Without conflict you don’t have a story.

Unless your character is doing something you have no plot. The plot comes from the MC doing everything he or she can to overcome the obstacles standing between them and their goal(s).

Conflict is entertaining. Conflict not only drives your story but will drive your audience. Think about what is popular on television now, and the proliferation of reality TV. Why do we watch it? Remove obvious contenders like Survivor or Real Housewives or Jersey Shore where the conflict is in your face. Would you watch a show about cooking food like Ace of Cakes or Iron Chef if there was no conflict? Of course not! Conflict drives tension. It can be a race against time. It can be internal, it can be romantic. It doesn’t have to be a big fight scene, or knock-down drag-out battle.

As a bonus this week, we have the full outtake of my conflict-ramble, creating a “live” story out of the three main types of conflict for you:

http://www.writingpodcastonline.com/audio/JoshuaExposition.mp3

“God, I hope they don’t die before finishing the series!” We’ve all thought it. Just don’t let it be about you.

Listen and learn, my beauties. We’re working to save lives here.

Human beings in general, and writers in specific, don’t especially enjoy being criticized. Thus, as you can imagine, giving feedback can become a touchy process. It becomes an art. In giving feedback, your job isn’t telling the subject of your critique how bad their story is, or to “beat the truth into them,” your job is to make the story as good as it can be.

The flip side of the coin is how to receive that feedback, which can be just as difficult a process.

Here’s our take on it.

If you’re in this business, if you’re in any creative business, you’re going to get rejected. It’s just going to happen, so you’ve gotta set your stiff upper lip, put on your big boy or your big girl pants and pull those suckers up because it is a bumpy ride. But you know what? It doesn’t matter. Those rejections are marks in your ledger, and each mark in there brings you closer and closer to your success. If you don’t have any rejections you’re not trying hard enough. So get out there and get rejected!

(Lamest battle cry, ever. You’re welcome.)

We all do it. We are our own worst enemies sometimes. And sometimes our own worst advocates! The point is, don’t feel alone. We’re with you, and so is every other writer that ever was.

We finish our discussion of with John and pick his brain about cover letters, hooks, what will turn John off of a submission, common mistakes, and where in the world that name came from. You know of what I speak.

Bonus! As requested, William Shunn’s guidelines for short story MS formatting!

Every so often we will invite a prestigious guest to the show to get a fresh perspective and to pick their brain. John Klima created the speculative short fiction magazine, Electric Velocipede, back in 2001, and has edited several anthologies. We go behind the scenes with John on what he likes, how to submit, going digital, hints and tips, and good short fiction markets to which you should submit your work.

So do you want to know the secret handshake? Do you want to know what an Electric Velocipede is? Of course you do. Let John Klima tell you.

Knowing how to edit your work is just as important as knowing how to write your work; especially as an indie writer author. Even if you plan to turn your manuscript over to a professional freelance editor, you’ve got to do the best job possible on your own before turning it over to your editor. Do your homework: learn your grammar and punctuation, and structure, and fix everything you can. Even be willing to kill your darlings if you need to. Use beta readers. The better the copy your editor receives, the better the quality and more useful the edits you will receive back, and often, the less money you’ll have to shell out.

Here is a shocking admission: after I complete an outline, I edit as I write. It works for me, helps me get in the zone to start a writing session by editing what I last wrote. The trick has been to tame that beast of an inclination and keep my forward progression.

Because this tactic is so filled with pitfalls, I find myself never suggesting it to other writers. It is far too easy to get caught up in the eternal opening; tweaking things, rewriting and working it to death to make it as shiny as possible. I’ve been caught there, I have the MSs to prove it. It does not smell like napalm in the morning. Or maybe it does, depending on what side of that napalm you’re on.

From inspiration to fin, we’ve all got our own processes. Sharpies, dictation, polishing turds, muscle drafts, butcher paper, discoverers versus outliners — on the battlefield that is the first draft, where do you fall?

As promised, Diana has graciously given us a sample of one of her first drafts for all our loyal poddies. Enjoy!
Parts and pieces of early “Even White Trash Zombies Get the Blues.”