Ok, it feels like the internet is trolling me because I just saw On Tyranny somewhere else and was like, that’s such a good freaking book! Literally shared it again to my audience on Ig. Then open Substack and see this. The universe is telling me something! So good. Very wise to read it every year.
As to the question on middles and conflicts. The middle is always the hardest part for me as well. On my last book, I got feedback from betas that the main character was “too mean” and others thought he was “too emotional” basically seemed like he was causing too much conflict. This got me to delve into character arcs as a means of improving the story and I used the Myers Briggs type theory to analyze my two main characters. Then I re-examined the plot based on the findings of that activity. Used a giant poster board for each of the character’s to compile it all, and lots of colored markers which was fun.
Thanks, Charlotte and you get the right to plug because you shared how you got there. Thank you and here's to the next novel in your series (is there another one coming after Mushroom Honeymoon?)
"On Tyranny" sounds like essential reading. I will add it to the list FOR SURE so thank you. I just revised my write schedule partly b/c I am finding myself unable to keep up the reading I do on Substack and my books. I am sure in my life I never had six books in progress at the same time. I feel unsettled. They are all over the map genre-wise and I like them all. I suppose I will finish the loaners first to get that off my conscience :)
I think that finishing the books on loan first is a good strategy and I also think reading "all over the map" makes for the most interesting experience. I am not sure I've ever had six books in progress at the same time. My brain couldn't handle the overload, I suspect. Good luck with the writing and the reading ( I tend to save up my Substacks for after I write and on weekends as a kind of dessert).
I am mostly retired and adjusting to all my interests. I give time to reading n writing but not willing to neglect the other stuff. I finished one book today and put one aside. Less Newsletters for a while n concentrate on the ones I love n communicate with.
In real life, I actively avoid conflict. Honestly, I think I shy away from writing fiction for this reason. You can’t have a good story without it, as your son so wisely said. I do experience a lot of inner conflict, though, and I don’t seem to mind exploring that on the page, which is why I tend to write personal essays and hope to eventually write a memoir.
As for the actual writing process,I resist outlining on the page and always find myself refining sentences as I go along, which I well know is inefficient. However, I won’t even begin writing unless I already have some sense of the end. It’s like I don’t need to know - or even really want to know - exactly how I’ll get there, but I do need to know where I’m going.
I agree about having the end in mind. The one thing that helped me with my first novel and is helping me with this one is that I have a very clear idea of the end including the last sentence. This doesn't mean it can't be word smithed but the basic vision remains the same. It's hugely helpful when I'm floundering.
I do think it's fascinating that we can explore conflict and other parts of our lives on the page more easily that we can in real life. Good luck with all your writing. And BTW, thanks for sharing a photo of your TBR stack! I'm looking forward to sharing it in an upcoming newsletter!
In my personal life I tend to avoid conflict. It always seems to bring out my worst instincts, and I really don’t like who I am in those moments. As much as possible, I try to live and let live.
In my fiction, I think I’m at my best when I start with conflict. A lot of the time I have a conflict even before I understand why the characters are truly in opposition to each other. Plus, conflicts beg for resolution, so that also tends to help me push the story forward. I need that push because I don’t use an outline, or if I do use an outline, it’s a very lose one. Usually, if the conflict is rich enough it exposes the characters and reveals the story to me. If it not a very rich conflict, or there’s no conflict at all, it’s usually a sign that I’ll abandon the piece. I guess you could say conflict is key for me when I write.
As for reading, I fell back into nonfiction after reading a few thrillers (Heat 2 and The Local). I’m currently reading Robert Caro’s first book on LBJ.
Yes, conflicts beg for resolution. The scenes I wrote above also beg for me to show better how they arrived at this pivotal moment. It's the story of a relationship and there is not a single relationship I can think of that gets anywhere without a fair amount of conflict, open and underground.
I was wondering if you'd departed from your run of nonfiction reads and it sounds like you did, but the call of presidential history must have been very loud and intriguing as history so often is. You've been reading some really compelling nonfiction in that vein. You make me want to follow you there.
