Today's Writing Tip Is about Creating Conflict

Recently, I wrote a book review on Fifty Shades of Grey, the new runaway bestseller about Anastasia Steele, a naïve young woman who falls for Christian Grey, a man who can only derive pleasure from a dominant/submissive relationship. Christian is perfect in every respect except sexually; he is damaged and can only be aroused by inflicting pain. This is not exactly our dream man, but readers love the book. Why? Aside from some very steamy sex scenes, Anastasia is confused, bewildered, and ambivalent about her relationship with Christian. This creates good reading.

It makes her a three-dimensional character and provides suspense; we don't know if she will stay with Christian. It makes her sympathetic. We feel for her dilemma. She's crazy about him, but he's just plain old crazy (unless you’re a fan of sadomasochism).

Thus, in real life we may prefer partners who are relatively drama free, but this would make for very boring literature. When you are developing your characters, make sure they have enough conflict, both internally, within themselves, and externally with other people.

Sigrid Macdonald is the author of three books, including Be Your Own Editor, and two erotic short stories, which she wrote under the pen name Tiffanie Good. Silver Publishing just released "The Pink Triangle," a tale of friendship, lust, and betrayal. You can view her story here: http://tinyurl.com/6v65rgr  

Today's Writing Tip Is "Do You Mind?"

I'm always amused when I ask someone if they mind if I do something, and they say yes when they really mean to say no. Here's an example:

Me: Do you mind if I borrow your printer?
Other person: Sure, go ahead.

Wrong answer! The question was, do you mind?, so the answer should be no. In an ideal world, this is the way people would answer:

Me: Do you mind if I borrow your printer?
Other person: What's wrong with your printer?
Me: Well, I just got a new laser printer, and the paper jammed, and when I went to replace the toner...
Other person: No, I don't mind. Go ahead.