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Add Conflict to your Story with a Down & Dirty Fight

August 18, 2011 by in category Archives tagged as , , , , ,

by Jenny Hansen

Today we’re going to talk about Dirty Fighting. What is it, and why do you want to do it?

To start at the beginning, last weekend my honey was cleaning the office and he came across a piece of paper that made us laugh our faces off. This four page document he found – called, “Dirty Fighting Techniques” – helped save our relationship back in 2006.

Note: Dirty Fighting isn’t about some how-to guide on Jujitsu or Street Fighting. Nope, it’s actually a list of twenty-two items given to us by our counselor to teach us the difference between the Dirty Fighting Techniques practiced by most people and the clean-as-a-whistle fighting he wanted us to strive for.

We’ve got to understand the goal before we can turn it upside down on its head, right?

What is clean fighting?

Clean Fighting follows these basic rules:

  • Take responsibility for your own stuff. Also known as “cleaning up your own side of the street.” I know it sucks when you’re mad and you clean up your side while the other person leaves their big cow patties steaming, but lead by example on this one. It helps when someone steps up to be the bigger person.
  • Leave the other person an “out with dignity.” This is most often achieved by understanding that there might be facts you don’t know.
  • “I” statements are always going to work better when you’re pissed off than “you” statements. And don’t try to cheat with crap like, “I understand that you’re a selfish bastard.”
  • Talk about the behavior in those “I” statements, not any personality disorders you think they should address.
  • Stick to the point. Resist throwing in the kitchen sink of laments spanning back over months of why they’re a (fill in the blank).
  • Deliberately pushing buttons is REALLY dirty. The weak underbelly is to be avoided, even if you’re thinking your partner is lower than a yellow-bellied toad for siding with your mother-in-law over you.

Here is a clean fight summed up in 4 easy steps:

1. How you feel (use an “I” statement for this)
2. The behavior that prompted that feeling
3. Why it’s important/the background (i.e. what button did they push)
4. What would you want them to do differently next time

Sounds simple, doesn’t it? Go try it. It’s really hard to do when you’re mad. Most people who are angry fight dirty. Clean fighting takes some rigorous training.


 Now let me ask you something. Do you really think your characters have had any of this sort of training? It’s pretty unlikely unless you’re writing about a psychologist. It’s much more likely that your character will be flawed like the rest of us.

What Makes Great Fiction?

  • Great books are filled with conflict.
  • And great characters (who learn important lessons).
  • Great fiction rips emotion out of us readers.
  • Oftentimes a great book will make you see yourself inside those pages.

Understanding the difference between clean and dirty fighting will give you a TON of mileage in your own stories. If you need plausible arguments and dialog, Dirty Fighting Techniques will help you achieve this. These techniques can be applied with a friend, family member or a significant other…it doesn’t really matter.

Every entry I’m sharing is guaranteed to make the other person see red. If you’re writing fiction, that anger and tension is a REALLY good thing. If I give you all twenty-two at once, it will be like taking a drink of water from a fire hydrant so we’re going to start with the five that will work best in fiction.

FIVE?? That’s all the Dirty Fighting I get off that list, you might ask… Yep. Five is all you get…until the next time we discuss the topic. I’m gonna make this a multi-part post so you have time to really roll around in the Dirty Fighting Swamp. Go ahead, get dirty. Be the bog.


As I said earlier, great books are filled with conflict. And great characters who learn important lessons. Plus, dialog is the number one way to do several fun things like move your story quickly and legally bring in backstory.

Note: For a rundown of the perils of Back Story, read Kristen Lamb’s Monday post.
 

OK, now that you’re into the Dirty Fighting spirit, let’s discuss your dialogue. A few wonderful posts come immediately to mind:

 However, one of the problems I have with reading about dialog is that every character is unique and, even though the examples are usually awesome, my characters would never say those things. How do you think of creative things to say that would apply ONLY to our character?

One answer is to make him or her fight.

Since gratuitous fighting in a story is like gratuitous sex (kinda boring if there’s no real connection or reason for it), the author needs to find a great reason for the fight. How you use the fight is up to you but I think the easiest way to pave the road to this rad fight is to discover what your characters really want. Then dig down for what they really, really want. (You’ll remember this trick from Leanne Banks.)

DON’T give it to them. Or at least, don’t give it too soon.

