Table of Contents
Introduction 1
Part 1 Conflict Makes the Story 8
1 Defining Conflict 9
2 Motivation and Realism 21
3 An Explicit Mission and Opposition 32
4 Plot and Internal/External Conflict 40
5 Character Goals and Organization 46
6 Conflict Checklist 54
Part 2 Once More With Feeling 57
7 Learning Emotional Triggers 58
8 Characters and Emotion 64
9 Internal Narrative and Deep Point of View 70
10 Word Pictures and Digging More Deeply 81
11 Feeling the Story: An Examination of Pay It Forward 87
12 Sacrifice and Evocative vs. Emotional Writing 94
Part 3 Setting is More than a Backdrop 100
13 Defining Setting and Observation 101
14 What Can Setting Do for Your Story? 108
15 Using Indirect Description 118
16 Creating Realism with Setting Details: Details Affect Character 125
17 Researching Your Location 132
[18] Weaving Your Tapestry 141
Part 4 Tension ad Pressure 151
19 Creating Tension in a Scene 152
20 Sustaining Tension 162
21 Physical Responses 168
Part 5 Dialogue 174
22 Revealing Character Through Speech 175
23 Expressing Emotion by Omission 196
Part 6 Drawing Emotions From Characters 203
24 Character as a Compass for Emotions 204
25 What's in a Name? 211
26 Where Do Great Characters Come From? 216
27 The Reader Must Care 225
28 Techniques to Make the Reader Care 236
Wrapping It Up 244
