Collection 1 - Facing Monsters
The harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph.
—Thomas Paine
The oldest of all our stories are about conflicts between people and the monsters—real and imaginary—that threaten them. We can imagine people in prehistoric times huddled around small fires in their dark caves, telling one another stories about terrifying conflicts with monsters that got more and more fantastic as the stories were told and retold. Conflict is still the basic ingredient in our stories. Today, the monsters have disappeared in realistic stories, and characters face more believable problems—floods, bullies at the corner, clashes with friends, viruses in the computer. But perhaps more common today are stories of people who struggle with problems that come from within: anger, prejudice, selfishness, fear. Why is it that so many of our stories deal with conflict? Maybe it’s because stories help us absorb the courage, the strength, and the wisdom we need to confront the conflicts we face in our own passage through life.
Writing Focus: Short Narrative
Writer’s Notebook
Think for a few minutes of all the times in life when you or someone you know struggled with something—something outside, like a hurricane, or something inside, like fear of a big exam or a tough decision. List as many of these conflicts as you can. Write freely; right now you just need to get your ideas down. Keep your notes.
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