Then flake away more layers to uncover what your character really fears. Then what they really, really fear. DO give that to them!  This is where things get interesting. You not only have characters who are upset, you’ve also found a myriad of ways to slide everybody deeper into your story. To do this, ask your character questions.

Perhaps you’ll use the 9 questions I discussed a few weeks back in my post on Character Engagement or new ones that are all your own. Below are some of mine to help you get started.

1. What matters most to this character? (What is he or she most afraid to lose?)
2. Who matters most? (This is usually the person they are most afraid to lose.)
3. How did the character’s parents fight?
4. How did the character’s parents interact with him or her?
5. What does this character wish he or she had gotten in childhood?
6. What does my character want to be when they grow up

All of these questions can provide you with cues about where your character is “broken” and give you ideas about fixing the broken part (i.e. Fix = Lesson).

Now it’s time to unleash that fight! BRING. IT. ON!!

Below are my top five Dirty Fighting Techniques for adding tension and plotting options to your story. I’ll save the rest for a later post so you can really play with the first five. (Your sarcasm muscle – which is always used in a Dirty Dogfight – should get a quick flex before you begin.)

#1 – Triangulating: Don’t leave the issue between you and your conflict partner (could be a family member, friend or love interest), pull everybody in. Quote well-known authorities who agree with you and list every family member whom you know has taken your side (and lie about the ones you haven’t spoken to yet).

Uses: Triangulating is incredibly useful in fiction because you can expand the discussion to more characters and stir up some real drama. Let’s not keep this issue between just us, one character says to the other. Oh no, lets involve everybody.

If you have extreme Dirty Fighting Talent, you can stir the pot and then step back and play a new game called, “Let’s watch the other two people fight.” That’s good times.

#2 – Escalating: Quickly move from the main issue of the argument to questioning your partner’s basic personality, and then move on to wondering whether the relationship is even worth it. Blame your partner for having a flawed personality so that a happy relationship will be impossible.

Uses: Excellent tool for keeping two love interests apart. BUT, the fight better be about something that really, really matters or you risk falling into the Bog of Coincidence and most stories don’t have enough muscle to climb out of that place.

Escalating also allows for plausible use of Back Story. When you’re moving from the main
issue to the REAL issue (often happens at the black moment / end of Act 2), escalating the argument will make someone lose control enough that they blurt out something juicy. Way to go, Author!

#3 – Leaving: No problem is so big or important that it can’t be ignored or abandoned all together. Walk out of the room, leave the house, or just refuse to talk. Sometimes just threatening to leave can accomplish the same thing without all the inconvenience of following through.

Uses: My favorite use of this is employing it when the two characters really need each other. It completely ups the betrayal factor: I can’t depend on you, I don’t trust you, You’ve let me down.

You noticed how dirty that last statement was, right? Not a clean fight to be found anywhere with “leaving,” which is fantastic for your story! The farther your character falls, the harder the journey is on the way back up, right?

#4 – Timing: Look for a time when your partner is least able to respond or least expects an argument.

Uses: Think about this from a story point of view. A really great time to pick a fight is just before the main character embarks on a journey, has a new murder to solve, is called on to save the world. Anything with high stakes works great. Be sure the character ambushing them is a likeable one so the reader REALLY gets drawn into the conflict.

#5 – Rejecting Compromise: Never back down. Stick with the philosophy that only one of you can win.

Uses: This is a kickass Dirty Fighting trick to use on the main character. If there is only one winner, there is automatic conflict involved for the person who “loses.” The solutions are endless.

What do you think? What are some other ways you could use a good fight to help your
character grow or advance your story? Do you use any of the five techniques in your own life…come on, you can tell us! Let’s hear your fabulous Dirty (Fighting) Thoughts!

Jenny

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Encouraging Words by Kitty Bucholtz

August 10, 2011 by in category Archives tagged as

It’s a funny thing about words – a little bit of positive reinforcement or a little bit of negativity go a long way. People remember the harsh things said to them or about them. And while we tend to more quickly forget the positive words, their power continues to work within us.