After all my Nixon reading this summer, I felt like I had to know more about LBJ. Robert Caro’s book really delivers. One thing I find interesting is just what a morally flawed leader LBJ was. He thought nothing of stealing elections, bullying, and exploiting others to add to his power. He’d be torn to shreds by the standards of liberal / progressive politics today, and yet his vision for a Great Society strikes me as far more ambitious than the Left’s goals today. Hard to reconcile. I’m looking forward to reading the next volume in the series.
Thank you for the book recommendations. I am trying to avoid all things political for awhile as it has exhausted me, so I looked for the book Still Life that you posted. It sounded perfect. And, it was free to download on Amazon prime reading! So this will be my new read for October, along with the other 40 books on my TBR pile lol. Thank you so much.
When sitting down to write, my mantra is "Write the good stuff first." Whether it comes at the beginning of a piece, the middle, or the end, whatever is bubbling the most in my mind is what I try to get down on the page (or screen). Sounds to me as though something near the end is nearing full boil in your head--go for it.
What I love about your Substack is I feel I’m reading about myself every week. We continue on the same wavelength... ~~~
I’m reading The Sign of Four right now and just finished A Study in Scarlet. There is so much to take from Doyle’s prose and it inspires the way I structure things and reminds me to get in a scene, not just gloss through it.
I realized that I am not afraid of people, I just don’t like conflict. But I am learning to emotionally detach myself from made up scenarios or feelings of being personally attacked. It’s a long process and I am much farther from where I’ve been. I am at a point where I will not engage. Fight your siblings. I don’t have time for that. Don’t want to. Gotta go. It’s freeing to not get sucked into what is actually a personal battle inside another person and not about me.
That's so interesting, Chevanne -- we're both reading Holmes stories now. I've finished all of them and am rereading. I am also reading stories by writers of Holmes fan fiction. I resisted it for years -- but my mate is an expert in all things Doyle and we have a story we'd like to write and add to the millions of those who are keeping the characters alive post-Doyle. It's such a departure for me and that makes it fun. You are right about the prose and the voice: they are so distinctive and of a certain time and place. Incredibly rich and a real challenge for those who even dream of emulating it.
You've described the difficult balance required to detach from unhealthy conflict. It sounds like you've developed some important insight about when it's about something important to you or something that stems from another's issues that you choose not to feed into. That seems essential for emotional survival.
I found early on in life that conflict was a good way to make friends. I have been on the side of the underdog since I started school aged five and encountered bullying teachers happy to use a ruler on the back of a hand or a leg when they felt like it. When I write I have yet to go in search of a character or a story. They find me, as they do others. Reminiscence plays a part too. All stories go back and forth, and what’s wrong with gaps? My life after 78 years is full of them and are at the root of a story I am presently working on, when not being diverted by other interests and chores. As for conflict? The sad truth is that, thanks to social media and the web, it is close to dead. Instead, those with time to waste, talk to like-minded souls - which probably explains why fiction becomes more like soap every day! Robert 🐰
I hadn't thought of how conflict can lead to friendship -- although I can't imagine many friendships that don't have a little conflict somewhere along the line but that is not necessarily a bad thing. You can make friends all kinds of ways and siding with the underdog is a wonderful way, I think.
As for the gaps -- I can live with gaps in my own personal story but not in a novel I'm writing!
I'm not a writer but I do not seek out conflict. However, when someone brings conflict to me, I try to pick my battles. As a reader, I don't mind conflict but sometimes I find it irritating. I don't like conflict that feels manufactured or unauthenicate.
Timothy Synder is incredibly intelligent and insightful. Therefore, when he speaks, I always listen.
My husband and I also watched The Us and the Holocaust. I am absolutely shocked and appalled at how lacking our education is. And the parallels between then and now are shocking.
As for reading: I just finished Mad Honey by Jodi Picoult & Jennifer Finney Boylan. I loved it! I've recently read The Island by Adrian McKinty and wowza! It's a great adventure novel with fantastic plot twists. I also read The Naturalist by Tea Cooper. She is a brilliant author and I always enjoy her books.
