“Your characters should more or less always be having a bad day.”

“Conflict is what creates growth. Conflict is what creates character.”

“The other thing I can tell you about conflict: No matter how extreme it gets, people will identify with it.”

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So in this season of love and peace and goodwill, go out there and wreak a little literary havoc!

Writers Horoscope for October 7: A New Voice Emerges.

angry-man

Uninvited, by the way.

Yep, just when you thought you had nailed the logical soft-spoken maybe a bit uptight mid-40s professional, out comes an irascible sarcastic dope who spews about everything he knows nothing about. 

Give him a day. Have a chat with him. You might even try to scare him away.

If the creep is still around, make room for him in one of your stories.