When a friend told me she loved the first five chapters of my new book that I sent her, and when am I going to send her more, I felt like the sun came out and it was raining rainbows! If I get to a place in the story where I’m not feeling good about myself and my abilities, I think about what this friend or that friend said about something they liked and I feel better. And when I feel better, I write better.
The same is true when someone tells me, don’t worry, that was hard for me, too. I feel like I can breathe again. I was telling a friend who is a very fast runner (he ran a 14km race last year in under an hour, while it took me two hours) that I was embarrassed by how out of shape I’d gotten during the last month of grad school. I’d barely gotten in one run per week and in only a month had lost a ton of the progress I’d made.
He told me, oh, that happens to everyone when you get out of your training schedule, and he gave me some examples. I couldn’t believe it. I thought those professional athletes were born that way – fast and ready to go.
Later I thought about how that thinking translates in my writing life sometimes. I think some writers are just born ready. They write brilliant stories, have a big fan base, make plenty of money – and it’s magical. But they weren’t born that way. They have the same kinds of bad days that I do. There was once a time they weren’t making a dime. They need encouragement from their friends and fans just like I do.
My friend Laura Drake just signed with an agent – yay! I was so excited for her that I asked her to be a guest on my blog today and tell us her story. I thought she was going to write about the specifics of getting that call and how exciting and scary and unbelievable it was. But what she wrote was so much more encouraging than a slice of a success story. You really have to come read it. Talk about encouraging words!
I had a bad run this morning – slow, exhausting, cold (it’s winter here in Sydney), and altogether awful. The only good thing was that I kept going. It occurred to me about three-quarters of the way through my 11km that I should focus on the good part – the fact that I wasn’t going to give up. Then I happened to notice that the sunrise was gorgeous. And the people I usually wave at were waving at me first. And the birds were having a little music festival. And after a while I realized that even on bad days, there are lots of things to be grateful for and smile about.
I hope you find your encouragement today. And if you’re not seeing it right away, give some encouragement to someone else. It’s bound to come back to you and bless your day.
Kitty Bucholtz is a writer and speaker, and a member of Romance Writers of America and Romance Writers of Australia. She co-founded Routines for Writers, a web site dedicated to helping writers write more, and she recently completed her M.A. in Creative Writing. You can follow Kitty on her web site or on Twitter at @KittyBucholtz.
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August Calls for Submissions