Picking one's battles is key and preferable to avoiding something that needs to be dealt with sooner or later. I'm thinking about what you said about reading conflict in a story, too. It's important for whatever happens to be organic, I agree, and totally authentic. I'll be looking for that when I go over my draft.
I didn't know that Picoult and Boylan had written a book together. I will check it out. The other two are also new to me which is wonderful, thank you. And thanks for writing!
Re writing: for my novels and plays, I outline. Not deep outlines, but I use Blake Snyder's Beat Sheet to create a rough outline. My two novels, I wrote from beginning to end, and added more (fleshed out scenes, etc) after the first draft. The thriller I wrote for NaNoWriMo, and just wrote whatever I could get out on the day. It took me three years to turn that draft into a finished product. I'm considering writing scenes not necessarily in order for the third in my novel series, just so I get it finished. I keep setting it aside to write plays and poetry. Re: conflict, in real life I try to avoid it. Re reading: this week I read Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan, and a mystery by Jessie Chandler. Next up is a play by Larissa FastHorse (What Would Crazy Horse Do?), and a re-read of Blanche Neely's Blanche on the Lam.
Thanks, Sandra. I've been doing a little bit of everything, like you -- rough outlines, story boards, just writing scenes which I stitch together later like a quilt. Anything to get the words down. It sounds as though your desires to write that novel may conflict a little with the urge you have to write your poetry and plays. On the other hand, it's all writing, right? It's all story trying to get out.
Conflict is always around us and, often, in us whether we seek it or not. Trying to be peaceful is a worthy goal -- except when writing which perhaps is where some of us get to work out some of that energy. Fiction is handy that way. What about reading, does your search for peace shape the material you choose to read?
Ok, it feels like the internet is trolling me because I just saw On Tyranny somewhere else and was like, that’s such a good freaking book! Literally shared it again to my audience on Ig. Then open Substack and see this. The universe is telling me something! So good. Very wise to read it every year.
As to the question on middles and conflicts. The middle is always the hardest part for me as well. On my last book, I got feedback from betas that the main character was “too mean” and others thought he was “too emotional” basically seemed like he was causing too much conflict. This got me to delve into character arcs as a means of improving the story and I used the Myers Briggs type theory to analyze my two main characters. Then I re-examined the plot based on the findings of that activity. Used a giant poster board for each of the character’s to compile it all, and lots of colored markers which was fun.
And the book that came from the two giant poster boards is called Mushroom Honeymoon and is out, lol, shameless plug.
Thanks, Charlotte and you get the right to plug because you shared how you got there. Thank you and here's to the next novel in your series (is there another one coming after Mushroom Honeymoon?)
Yes! Currently half-way through writing the third and final book. Thanks for asking. 🙏
"On Tyranny" sounds like essential reading. I will add it to the list FOR SURE so thank you. I just revised my write schedule partly b/c I am finding myself unable to keep up the reading I do on Substack and my books. I am sure in my life I never had six books in progress at the same time. I feel unsettled. They are all over the map genre-wise and I like them all. I suppose I will finish the loaners first to get that off my conscience :)
I think that finishing the books on loan first is a good strategy and I also think reading "all over the map" makes for the most interesting experience. I am not sure I've ever had six books in progress at the same time. My brain couldn't handle the overload, I suspect. Good luck with the writing and the reading ( I tend to save up my Substacks for after I write and on weekends as a kind of dessert).
I am mostly retired and adjusting to all my interests. I give time to reading n writing but not willing to neglect the other stuff. I finished one book today and put one aside. Less Newsletters for a while n concentrate on the ones I love n communicate with.
In real life, I actively avoid conflict. Honestly, I think I shy away from writing fiction for this reason. You can’t have a good story without it, as your son so wisely said. I do experience a lot of inner conflict, though, and I don’t seem to mind exploring that on the page, which is why I tend to write personal essays and hope to eventually write a memoir.
