in which i feebly rant
Hey-hey, look! I’m writing things!
I was thinking of writing this on The Advocate Blog, but figured it would get too personal-blog-like. (I got feedback for my last post that it was too personal-blog-like.)
So, last night I went to my writers’ group, and we talked about writing and stories and things. A piece that I’ve been working on was on the chopping block. People seemed to like it. They seemed to have a little bit of a problem with a section that got to exposition-y, so I’ll probably whittle it down. I think the section is still important to give background on a character. Plus I’m learning more-and-more that, while the people in my group yell “EXPOSITION IS DEATH!!!!!” I have read many, many, many published books with plenty of long, expository* sections.
Then we went to a wine bar afterwards which was dimly lit with comfy chairs and heavy wood benches. The bar looked onto a forecourt through floor-to-ceiling windows, and people were dancing the tango in that forecourt - three couples to be exact. A couple of women, and two male-female couples in their forties or fifties dressed to impress.
I pointed to the dance class, and said to my fellow writers, “Look at that. That needs to go in someone’s story.”
Fellow writer: Why?
Me: It’s interesting. Look. There’s two women dancing together. Don’t you want to know their story? Are they lesbians? Or did the male of one of the couples fail to show?
Fellow writer: But where’s the conflict?
Me: There IS no conflict. Or if there’s conflict, it’s that those people are doing a frigging tango lesson in a tiny courtyard under yellow light, while we’re in here listening to Aretha Franklin. I think that’s an interesting juxtaposition. It’s a cool contrast.
Fellow writer: There’s got to be CONFLICT!!!!
Me: But no. There really doesn’t.
This set off a whole discussion of CONFLICT!!!! According to my fellow writers, “An author lives or dies by conflict.” I’m kinda getting sick of hearing what a story HAS to be. Or what an author HAS to be.
So there you go; there’s your conflict: I disagree. As usual.
*Expository sounds like suppository. Heh-heh.