Where's The Heat in Your Story?
5 SUBTLE ways to ignite a narrative flame with Literary Friction instead of Goonda Conflict
"The writer's job is to create productive friction. Too much concordance and the narrative feels flat; too much discordance and it feels chaotic. The art lies in finding that perfect abrasion that generates heat without consuming the work entirely." — David Mitchell, in a 2014 interview with The Paris Review
Happy 50501, Loreates,
I hope you’re staying sane, safe, and as active in defending your rights as time and strength allow. The story of our society right now is so hot that almost anything I write seems to pale by comparison. Even the manuscript I just finished ghostwriting (yay, we beat our deadline!), which indirectly is about the soul of the nation, may turn out to be far too timid by the time it’s published next year — because who can dare or bear to imagine the civil conflagration that might be underway by then? I sure can’t (this is where editors earn their stripes— we hope).
But as a writing lesson, there’s something else to learn here. What we’re…
