So I saw one of these "Be a better writer..." ads pop up on my newsfeed recently. Maybe I was tired and my mental defences were low, but I read the first paragraph. The key thing, this short story expert was telling me, was that a story HAD to have conflict. It's just a journal entry if it doesn't have conflict, it says in absolute tones. You cannot have a good story without conflict. Your protagonist has to face an opponent, be it another person, nature, god or circumstances... Sounds great. I love a good dust up. I love stories about overcoming adversity. I love them in the traditional and the unusual sense. Some of my favourite writers are masters of devising and setting up conflict... Then there is Angela Carter...
The obscure writings of Jamie Clubb. "It rained last week because God was crying about how sceptical you are, Jamie" - Sarah Chipperfield
Showing posts with label Literature. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Literature. Show all posts
Tuesday, 16 May 2017
My Conflict with Conflict
So I saw one of these "Be a better writer..." ads pop up on my newsfeed recently. Maybe I was tired and my mental defences were low, but I read the first paragraph. The key thing, this short story expert was telling me, was that a story HAD to have conflict. It's just a journal entry if it doesn't have conflict, it says in absolute tones. You cannot have a good story without conflict. Your protagonist has to face an opponent, be it another person, nature, god or circumstances... Sounds great. I love a good dust up. I love stories about overcoming adversity. I love them in the traditional and the unusual sense. Some of my favourite writers are masters of devising and setting up conflict... Then there is Angela Carter...
Saturday, 30 October 2010
Tuesday, 13 July 2010
Writing a review: my thoughts

In response to a fellow writer and friend's concerns regarding writing a review (a task he is more than capable of doing) I decided to re-publish the below review for the "Dooyoo" site back in February. I hope this is useful.
In gratitude for the very kind acknowledgement made by Dooyoo this week by making me a celebrated member of the week, I thought I would give back a bit to the community. Here is a little of my background.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)