July 28: Conflict Workshop

Monday, July 28 at 7 p.m. via Zoom

Unraveling the Confusion Between Conflict and Tension

Conflict and tension are often mentioned in the same breath, but they aren’t the same thing—and mixing them up is a common reasons scenes feel dull or pointless. In this workshop, you’ll discover what conflict truly is (and isn’t), and why tension alone can’t carry your story. You’ll learn how conflict creates meaningful choices for your characters, while tension builds anticipation that keeps readers turning pages. You’ll also explore why obstacles aren’t always conflicts, how to tell if the outcome of a scene is too obvious, and what happens when you rely on tension without any real stakes. Finally, you’ll get practical tips for combining conflict and tension effectively, so every scene drives your story forward and makes readers eager to see what happens next.

Bio:

Janice Hardy is an award-winning author and proud instigator of fictional trouble. As the founder of Fiction University, she’s helped countless writers tackle tricky plots, wrangle unwieldy characters, and decode the mysteries of publishing. Her blog has earned Top Writing Blog honors from Writer’s Digest, The Write Life, and many more.

She’s written multiple books on writing, including her bestselling Understanding Show, Don’t Tell (And Really Getting It). When she isn’t geeking out over craft, she’s creating tales of magic, danger, and adventure—and gleefully doing truly terrible things to her characters for their own good.

Her novels include the teen fantasy trilogy, The Healing Wars, chapter books in the Camp Whispering Woods series, and, as J.T. Hardy, the Grace Harper urban fantasy series for adults.

She loves connecting with writers and readers alike, and welcomes all questions—especially the weird ones.