last night i attended a lecture on dramaturgy.
the speaker dealt with short stories and novels alike, focussing mainly on weaknesses.
she suggested solutions and potential exercises to move towards the elimination of such problems.
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she pointed out that speaking of conflict, also known as a 'drive of a good story', there are 'good' characters and 'bad' ones.
'good' characters are determined, stand up to their right and ready to face challenge and conflict, have strong motivations.
these characters trigger and sustain a good conflict or two.
'bad' ones on the other hand, have no real motivation and tend to drive away from actions and/or conflicts. they are not consistent. they may want one thing at one moment and another at another, meaning that they are relatively cool with whatever happens to and around them.
a 'bad' character does not stand up, because for most of the time, anything is good for him. which takes me to the conclusion that a 'bad' character is either a complete moron or highly enlightened. :)
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jokes aside, i do think a good writer can pull off a story with 'bad' characters. simply because if you take a look around among people, not everyone is full of consciousness, not everyone is strong-willed, not everyone is ready to take a conflict.
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i know i am not a moron, nor enlightened, but technically speaking i am a 'bad' character. i am good with what i have, i do not seek conflict - but i have my 'unless' moments. that is i step out of any conflict unless it involves the future of my kids, the ethical stance of my nation, you name it.
so there is hope one day i write about conflicts.
and a good novel.
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the speaker suggested writing dialogues. which advice i will gladly take.-
photo credits to: szatmar.ro
