Not many people like conflict, but it’s hard to avoid it. From the ongoing conflicts around the world that pit country against country to conflict as basic as two shoppers wanting the same position in the grocery store checkout line, conflict is all around us.

While we may want to avoid it in our personal lives, conflict is exactly what we should be filling our novels with. A story without conflict is boring. Who wants to read about characters that never have any problems? That never have to struggle or work to overcome difficulties? Not me. I want my characters to suffer, so I can rejoice with them when they figure a way out of their troubles. I find tremendous satisfaction in seeing my characters finally overcome the worst disaster in their lives.

To help you put some obstacles in front of your character here are some links on conflict:

What is Conflict? by Caro Clarke

For Successful Fiction, Add Conflict — Twice by Laura Backes
This focuses on conflict in children’s fiction, but it applies to all other kinds as well.

Conflict Plot Plan by Adrianne Lee
A handy chart example showing how to plan your conflicts.

Conflict Test by Kathleen O’Reilly
A quick test to determine if you’ve got the right amount of conflict in your story.

External Conflict Worksheet by Alicia Rasley
An exercise that walks you through creating and shaping your conflict for maximum effect.

Holly Lisle posted about the True Fans model on her blog and started a thread on it in her Think Sideways forum.

Basically, the idea is that for creative people, you don’t need to be super popular with a million fans (though wouldn’t that be nice?). What you need are 1000 True Fans who will buy anything you put out and support you in your creative career. If you have 1000 True Fans that each buy $100 of stuff from you each year, you’ll make $100,000. (I could sure live on that.)

The initial idea of 1000 True Fans came from Kevin Kelly and you can read his post here.

I was thinking about how to apply this to a writer and shared these notes in the forum. I’m posting them here too because I think this is a valuable discussion for writers. Publishing is changing with the accessibility of information on the Internet. Writers need to be prepared to take advantage of the changes as they come.

My thoughts on how the concept of 1000 True Fans can be used by published authors:

1. You first need to qualify a person as a True Fan. (You can’t give of yourself to everybody or soon you have nothing left for your writing.) The entry barrier needs to be financial. If a person isn’t willing to spend money on Author’s product, service, etc., the person isn’t a True Fan. People value what they have to pay for.

• Person buys e-book from Author (or more than one, indicating continuing interest in Author’s work)
• Person donates money to Author through website – micro-investing in Author’s future work
• Person signs up for serial story subscription from Author (new chapter released in electronic format each month, minimal cost of $2-3 per month for subscription, so total equals cost of hardcover book, with total file available as full e-book at end of subscription). Author could use out-of-print novels or first, unpublished novels (but only if great quality – novels may need to be revised to author’s current writing skill/style) for serial subscription. (Bruce Holland Rogers has done something similar with short stories sent out each month for $5/month subscription.)
• Person purchases other merchandise from Author
• Person purchases True Fan status aka access to Author via Inner Circle membership (This may be the best qualifier of all. If I like an Author’s work so much that I’m willing to pay for increased access to the Author and his/her work, then I’m a True Fan.)

2. Offer increased communication between True Fan and Author with an “Inner Circle”. Provides an “in” feeling to the fan of having special access. Must be invitation-only or it loses its specialness.

• Yahoo Group – free to setup, all members can ask questions, author can answer and all members see responses, community feeling
• Special email address for only True Fans to use to contact Author, free to setup (using gmail, etc.), but could be time-intensive for Author and loses benefit of all members being able to see questions and answers
• Membership site with forum (similar to Think Sideways) – cost to set up, all members can ask questions and see answers, community feeling, less time-intensive for Author, but requires some technical skill or a skilled friend/family member to help
• Autoresponder broadcasts – similar to email list, but is one-way communication (Author to True Fans), does not allow for members to ask questions or get to know each other

3. Offer special gifts/bonuses to True Fans.

• Free exclusive short stories or novellas (digital formats to reduce cost for creation, storage and delivery)
• Free wallpaper of cover art (if allowed) or similar downloads
• Info/postings on current WIP – “behind-the-scenes” look at what the Author’s currently working on
• Discounts on selected merchandise available through Author’s website – t-shirts, coffee mugs, bookmarks, signed book copies, ARCs
• Giveaways of items noted above
• Sneak peek at pre-release chapters of new book

There are technical and logistical issues with much of the above, but I believe they could be worked out so there is a balance between the True Fan’s desire for access to the Author and the Author’s need for time and isolation to keep producing books for the True Fan.

The main idea is to develop a community or tribe (using Seth Godin’s word) of people that support and are loyal to the Author. Communities are about interaction, so anything the Author can do to promote and encourage interaction among his/her fans is in his/her best interests.

I’m still thinking about how unpublished writers could develop a True Fan following.

What are you thoughts about this? Does 1000 True Fans seem more possible than having a bestseller? Do you have other ideas for how a published writer could interact with their True Fans? Or how unpublished writers could begin their own True Fan following?