August 1, 2011 by in category Archives tagged as ,

Seems like there continues to be a craving for things that go bump-in-the-night. We also continue to see a number of holiday calls for submissions, and expect this trend to continue as our year gets closer to ending.
Harlequin Nocturne Cravings
Let’s start out with an exciting call for Harlequin Nocturne. Harlequin Nocturne is looking to acquire bold, exciting, erotic paranormal romance short stories for its eBook program, Nocturne Cravings. These stories should be fast-paced paranormals with strong erotic fantasy and danger elements. Authors should feel comfortable exploring any and all sexual scenarios and shouldn’t shy away from graphically sensual situations. In fact, the short stories should contain many erotic scenes that compel and bind the characters together. Strong, emotional characters that grab the reader’s imagination are also essential.
We are looking for stories of vampires, shape-shifters, werewolves, psychic powers, etc. set in contemporary times. Stories should deliver a dark, highly sensual read that will entertain readers and take them from everyday life into an atmospheric, complex world filled with characters struggling with life-and-death issues.
All stories should be capable of standing alone; all loose ends need to be tied up, and the relationship between hero and heroine should resolve itself in a satisfying manner.
Length is 15,000–25,000 words.
 Only complete manuscripts submitted electronically will be considered from unpublished authors; no partials or queries, please. Submissions should be sent as a Word-compatible attachment. Submissions should also follow standard formatting guidelines and should be double-spaced and typed in a clear, legible font on numbered pages. Author name and title should appear as a header or footer on each page. Visit the Harlequin submission guidelines page for more information. Nocturne Cravings e-mail address: nocturnebites@harlequin.ca
Weekend Getaways
Secret Cravings Publishing is taking submissions of short stories of up to 10,000 words for a one-time payment of $50-$100, depending on the length of the manuscript. Any genre; steamy to burn-the-page erotic stories wanted.
These stories will be released individually with their own cover. One each Saturday of the week. Submissions will be ongoing, so no deadline.
Holiday Submissions
Dancing with Bear Publishing is seeking submissions for a variety of holiday-themed stories: Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas and Hanukkah.
The Halloween Anthology is for a children’s book, think Casper the Friendly Ghost – nothing scary, just fun for ages 5-10.
Thanksgiving Anthology these stories don’t have to be set at Thanksgiving or even about Thanksgiving, but rather about an incident, accident, etc. with a positive outcome that gives the characters a reason to be thankful.
December Anthology DWB is looking for Christian Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanza, or any Christmastime non-religious celebration except Pagan rituals.
Suggested length is 2,000 to 5,000 words, and the deadline is September 30, 2011. These stories can be any sub-genre that falls within the regular submission guidelines.  
For more information, visit http://dancingwithbearpublishing.webs.com/specialsubmissionscall.htm
Christmas Warmth
XoXo Publishing, an e-publisher will publish an anthology in November of Christmas-themed short stories. Edited by Cynthia MacGregor, the anthology’s working title is Christmas Warmth.
To submit stories (specs follow), please do NOT use the regular XoXo submissions address but send directly to: Cynthia@cynthiamacgregor.com. IMPORTANT: In the subject line, put Christmas Warmth.
Specs specific to Christmas Warmth: 
1) Must take place around the Holiday Season;
2) These are not romances. There may be an element of romance involved, but the stories should not be romances per se. Paranormal themes OK. Stories about kids–great. Stories to do with Christmas in the manner of O. Henry’s classic “Gift of the Magi” are encouraged. Mysteries are another good choice. Non-classifiable general fiction? Bring it on!; 3) Nothing “Adult” (i.e. sexually explicit); 4) Heartwarming stories are especially encouraged; 5) True stories as well as fiction will be accepted; 6) We also welcome recipes for Holiday foods for this antho but will not make any payments for recipes. “Payment: will be that we will print your name and website, which should generate traffic to your site, so if you submit recipes, be sure to include your website if you want it in the book; 7) If submitting a recipe, the same requirement applies that you be sure to put “Christmas Warmth” in the subject line. The editor has other projects in progress that include recipes and does not want to mis-direct your contributions!
General Specs:
1 — Word count 1000-6000 words per story.
2 — You may submit multiple stories for consideration, but please know only one story per author per book will be selected. (That is, you can have one story in each antho, but no more than one per each.)
3 — Previously published material OK if you have regained full rights to your material.
4 — Simultaneous submissions acceptable if so noted.
5 – Include a brief author bio.
6 — Submit as attachment in either doc or docx format. Use rtf as a last resort.
7 – Payment as follows: Ultimate cover price of each book will depend on number of stories therein. Total royalties paid out to authors will be calculated on 45% of cover price times number of books sold. Total royalties will be divided by number of participating authors, with equal shares to each. (That is, if there are 15 stories in the book, for example, each author gets 1/15 of the total author royalties paid. Payment is NOT based on the word count of your submission.)
8 — Deadline for submissions: October 1. GET YOUR STORY IN ASAP!
Ravenous Shadows
Literary Partners Group, Inc., owner of Ravenous Romance, announced the hire of John Skipp to spearhead a new horror/thriller e-publishing imprint. Skipp’s tastes are broad yet demanding, and his requirements unusually specific. “I’m looking for 200-250 page genre novels, wildly entertaining, with no fat or filler. We’ll be specializing in smart, fun, compulsive page-turners that can be read in the amount of time it takes to watch a feature film.” For more information, visit http://ravenousromance.blogspot.com/
Compiled by Louisa Bacio
Now available: Sex University: All-Girls Academy

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Social Media and Your Author Brand

July 18, 2011 by in category Archives tagged as , , , , , , ,

I see many of you on Twitter and Facebook. I’ve been enjoying meeting even more of you on A Slice of Orange Daily, created by our very own Blog Mistress, Marianne Donley. I even see a few of you on LinkedIn.

Where are my OCC peeps conspicuously absent?

It’s pretty rare for me to see more than a few OCC’ers in my hashtag chats, with the possible exception of #myWANA. Either you’re hanging out somewhere else (that you’ll hopefully mention in the comments section) or you’re not using Twitter as fully as you could be.

Note: If you’re scratching your head over this hashtag business, please read this post on what Twitter hashtags are and why we need them.

OCC authors are very in-the-know about the changes sweeping through the publishing industry. I am so thankful to belong to a chapter with such amazing resources, and so many generous authors. We’re lucky to be on the cutting edge of this upheaval, so I’ll skip over that part since you all are pretty up to date.

