Short Story Writing Tips - Is Your Conflict Resolved By Another Character?
by Nick Vernon
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How great is it when we¡¦re going through a major crisis and someone comes up with a solution for us?
In real life we hope someone will solve our problems and sometimes that happens. Someone else solving our problems is the easy way out.
This won¡¦t do for a story.
In short stories, the character has to solve his own conflict.
Let me give you an example of another character solving the main characters conflict¡K.
The main character¡¦s goal is to save enough money to buy a car. The conflict is whether he should buy it because he has many other bills.
So, in the story we see him struggling to pay off his debts and see him weighing the decision to buy a car. In the end, after all this struggle, up comes the father to the rescue, who presents him with a car. The ending to this story is weak because¡K
„« All that struggle was for nothing.
„« The character didn¡¦t reach his goal - his father reached it for him.
„« The reader wasn¡¦t allowed to feel the exhilaration that the character won, because his father stepped in.
„« The sympathy or empathy the reader felt for the character was destroyed in the end.
„« Readers were let down.
Strong characters are those, that besides the problems and obstacles they face, the sacrifices they have to make, and the worry they experience, they finally pull through.
But for a character to be strong, he has to start strong, continue strong and yes, you guessed it¡K end strong.
Another character solving his conflict deprives him of what is his.
He is deprived of the feeling that comes from meeting his goal and by depriving our character of the feeling, we are also depriving the reader.
About the author:
Besides his passion for writing, Nick Vernon runs an online gift site where you will find gift information, articles and readers funny stories. Visit http://www.we-recommend.com
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