Everyone probably wishes that their life was easy-going, peaceful, and filled with time to relax. No enemies - no annoyances. I know I wish my life were that way!
However, something struck me the other day while in the midst of a year-long struggle against an obtrusive neighbor. If I think about the events of my life through the lens of writing fiction, I can see that without the drama, there would be no story. It's completely true! There are two things that will come up if someone asks me how my day went. I can say that it went amazingly and that things were moving forward without much complaint. On the flip side (which happens most often), I will talk about all the drama of the day; the people who made me angry; the computer that wouldn't do what I wanted, etc. If there wasn't any drama, then I wouldn't really have anything to talk about!
My challenge for fellow writers, and even the non-writers who check this out, is to look at the drama in your life through this lens. Harness the bad times and use them to your advantage. When things look down, write them down! You never know when the fight with your aunt will turn into a story element, or when your flat tire will give your characters the perfect thing to derail their vacation plans. The friction produces great fiction. Trust me.
If everything is rose-colored, then who cares? We want the drama!
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