I love this observation and have been thinking incessantly about conflict, tension and stakes (and by extension, plot), mostly because those seems to be the things that truly trip up newer writers (my early work is plagued by the absence of stakes omg!!!) But it also doesn't seem to be a massive focus in workshops and MFA programs? In my MFA we had a lesson on dialogue, talked a bit about plot, but I can't recall ever talking about stakes (or tension, or meaningful conflict). I took an absolutely amazing webinar on tension, conflict and stakes with literary agent CeCe Lyra and it completely changed my understanding of what story DOES. I love literary fiction, it's the bulk of what I read and write, but my favorite works are the ones that keep that sparkling prose and depth of thought/feeling/observation BUT with high stakes (or at least stakes that FEEL high to the protagonist. I think in this regard, (some) literary writers can really learn from the commercial writer's sensibility. (I ALSO started reading House of Mirth a few months ago and Lily Bart was totally stressing me out!!). Anyway, thanks for this post!
100%! Tension is another great way of thinking about it. A good exercise for all writers is trying to describe the plots and articulate the points of tension and stakes in their favorite books.
I love this observation and have been thinking incessantly about conflict, tension and stakes (and by extension, plot), mostly because those seems to be the things that truly trip up newer writers (my early work is plagued by the absence of stakes omg!!!) But it also doesn't seem to be a massive focus in workshops and MFA programs? In my MFA we had a lesson on dialogue, talked a bit about plot, but I can't recall ever talking about stakes (or tension, or meaningful conflict). I took an absolutely amazing webinar on tension, conflict and stakes with literary agent CeCe Lyra and it completely changed my understanding of what story DOES. I love literary fiction, it's the bulk of what I read and write, but my favorite works are the ones that keep that sparkling prose and depth of thought/feeling/observation BUT with high stakes (or at least stakes that FEEL high to the protagonist. I think in this regard, (some) literary writers can really learn from the commercial writer's sensibility. (I ALSO started reading House of Mirth a few months ago and Lily Bart was totally stressing me out!!). Anyway, thanks for this post!
100%! Tension is another great way of thinking about it. A good exercise for all writers is trying to describe the plots and articulate the points of tension and stakes in their favorite books.
Lily is really stressing me out...