If you’d like to take a writing workshop this summer, here are some low-cost (under $30) options:

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Cheryl St. John is offering a different class every month. Cost is around $25 per class. (Her blog still shows the info for the June class, but I expect she’ll update it when July arrives.)

A sample of what’s available:

• July – KEEPING UP YOUR SPIRITS AFTER REJECTION
• August – CONFLICT MAKES THE STORY
• September – CREATING A REAL FICTIONAL WORLD
• October – SETTING IS MORE THAN A BACKDROP
• November – CREATING UNFORGETTABLE CHARACTERS

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The Romance Writer’s Association maintains a list of chapter workshops being held by their members. You don’t have to be a member of RWA or even write romance to take a class. Cost ranges from $20-30 for non-RWA members.

A sample of what’s available in July (there are a lot more listed on the site for different months, so take a look):

• CRIME SCENE INVESTIGATIONS AND FINGERPRINTS: THE TWO PART CLASS
• NO MATTER HOW BUSY YOU ARE, YOU CAN FIND TIME TO WRITE!
• WRITING ROMANTIC SUSPENSE THAT WORKS
• SHOW UP NAKED: WRITING THE MALE POV
• WRITING COZY MYSTERIES
• HIGHLAND CLANS FROM MEDIEVAL TIMES THROUGH THE CLEARANCES
• GET IT UP AND RUNNING: ACTION THAT FLOWS AND GOES

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If you write historical fiction, Hearts Through History offers classes on historical topics. Cost is $20 per class for non-HHRW members.

• July 1-31 – THE GREATEST CASTLES OF ENGLAND, WALES & FRANCE: 12TH – 13TH CENTURIES
• Sep 6 – Oct 3 – THE JOURNEY CYCLE: A STORY BUILDING TOOL
• Oct 1-31 – KNIGHTS TEMPLAR
• Oct 5-31 – AUSTEN TO ALIENS: HOW TO CREATE CLASSIC TOUGH CHICKS
• Nov 1 – Dec 15 – CASTLES OF SCOTLAND: 15TH – 16TH CENTURIES

Know of any other inexpensive online classes? Leave me a note in comments so I can include them.

Around the Internet this week we have some great posts, including:

Lilith Saintcrow answers some reader questions and talks about her writing process in Some Basic Questions.

Last week, JA Konrath shared his Amazon Kindle numbers – how much he’s making from books he’s offered electronically through Amazon. It’s an eye-opener for any author with good books that the publishing community doesn’t want. (Sell them yourself for an inexpensive price and keep a lot more of the money.) Keep in mind, these have to be quality stories. You can’t just upload the first novel you ever wrote and expect your beginning efforts to make you loads of cash.

But writers who aren’t published yet should keep e-publishing in mind. Publishing is changing the way the music industry changed with all the music sharing sites. There’s opportunity for writers to finally get a more substantial reward for their efforts, so keep your eyes open as new publishing opportunities and formats develop. Konrath explains more about how publishing should restructure itself (if they’re smart) in Should E-Books Be Cheap?

PaperbackWriter has a thought-provoking post on writer’s superstitions in Writing Avoidance. Are there subjects that you don’t include in your writing?

On the lighter side, Tess Gerritsen relates how research almost got her arrested. Lesson: Always carry one of your books with your author photo on it.

When a painter begins to study the art of painting, he often starts by attempting to recreate the work of master painters. To learn impressionist techniques, he recreates Monet’s paintings. To learn how to use color to capture mood and emotion, he will paint like Van Gogh. It is considered important to first mimic the masters to learn techniques as part of creating his own art.

So why does the writing world frown on writers copying another writer’s work to learn techniques? By copying I mean to literally re-type the words from a novel, exactly as they are printed.

Fear of plagiarism is probably the main reason more writers don’t use this method to learn to write. But a painter doesn’t necessarily intend to sell their copy of a Van Gogh painting. They did the exercise to learn the techniques Van Gogh used. It was practice only.

A writer would do the same–copy the words to learn the technique, but not attempt to sell or publish since it is an exact duplicate used for practice only.

So what could you learn from copying a bestselling author’s book? You could learn their particular voice, how they characterize their story people with specific details, even how to pace a story, either fast or slow, depending on your genre.

For example, if you want to learn very fast pacing, copy James Patterson’s books. His short chapters and succinct writing draw the reader through the book very quickly. If you want to learn snappy dialogue, copy Elmore Leonard’s work.

To make the most of the copy technique, follow these steps.

• Select bestselling authors in your genre. In particular, select authors that write stories similar to the ones you would like to write.
• As an advanced technique, try selecting authors outside your genre. This is useful if you’re trying to include non-genre techniques in your story. For example, writing a thriller with rich descriptions.
• Choose short passages to copy for specific techniques, like dialogue, pacing, description or point of view.
• Pay attention as you are typing to the words used, the rhythm, and the phrasing the author used. Think about how you would have written that sentence or paragraph and focus on the differences between your writing style and the author’s.
• After a copy session, write a section of your own novel attempting to use the same style as the other author. Compare the two when done to see how close you came to emulating their technique.

