OG's BLOG

A friend of mine and I were talking about story structure, character and conflict earlier today (yes, we actually talk about stuff like that. Move on.)

My friend was having trouble constructing a story that had at its base a conflict not unlike that in Star Wars Episode 1, sort of massive, corporation-based predatory behavior. In EP1, it’s a trade dispute, but you get the picture. I don’t happen to believe those sorts of conflicts are inherently compelling. I prefer conflict on a character basis, a human story, person against person. I suggested that the corporate stuff could be the backdrop to the story he’s telling – think of the way the Korean War is the backdrop to the stories in M*A*S*H – but that he should consider letting his characters be the basis of the confict, putting them in opposition to one another, and see what developed.

A Sting quote came to mind, wherein he’s commenting on conflict in his storywriting, as described by the following situations:

I love you, you love me – not very interesting.
I love you, you don’t love me – a little better.
I love you, you love somebody else – now you’ve got something.

It occurred to me that these rules applied in constructing the basis of the conflict in his story, letting the characters’ desires bump up against each other, and see what sorts of disagreements develop. What does character 1 want? How does that affect character 2? Does he want it, too? Does he just not want character 1 to get it? What places them in opposition?

In what ways are you letting your characters conflict with each other?

Steve Almond’s response to publishers who didn’t “get” his book was to publish it himself. I’m pleased to report, the book is doing quite well, though it’s really Steve’s rock-and-roll method — selling the book to audiences at gigs where he’s read an excerpt — which is really the big win here. Much like a band touring in support of an album, Steve’s direct sales approach has proven quite effective. As the book industry continues to flail, and to fail to differentiate innovative work from pablum, the next generation of successful authors will surely find their success in the new DIY universe. But they’ll have to be clever about it.

Now that Amanda Hocking has sold one million books through self-publishing, maybe we’ve passed the point where publishers and agents are seen as the only great gatekeepers. (Though, it should be noted Amanda wrote 17 books in her spare time before taking this route. Anyone who thinks he or she is going to have a runaway success with their first-ever attempt at writing a book, comic, novel, film, etc, is really being quite the Pollyanna. Sure, it’s possible, but you’d stand a better chance of winning the lottery, so keep buying those tickets.)

And although this rejection of the crumbling, outdated agent-and-publisher model seems like a brand new phenomenon, there is a long and storied tradition of authors getting fed up and putting their own books out. Check this list – there are a lot of big names. If you’re self publishing, it seems you’re in good company.

If not, what are you waiting for? Isn’t it time you got your book out there?