As for the actual writing process,I resist outlining on the page and always find myself refining sentences as I go along, which I well know is inefficient. However, I won’t even begin writing unless I already have some sense of the end. It’s like I don’t need to know - or even really want to know - exactly how I’ll get there, but I do need to know where I’m going.
I agree about having the end in mind. The one thing that helped me with my first novel and is helping me with this one is that I have a very clear idea of the end including the last sentence. This doesn't mean it can't be word smithed but the basic vision remains the same. It's hugely helpful when I'm floundering.
I do think it's fascinating that we can explore conflict and other parts of our lives on the page more easily that we can in real life. Good luck with all your writing. And BTW, thanks for sharing a photo of your TBR stack! I'm looking forward to sharing it in an upcoming newsletter!
Thanks! And you’re welcome. I hope you gets lots of these photos. I’m looking forward to seeing what everyone is reading :)
In my personal life I tend to avoid conflict. It always seems to bring out my worst instincts, and I really don’t like who I am in those moments. As much as possible, I try to live and let live.
In my fiction, I think I’m at my best when I start with conflict. A lot of the time I have a conflict even before I understand why the characters are truly in opposition to each other. Plus, conflicts beg for resolution, so that also tends to help me push the story forward. I need that push because I don’t use an outline, or if I do use an outline, it’s a very lose one. Usually, if the conflict is rich enough it exposes the characters and reveals the story to me. If it not a very rich conflict, or there’s no conflict at all, it’s usually a sign that I’ll abandon the piece. I guess you could say conflict is key for me when I write.
As for reading, I fell back into nonfiction after reading a few thrillers (Heat 2 and The Local). I’m currently reading Robert Caro’s first book on LBJ.
Yes, conflicts beg for resolution. The scenes I wrote above also beg for me to show better how they arrived at this pivotal moment. It's the story of a relationship and there is not a single relationship I can think of that gets anywhere without a fair amount of conflict, open and underground.
I was wondering if you'd departed from your run of nonfiction reads and it sounds like you did, but the call of presidential history must have been very loud and intriguing as history so often is. You've been reading some really compelling nonfiction in that vein. You make me want to follow you there.
After all my Nixon reading this summer, I felt like I had to know more about LBJ. Robert Caro’s book really delivers. One thing I find interesting is just what a morally flawed leader LBJ was. He thought nothing of stealing elections, bullying, and exploiting others to add to his power. He’d be torn to shreds by the standards of liberal / progressive politics today, and yet his vision for a Great Society strikes me as far more ambitious than the Left’s goals today. Hard to reconcile. I’m looking forward to reading the next volume in the series.
Thank you for the book recommendations. I am trying to avoid all things political for awhile as it has exhausted me, so I looked for the book Still Life that you posted. It sounded perfect. And, it was free to download on Amazon prime reading! So this will be my new read for October, along with the other 40 books on my TBR pile lol. Thank you so much.
Enjoy! It would be fun to see those 40 books, Janice! Send us a photo or at least a section of the tower looming ever higher.
When sitting down to write, my mantra is "Write the good stuff first." Whether it comes at the beginning of a piece, the middle, or the end, whatever is bubbling the most in my mind is what I try to get down on the page (or screen). Sounds to me as though something near the end is nearing full boil in your head--go for it.
What I love about your Substack is I feel I’m reading about myself every week. We continue on the same wavelength... ~~~
I’m reading The Sign of Four right now and just finished A Study in Scarlet. There is so much to take from Doyle’s prose and it inspires the way I structure things and reminds me to get in a scene, not just gloss through it.
I realized that I am not afraid of people, I just don’t like conflict. But I am learning to emotionally detach myself from made up scenarios or feelings of being personally attacked. It’s a long process and I am much farther from where I’ve been. I am at a point where I will not engage. Fight your siblings. I don’t have time for that. Don’t want to. Gotta go. It’s freeing to not get sucked into what is actually a personal battle inside another person and not about me.
