Creating Juicy Tales

Many writers hope to create compelling
stories but may fail to build effective conflict or tension
among their characters, thus causing readers to drift away.
To improve their practice of writing dramatic narrative,
seven middle-class American white women journey through the
process of Cooperative Inquiry-a qualitative research
methodology-to learn from the experience of forming key
questions and specific action plans focused on the topic of
"creating conflict in story." Over one semester's time,
this small group moves though deepening cycles of action and
reflection, building their craft skills from the inside out,
and discovering along the way how writing juicy tales is
like making love. Their discoveries include inner and outer
methods for writing stories containing tension as well as
experiential "felt" criteria for recognizing not only when
they are in the process of writing compelling stories but
also when their output demonstrates successful achievement
of such stories. Writers who want to keep readers hooked
will find guidance and inspiration here, along with story
structure tools such as the author's original "Hot Spot Grid."