I’m such a squealy fan of Kristen Lamb, she pulls no punches and her recent blogs have been spot on. Like this one:
5 Common Mistakes that Will KILL Your Novel.
Kristen does have a way of slapping me upside the head when I’m meandering. I don’t have a problem with overall antagonists but have more than once hit the wall with every scene antagonists. In my current WIP, Gabriel has plenty to fight against: the Atrahasis are watching for him to fail at his suspension, he’s going to run into more of the people who got him in trouble in the first place, and he really, really doesn’t like the people he’s working with. See, lots of conflict, especially with himself.
But Clair of the snarky comments from Sunday’s post so far doesn’t have much wrong with her life. She’s comfortable with being full figured, people like her, she’s helping out a friend, she loves her job as a college Drama instructor…I think I wrote her just to have a life to lust after. In my own life, boring isn’t a bad thing but in a book, it’s murder. I’m going to have to come up with conflict for her too. Something more than “Boo Hoo that clerk was mean to me” or “My nail polish is the wrong shade for this dress.” I do understand about conflict, I’ve just worked very hard to avoid it in my own life. A former boyfriend who dropped her due to her weight just isn’t enough. Obviously she’s not going to trust Gabriel right away but I’m not a fan of bickering relationship stories, and I tend to question women who go off with men they don’t trust for no other reason than a well filled pair of jeans.
Then again…
Mona Karel Author 