That's so interesting, Chevanne -- we're both reading Holmes stories now. I've finished all of them and am rereading. I am also reading stories by writers of Holmes fan fiction. I resisted it for years -- but my mate is an expert in all things Doyle and we have a story we'd like to write and add to the millions of those who are keeping the characters alive post-Doyle. It's such a departure for me and that makes it fun. You are right about the prose and the voice: they are so distinctive and of a certain time and place. Incredibly rich and a real challenge for those who even dream of emulating it.
You've described the difficult balance required to detach from unhealthy conflict. It sounds like you've developed some important insight about when it's about something important to you or something that stems from another's issues that you choose not to feed into. That seems essential for emotional survival.
I found early on in life that conflict was a good way to make friends. I have been on the side of the underdog since I started school aged five and encountered bullying teachers happy to use a ruler on the back of a hand or a leg when they felt like it. When I write I have yet to go in search of a character or a story. They find me, as they do others. Reminiscence plays a part too. All stories go back and forth, and what’s wrong with gaps? My life after 78 years is full of them and are at the root of a story I am presently working on, when not being diverted by other interests and chores. As for conflict? The sad truth is that, thanks to social media and the web, it is close to dead. Instead, those with time to waste, talk to like-minded souls - which probably explains why fiction becomes more like soap every day! Robert 🐰
I hadn't thought of how conflict can lead to friendship -- although I can't imagine many friendships that don't have a little conflict somewhere along the line but that is not necessarily a bad thing. You can make friends all kinds of ways and siding with the underdog is a wonderful way, I think.
As for the gaps -- I can live with gaps in my own personal story but not in a novel I'm writing!
I'm not a writer but I do not seek out conflict. However, when someone brings conflict to me, I try to pick my battles. As a reader, I don't mind conflict but sometimes I find it irritating. I don't like conflict that feels manufactured or unauthenicate.
Timothy Synder is incredibly intelligent and insightful. Therefore, when he speaks, I always listen.
My husband and I also watched The Us and the Holocaust. I am absolutely shocked and appalled at how lacking our education is. And the parallels between then and now are shocking.
As for reading: I just finished Mad Honey by Jodi Picoult & Jennifer Finney Boylan. I loved it! I've recently read The Island by Adrian McKinty and wowza! It's a great adventure novel with fantastic plot twists. I also read The Naturalist by Tea Cooper. She is a brilliant author and I always enjoy her books.
Hopefully you figure out your plot gaps soon!
Picking one's battles is key and preferable to avoiding something that needs to be dealt with sooner or later. I'm thinking about what you said about reading conflict in a story, too. It's important for whatever happens to be organic, I agree, and totally authentic. I'll be looking for that when I go over my draft.
I didn't know that Picoult and Boylan had written a book together. I will check it out. The other two are also new to me which is wonderful, thank you. And thanks for writing!
Re writing: for my novels and plays, I outline. Not deep outlines, but I use Blake Snyder's Beat Sheet to create a rough outline. My two novels, I wrote from beginning to end, and added more (fleshed out scenes, etc) after the first draft. The thriller I wrote for NaNoWriMo, and just wrote whatever I could get out on the day. It took me three years to turn that draft into a finished product. I'm considering writing scenes not necessarily in order for the third in my novel series, just so I get it finished. I keep setting it aside to write plays and poetry. Re: conflict, in real life I try to avoid it. Re reading: this week I read Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan, and a mystery by Jessie Chandler. Next up is a play by Larissa FastHorse (What Would Crazy Horse Do?), and a re-read of Blanche Neely's Blanche on the Lam.
Thanks, Sandra. I've been doing a little bit of everything, like you -- rough outlines, story boards, just writing scenes which I stitch together later like a quilt. Anything to get the words down. It sounds as though your desires to write that novel may conflict a little with the urge you have to write your poetry and plays. On the other hand, it's all writing, right? It's all story trying to get out.
Thanks for the book recs! All are new to me.
Conflict is always around us and, often, in us whether we seek it or not. Trying to be peaceful is a worthy goal -- except when writing which perhaps is where some of us get to work out some of that energy. Fiction is handy that way. What about reading, does your search for peace shape the material you choose to read?