By Heather Weidner
I have taken quite a few aptitude and personality
assessments throughout my work career as team-building exercises, and mine tend
to show a strong aptitude and inclination for traits that relate to harmony,
strong communications, and building relationships. In the day gig in IT, it’s
great. We try to solve problems and provide the best product to meet the
customer’s needs, so my skills fit my work. These traits may not be what you
want when you are writing your mystery. Conflict is a key for good
storytelling. Here’s why you need conflict and lots of it.
Years ago, the wonderful Mary Burton told me never to end a chapter where everything is wrapped up neatly. It’s boring when everything works out seamlessly and your character is too perfect. You need those moments that make everyone’s heartrate tick up a few beats, and you want to keep your reader reading past bedtime.
No one’s life is rainbows and roses all the time, and that goes for your protagonist. Your character should have flaws or circumstances that hinder him or her from time to time. There should be situations that the sleuth needs to overcome. The characters should have personal battles that cause issues and pop up at the worst possible time. There need to be bad decisions with consequences. And sometimes, there are circumstances beyond their control that they must resolve.
Make things personal for your protagonist. Allow your readers to see the depth of your character and his or her struggles and fears. When things are happy and comfortable, pile on the disruptions. Isolate your sleuth and take away what the character needs or wants. You may even have to up the body count.
Conflict creates tension that keeps your readers wondering about what is going to happen next. It also moves your story forward and keeps your readers engaged.
As a writer, what are some of the things you do to add
conflict to your work, and as a reader, what frustrates you about conflict in your
favorite character’s life?
Through the years, Heather Weidner has been a cop’s kid, technical writer, editor, college professor, software tester, and IT manager. She writes the Pearly Girls Mysteries, the Delanie Fitzgerald Mysteries, The Jules Keene Glamping Mysteries, and The Mermaid Bay Christmas Shoppe Mysteries.
Her
short stories appear in a variety of anthologies, and she has non-fiction pieces in Promophobia and The Secret Ingredient: A Mystery Writers’
Cookbook.
Originally
from Virginia Beach, Heather has been a mystery fan since Scooby-Doo and Nancy
Drew. She lives in Central Virginia with her husband and a crazy Mini Aussie
Shepherd.
