Being a Better Writer Topic Call!

In my defense, I didn’t say when this post would be up today. But readers! Do you have your list ready!? Topics you want to hear about? The get commenting below!

For those of you who need a bit more context, I’ll assume that you are familiar with this site’s weekly feature, Being a Better Writer, all about—What else?—how to improve one’s writing. Pretty much the most popular bit of this site, and referenced in a lot of places.

But here’s the thing: The topics that BaBW discusses? They come from a list. An actual, physical list written in pen that sits on my desk. A list that is populated in part by readers like you!

Which is why I occasionally do these calls for topics. Right now Topic List #16 is empty. It has nothing but the title.

So now, I open the gates to you, readers. What sort of writing topics would you like to hear more about? Is there something specific you’d like to see a post on? An aspect of writing you’d like to see explored?

Leave a comment so that it can go on the list! Right now! That’s the whole point of this post: So that readers can contribute and put in their two cents about what they want to learn about.

So comment below!

Comments

[Flash Notion]

Transitioning scenes. I don't know if this has been done already, but it's probably the thing I agonize over the most. Ending one scene and beginning another, without it feeling abrupt.
Sometimes I end up feeling like I'm writing a shitty star wars fan film, with screen wipes every five seconds.
So how can I get better at that?

[SirNotAppearingInThisFic]

I've got at least one. Pretty sure I had two earlier, but I only remember one now.¹ This turned into a bit of a mess of a question/topic suggestion; you have my apologies.

I'd like to hear your thoughts on the oft-repeated claim that "a story must have conflict", perhaps more specifically why I most often see it used to discredit something that is perceived to be without conflict. I've even seen a case where someone made a claim that X story doesn't have conflict (0/10) when I have little difficulty identifying an overarching conflict in said story. ²

So, a few questions spring to mind over this (I know you've already covered some points – at least partially – in other posts):

1a) Is it true that a story needs conflict, lest it not be considered a story?

1b) Are the critics that I see (and disagree with) such as in the example above actually referring to the form of conflict that a story allegedly requires in the original statement?

2) If true, what is a story without conflict, and why is this so heavily implied to be a bad thing?

3) What about, say, Slice-of-life?

Please note that I'm not even asking you to respond to those questions directly. I'm just using them to get my thoughts across, and I'm still not sure I'm getting it quite right. Jokingly (or is it "honestly"?), what I'd really like to ask is "How are these people wrong?".

¹If I think of that other thing or more relevant information for this one, I'll be sure to come by again and leave another comment. Also, I really appreciate what you do with BaBW.

²One such comment pointed at the next story in the series and said it had a bunch of conflicts that were wrapped up too quickly/easily. I asked a prominent [if inactive] Fimfiction author about that example and they said they saw these claims used when people found a story to be too boring, rather than when conflict was actually the issue.