If you don’t feel “up to date” and want to read more about the changing state of publishing, it’s hard to find a better resource than Kristine Kathryn Rusch and her publishing industry blogs.

This brave new world of publishing demands that an author build a brand.

What does that mean exactly? Simply put, your brand is the picture that pops into people’s mind when they hear your name.

For established authors, this picture is usually tied to one (or many) of your books. For the new or unpublished author, you need to get started on forming that picture in people’s mind as soon as possible. Participation in social media is one of the easiest ways to do this.

For more detailed information on branding, here are some of the best blogs I’ve found on the subject from people who say it far better than I do.

Particularly now that so many authors are going the Indie route with smaller independent publishers or even venturing into self-publishing for their first book, author branding is no longer a “nice to have.”

Read the posts above and take a look at these two books: Kristen Lamb’s We Are Not Alone: A Writer’s Guide to Social Media, and Bob Mayer’s Warrior Writer. They will put you light years ahead of where you would have gotten on your own.

My personal observation is that people are seeking authentic connections and that, by branding themselves, an author is opening themselves up for connecting.

In my own experience on Twitter and both of my blogs, your Followers and your Tweeps become your friends. We spend time with these people, whether it’s chatting on Facebook, having a Worldwide Book Launch Party or sharing Sunday morning coffee.

Seemingly disparate people throughout the world are connecting through social media and enjoying the hell out of each other. It’s a beautiful thing.

Perhaps you don’t know where people are gathering on Twitter.

Fret no more…here’s the list of where my Tweeps and I hang out. This is your invitation to hang out with us. If you are hanging out somewhere else online, we want to know where that is!

Note: If I’ve missed any really cool hashtags, please let me know in the comments.

#myWANA – This love revolution started on Kristen Lamb’s blog (WANA stands for We Are Not Alone…I’ve linked to the book above)

#weWRITE – Hashtag started by Anna DeStefano and Jenni Talty based on their How We Write Wednesday Series. Note: There are no links allowed in this group – conversation on writing only…you’ll have to post your links elsewhere.

#PubWrite – these tweeps enjoy writing, sharing ideas and frustrations, and the occasional adult beverage.

#amwriting – writers from everywhere hang out here and encourage each other as they write. If this is your hangout, you might also enjoy http://amwriting.org/.

#amediting – writers from everywhere hang out here and encourage each other as they edit their works-in-progress.

#wordmongering – writers do timed sprints of 30 mins at :00 and/or :30 every hour. This is fun 24/7 and participants say they get so much writing done.

#Row80 – Hashtag started by Kait Nolan that I’m participating in. This is a writing challenge that lasts 80 days and requires that you publicly post your goal. For more details go here.

#nanowrimo – When November rolls around, the agony and the ecstacy of National Novel Writing Month can be found here. (Until then, we have Row80!)

What about you? Where do you commune with people on Twitter or Facebook (and why)? Are there groups of writers that you recommend above all others? Please share your discoveries with the rest of us!

~Jenny
http://jennyhansenauthor.wordpress.com
http://writersinthestorm.wordpress.com
Twitter: @jhansenwrites

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e-maginings: That Is My Favorite Word

July 16, 2011 by in category Archives tagged as ,
Deception
coming from Amber Allure  
Aug. 2011
Linda McLaughlin aka Lyndi Lamont

Every writer has a favorite word. You know, the one that creeps into your writing, over and over again, when you’re not paying attention.

In my case, the word is “that”. Every time I have to submit a manuscript I try to remember to do a global search for the word “that” and cut as many as possible. If I don’t, my editor will point out how much I’ve overused the word. You’d think “that” would be a fairly invisible word, like “the” but it isn’t. Not quite anyway, another word I have to watch out for, especially when I’m writing a historical with British characters.

For some writers, the favorite word is the generally useless “very”. Even if it’s not your favorite word, it’s a good one to search out and eliminate wherever possible.

My former writing partner, Anne Farrell, and I are revising our old Precious Gem romance for self-publishing as an e-book. It has been thirteen years since it was released, way back in the last century. So we’re updating the manuscript and looking to revise and tighten it as we go, including cutting out as many that’s as possible.

So what’s your favorite word?

Linda Mac

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