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Jennifer talks about conflict in her stories...
At the RWA Nationals conference that I attended this past
week, one of the best workshops I went to was on conflict by Sarah McLean.
There were lots of great pieces of advice, but the easiest way to describe
conflict was this: and then…and then…but! “And then” is how your story
progresses, “but” is how the story is interrupted by the conflict.
There are many ways to show conflict, both internally and
externally. When I was thinking about it, however, one of the internal
conflicts I use often is deception.
Deception isn’t always on purpose and it isn’t always for
nefarious reasons.
In The Seduction of Esther, Samara tries to hide her quirky
personality from Nathaniel because she’s not sure he’ll like her if she shows
him the real her. And Nathaniel wants to hide everything from everybody because
he’s had enough of life in a fishbowl and wants to just blend into the
background.
In Miriam’s Surrender, Josh hides his poor background from
the world. He’s made a success of his life and doesn’t want to dwell on his
past.
No matter what happens externally to keep the heroes and
heroines apart, it isn’t until Samara and Nathaniel are able trust each other
enough to reveal their real selves, and Josh is able to give up control as well
as trust Miriam, that they can be together.
Deception as protection. I like it!
ReplyDeleteI watched the awards ceremony online. I've never attended Nationals. I hope to one day.
There can be many different reasons to deceive someone. I'm not saying they're the right thing to do, but they can be useful, especially when the characters are fictional.
DeleteNational is such a big undertaking with hotel and airfare and conference fees, I never go either. But I love to learn vicariously through updates of those who did attend, so thanks for sharing your takeaway from this workshop.
ReplyDeleteI love the...then, then, but! Such a simple way to define a complex notion. Conflict is vital to a romance. I'm going to have to review my stories and analyze if I've ever used deception for a conflict.
Sarah McLean was wonderful and so funny. And she really boiled it down to make it very simple.
DeleteI used deception in my book Autumn Deception where my heroine who was a budding reporter found herself staying in my hero's house. She could have taken advantage of the situation but instead fell in love with him. Unfortunately he found out who she really was and she couldn't convince him that she hadn't set the whole thing up. Coincidentally, my current work in progress is also about a reporter who has conned her way into the hero's house. Not that it really matters since there's nearly thirty years between the two books.
ReplyDeleteI'm pretty confident even your loyal readers will forgive you for the coincidence!
DeleteThis happens all the time in real life. Have you watched Sherlock, Margaret? Lots of deception and counter deduction there, too.
ReplyDeleteNo, I've never watched Sherlock, Anna. It has never appealed to me.
DeleteOh, I love that program.
DeleteI've used deception a couple of times, but always for a good reason of course. In Fragrance of Violets, Jack hides a big secret from Abbey to give himself time to put something right - but things don't work out as he hoped! In my current WIP, the hero is an undercover detective, but can't reveal his 'real' self to the heroine, which, in turn, will lead to conflict between them.
ReplyDeleteI like taking "bad" things and giving them "good" reasons.
DeleteSecrets do lead to conflict!
ReplyDeleteAlways!
DeleteI like using secrets in my novels. So much effort is expended and then the secret inevitably implodes.
ReplyDeleteMe too. And picking up the pieces (for the writer) can be a lot of fun!
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