Lesson 3.05 You've Got to Fight for Your Right

• Introduction
• Learn
• Try It
• Task

Introduction

"The greatest rules of dramatic writing are conflict, conflict, conflict."

 - James Frey

• Have you ever been in a situation where you didn't agree with someone else?
• Have you ever worried about your grades?
• Has anyone ever bumped or pushed you in the hall at school?
• Have you ever overheard a "friend" talk about you?
These circumstances present conflicts. All people face numerous conflicts in their lives. All literature-dramas, novels, or short stories- must include conflict in order to be interesting.

Most fiction has a readily-apparent plot; conflict keeps the plot from becoming stale.

However, inserting conflict into your fiction is not quite as simple as inserting a fistfight into the storyline. Conflict in fiction can be as diverse and as individual as the writer. It can also heighten tension and increase suspense. A conflict does not have to be major; it could be as simple as the struggle to choose a wedding venue.

 

Lesson Objectives

Following successful completion of this lesson, students will be able to... Generate and draft a fiction story utilizing narrative elements. Use the writing process to produce effective, polished writing. Distinguish between different types of conflict. The above objectives correspond with the Creative Writing Course Standards: 1, 2, 23.