The Place For My Writers Notes

With a little help from CNN?

Or maybe Snopes?

So you want to add yet another complication facing your hero, but your ideas are sagging? Okay, here's the thing. Take a look over here at http://us.cnn.com/LIVING/ -- when I wrote this we had how to handle life's stickiest situations, social networking sites do's and don'ts, and some other odds and ends. So maybe you take a look at life's stickiest situations over at http://us.cnn.com/2008/LIVING/personal/11/05/o.handle.sticky.situations/index.html (if it's still there:-)

Aha, it's an Oprah.com piece. That's okay, they are often kind of fun. So let's see what these situations are... interesting, they didn't headline them as they usually do. Still, a quick scan shows

1. The spouse of a friend of mine propositioned me and I turned them down. Should I tell my friend or not? One advisor says if it is a one time mistake, let it go. If it persists, then it's time to tell. The other advisor says tell your friend, they need to know.

2. Michelle's 12-year-old son met a pretty girl his age. But as they were about to kiss, they were interrupted. However, the girl soon proposed going much further -- via text messages. And the text messages have gotten around the neighborhood. Should Michelle talk to the girl's mother or not?

3. McCauley works with clients and customers who are mostly men. When she takes them out to lunch and dinner, they often make inappropriate comments about her and about the waitstaff. What should McCauley do to put them in their place and not lose them as clients?

4. Kristen has accidentally sent email about a person that she was gossiping about to that person, destroying her friendship with them. Can she recover from that?

5. Patti's girlfriend dated the bad boy of the town. Then she asked Patti what she thought about him. And Patti told her what she actually thought about him, what they already knew. Now her friend is upset. Did she do something wrong?

6. One of Lindsey's friends has terrible bad breath. Should she tell her?

7. What about a friend who wears too much perfume, too much makeup, clothes that are inappropriate for her size?

Okay, these may not be what you would've thought of life's stickiest situations, but apparently they really are problems for many people. So, consider using one of these as a stumbling point for your hero or maybe the sidekick. How does your hero explain to the boy wonder that he really needs to start using mouthwash? Heck, that business with dating the bad boy of the town used to be one of the cliches of the romance trade, and there is still often at least one not so desirable fellow fairly often involved. How do you tell someone that the person they're dating isn't one of the people with white hats?

If you are having trouble coming up with complications, take a look at the living section. See if something there sparks your thinking. Or take a look at the life crisis table over here http://www.mindtools.com/smlcu.html to find some other problems that might be causing your hero, your villain, or other characters in your story to droop. Wherever you look, there are lists and lists -- all to help you write your story!

Snopes? http://www.snopes.com/ has some of the best rumors, urban legends, and so forth. Use them as is, consider what's behind that category of scary snakes, twist them -- use them to spice up your story! Consider it salt for the writer's stew you are brewing :-)

Psst? Don't forget that you want your character to fail a few times. So when you toss in that complication, don't let them just breeze past it. Get them entangled with it, let them struggle with it, make it important that they solve it . . . and just when we all think they are going to have to give up, that's when they figure out that they can do it! And step by step, slowly but steadily, they do! YEAH!

tink
(about 660 words)
Disco? You must be kidding.