Home
>
Writing
>
Conflict - How To Keep Your Readers Turning Pages

Conflict - How To Keep Your Readers Turning Pages

Some writers are just too kind.

They hate to put their characters under any kind of pressure. They hate to see them losing, or struggling to survive. That's quite understandable - after all, they've become friends with these people. They're cheering for them. They want them to win through!

Now wait a moment. Wa..a..i..t.

It's your readers who are supposed to be cheering your characters on. It's your readers who want things to turn out for them. And it's your readers that you have to make suffer - because if you do, they won't be able to resist turning the page to see what happens next. They'll feel bad for your characters... heck, they may even shed a tear or two... but they will keep turning pages. They have to. They need to know how this all turns out!

Conflict is the engine of your story. It keeps the wheels turning; it keeps the characters moving. Take away conflict, and what have you got? A cheerful little afternoon tea-party, that's what. And like all afternoon tea parties... it can get a little boring. A few cream cakes and a few hours of conversation, and you've had enough. You want to go home.

At all costs, you must prevent your readers from packing up and going home. Or more accurately - to close the book that represents the cozy (but boring) tea party. Here are a few tips on building and sustaining conflict in your story.

1. Think "Drama"

In one corner of a restaurant you have a happy couple, gazing into each other's eyes. They're smiling. They're happy. In the another corner you have couple No. 2. Their body language is enough to tell anyone that there's trouble brewing. At first, they argue in low voices. Then things start to escalate. Their voices start to rise, and it ends when she throws wine in his face, sends her chair flying back, and storms out.

Which couple is attracting all the attention?

No contest! Naturally, it's the one involved in all that DRAMA. We're all drawn to conflict. We wonder about the reasons for it. We're eager to hear about the outcome. We HAVE TO KNOW MORE.

Give your readers drama, and you can be sure they'll keep coming back for more.

2. Portray Strong Emotions

If you don't allow your characters to experience emotion - and to show their emotion - then you're losing readers. One of the chief reasons that editors give for rejecting a novel is "lack of emotional punch". By making sure that you let your characters experience a full range of emotions, you are dramatically increasing your chances of acceptance.

In any one day, we all go through a whole lot of emotions. We're happy. We're sad. We're gloomy. We're ecstatic. We're jealous or envious or embarrassed.

Make a point of getting into your viewpoint character's skin. Become that character. First, imagine your character's appearance. Then climb inside. Look out through this person's eyes. See what she sees; hear what she hears; feel what she feels. And share those emotions with the reader.

If your viewpoint character is engaged in a conversation, make sure you give the reader more than talking heads by filtering everything through your character's emotions. We should 'hear' her thoughts; feel her embarrassment; experience her heart- wrenching fear. Emotions make your story live.

3. Pull the Thread Tighter

Once you have the reader tangled in drama and strong emotions, carefully pull the thread tighter. This is called 'get the heroine up the tree and then throw stones at her'. Or 'have him hanging on the edge of the cliff by his fingernails, then put a pack of wolves below him'. Just when it seems that things can't get any worse - make them worse! It's always possible.

Always think: "How can I raise the stakes? How can I make things really bad for my character? How can I add a twist that she's not expecting - just when she thinks everything is about to turn out all right after all?"

You can't have the tension turned up to "10" all the time, of course. If you do that, readers become accustomed to all the drama and it fails to have an effect. So give your characters time to wind down and plan their next move. Shift to a different point of view for a scene or two, while your main character is left in a precarious situation.

This lets the reader relax for a while - and the ensuing conflict when things go wrong (yet again!) is all the more powerful. But never let that thread slacken too much. Even when there's a lull, leave the reader on edge, knowing that things aren't settled yet! Gently, gently... keep stretching the tension... keep building the conflict.

Your readers just won't be able to help coming back for more.

Marg McAlister has published magazine articles, short stories, books for children, ezines, promotional material, sales letters and web content. She has written 5 distance education courses on writing, and her online help for writers is popular all over the world. Sign up for her regular writers' tipsheet at http://www.writing4success.com/

recurring maid service Arlington Heights ..

In The News:

A New Jersey teenager filed a major lawsuit against AI/Robotics Venture Strategy 3 Ltd. over ClothOff, an AI tool that created fake nude images from her social media photos.

Microsoft reports Storm-2657 cybercriminals sent phishing emails to 6,000 addresses at 25 universities to steal payroll credentials and redirect funds.

Astronomers have discovered asteroid 2025 SC79, a skyscraper-sized space rock orbiting the sun in just 128 days. the second-fastest known.

The Fox News AI Newsletter delivers the latest developments form the world of artificial intelligence, including the technology's challenges and opportunities.

A cyberattack on SimonMed Imaging exposed personal information of 1.2 million patients, including medical records, financial details and identity papers.

Spotify's managed accounts for kids under 13 now available in at least seven countries, allowing parents to filter and block explicit content and songs.

Friendly text conversations about BBQs and social events can lead to WEEX gold trading scams that target older adults with fake investment opportunities.

California company Skyeports creates self-healing glass spheres from Moon regolith that generate solar power and support plant growth for sustainable lunar living.

Cleafy researchers discover fake VPN streaming app Mobdro Pro that installs Klopatra banking Trojan, giving attackers full control over Android devices.

Police departments across the U.S. and Canada are adopting virtual reality training to better prepare officers for high-pressure, real-world situations.

House Bill 469 would prevent AI systems from owning property, serving as executives, or gaining legal personhood in Ohio under Representative Thaddeus Claggett's proposal.

Public voter records expose retirees' personal details to election scammers who create targeted cons using names, addresses, and voting history data.

Instead of fearing what comes next with artificial intelligence, think outside the box. Here are high-earning AI jobs that don't require a computer science degree.

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman says polite words like "please" and "thank you" cost millions annually, while direct prompts may improve ChatGPT accuracy by several points.

Chattee Chat and GiMe Chat exposed intimate conversations and photos, revealing users spent up to $18,000 on AI companions before the breach.

New Instagram parental controls allow families to manage teen screen time and content limits through the Family Center with stricter safety settings.

Third-party security breach at Discord exposes sensitive user information including government IDs, highlighting cybersecurity risks from external service providers.

Survey of 1,000 students shows teens using AI for personal relationships while two-thirds of parents remain unaware of their children's AI usage.

Cybersecurity experts warn about a ShadowLeak vulnerability that weaponized ChatGPT's Deep Research agent to steal personal data from Gmail accounts through hidden commands.

Tesla's Full Self-Driving system faces federal investigation following 58 reports of crashes, with six vehicles running red lights before colliding with other cars.

The Fox News AI Newsletter brings you the latest developments on artificial intelligence, with news on OpenAI moving to soon allow erotica for adult users.

Eric Schmidt alerts that hackers can reverse-engineer AI models to bypass safety measures, citing examples like the jailbroken ChatGPT variant called DAN.

Cybercriminals exploit Microsoft Teams through impersonation, malicious links and fake profiles to gather intel and deliver ransomware to personal and work devices.

Google, Dior, Allianz and dozens of other companies lost sensitive customer data in Salesforce-related breaches affecting millions of records across multiple sectors.

Apple launches iOS 26 with new Preview app that combines document editing, PDF annotation and scanning features into one streamlined iPhone experience.

Conflict - How To Keep Your Readers Turning Pages

Writing