Remember that the goal is to learn a technique, not lift entire sections of another writer’s novel to put in your own. Plagiarism and copyright infringement are not okay. Plagiarism, which is representing another’s work as your own, is unethical. Copyright infringement is using another’s work without their permission (violating their copyright) and it is illegal. They are similar concepts, but they are both wrong, so don’t go there.

Used selectively, the copy technique can teach you specific writing techniques that you can use to enhance your own stories. Just remember to make them solely your own stories and not those of another author.

What authors would you recommend to learn specific techniques?

Office disasters happen. Usually at the most inconvenient time in your project. Good old Murphy of Murphy’s Law is waiting to trip us up.

This weekend my 7-year-old computer started sending me messages that it was lying on its death bed and I should call the funeral home to make arrangements real soon. It’s been complaining about its bad back and chest pain for a while now, but I’ve ignored it.

After the CD drive refused to recognize any disk and the computer spontaneously rebooted itself in the middle of my work, I decided maybe I should listen to the whining and do something about it before it croaked in the middle of a big project.

So I bought a new computer. A cheap one, mind you, but it is still years beyond my old computer in technology. And then the fun started.

Since my old computer is still working I figured it wouldn’t be a big deal to transfer files from it to the new one. And yes, that has gone well, overall. Thank goodness for memory sticks.

But then we get to the things that don’t transfer well.

Install Disks for Everything

Do you think I can find my copy of Microsoft Office? Of course not. So I loaded up the trial copy for now while I hunt down my disks. I have 60 days to find them before the trial expires. I hope it’s long enough.

I did manage to find the CDs for my printer and cable modem. Big sigh of relief or I wouldn’t be here right now.

Email CDs, Settings and Files

The new computer wants me to use something called Windows Mail. But all of my contacts and a HUGE number of archived emails are in Outlook format. I transferred the Outlook databases over, but I have to find a copy of Outlook to install so I can use them. Then I have not remember the settings to connect to my account at my ISP. So for now, no email. I cringe at the hundreds I may have waiting when I finally get back in.

Feed Reader Software and Subscriptions

I use the Sweetie Reader from Alice at www.internetmarketingsweetie.com and I love it. I have around a hundred blog subscriptions in there and quite a few posts marked for follow-up, like a companion post on my blog. I can re-download the software from internetmarketingsweetie.com, but I need an export of my existing subscriptions. I pray it has that capability.

So, what’s the moral of the story?

When is the last time you backed up your documents? Do you know where your install CDs are? Do you know how to export contacts or feed subscriptions? Do you know email account info, in case you had to set it up in a different email program?

If your computer broke tomorrow, would you be able to recover in a short amount of time or would you be crying as you tried to remember obscure settings and rebuild everything from scratch?

Don’t be like me. Get prepared today just in case Murphy comes knocking!

One way to get yourself writing on a regular basis is by promising your writers group that you will write on a regular basis. Like I just did with the Saturday Writers.

We’re kicking off the 90-Day Novel Challenge today. We’ve committed to writing 890 words each day for three months. (That equals out to around an 80,000-word novel.) By being accountable to each other, and to you, the Internet Public, we’re cheering each other on to the end of our novels.

If you have a writing project that you’d like to get done, join us for our challenge. There’s no mocking or public humiliation if you don’t meet your word count for the day (although those can be strong motivational tools), just lots of encouragement.

You can get the full details here and join us.

Here’s to a summer of great writing!

What do you call your writing stoppages? You know, those times when you just don’t feel like working on your novel? When you find yourself wondering what’s the point of writing a novel anyway?

It’s common for writers to experience this feeling in the middle of their novel. Middles… when you’re too far past the first blush of novel excitement and too far away from the adrenaline rush of the end. And you find yourself avoiding your novel for one day, then two, then it’s a week and your unfinished manuscript is just a distant nagging whisper that is easy to ignore.

I call that a slump as opposed to a block. It’s not that I’ve lost the words and don’t know what to write. It’s that I don’t care about writing. It seems pointless.

I’m in one of those myself. Been in this slump for a few months now. I’m still getting some things done, like this blog, but if you’ve been watching you’ve seen the posts get further apart as time went by. Because even blog writing is writing. And I just haven’t cared.

So how do you get out of a slump?

I’ve been turning over ideas in my head, trying to find something that would work. There are the standard things to try:

• Commit to writing only a paragraph (because it’s something down on paper, even if only a paragraph and you might catch fire and write more, if you’re lucky)
• Apply motivational tools like rewards and punishments – a good idea, if you will actually apply the rewards and punishments to yourself (something I have trouble with)
• Apply the Nike slogan and Just Do It – force yourself to start writing no matter how much you don’t want to (which I’m doing right now)

These haven’t really worked for me so far (other than I got a blog post out of my slumpiness).

So who’s got some suggestions? What do you do to get out of a slump?