Character Conflict: The Key to Compelling Stories #Easy-peasy Plotting

Having trouble plotting? Try this.

What do your lead characters want? 

What obstacles stand in their way? 

How can they overcome them?

 

 

 

 My just-published novella, More Than Tinsel, asks the question, "Can Lissa Talbot restore peace between her father and the cowboy she loves?" It is the solid foundation on which the story is built.

 

The trial is over. The verdict has been given.

 

Seventeen-year-old Lissa Talbot watches the man she loves mount his magnificent black stallion and prepare to ride out of her life. A cry of protest bursts forth. It shocks bystanders and enrages Lissa’s father, the rancher who accused Matthew Coulter of rustling.

 

“I believe in you, Matt. Go with God. Prove your innocence. Then come home . . .” The words to me are drowned out by the beat of King’s hooves. It is the beginning of a long, hard trail for Lissa and Matt, with mountain-sized boulders blocking their way to happiness. 

 

 

 

Seven years later, Matthew Coulter returns, determined to prove his innocence and wearing a U.S. Deputy Marshall's badge. Lissa is overjoyed, but torn between the Biblical command to "honour thy father and mother," and the only man who has ever touched her heart. She desperately fears what her father will do  when he and Matt meet. Must she be forced to choose between them?One thing is clear. It will take more than Christmas tinsel to heal long-held wounds.

 God can soften hardened hearts and straighten tangled trails. But first, He must rescue four persons whose lives are endangered by a raging blizzard that traps them far from home.

 Writing Tips.

• Make sure that what your characters want is significant. Decades ago, many YA novels centered around the heroine getting a Prom date. Current YA titles may include that problem, but need to focus on deeper issues that teens face today.

• The more believable obstacles you include, the better. Lissa not only mourns  Matt's departure, but watches her father deteriorate after her mother dies. He forbids her to keep the Christmas traditions she loves. The Lazy T ranch earns the nickname "The Tipsy T," because of Jed Talbot's periodic sprees. Jed fires any cowhand who attempts to befriend his daughter.
  

• Lissa's greatest weapon against her trials is prayer--and the belief that someday her father will again become the man he used to be. Also, Dusty, the long-term ranch foreman, her faithful ally and friend, is an unfailing source of support. 

★★★★★ Amazon Review, January 30, 2021

 

Verified Purchase

  I'm not a romance reader, but once in a while I enjoy a good old-fashioned Western, usually on TV. Colleen Reece's MORE THAN TINSEL provides the same kind of pleasure, with high-stakes conflict, threatening weather, and indoor scenes that range from grim to cozy. A quick and satisfying read.

 

 Colleen's Author page