Thursday, April 12th, 2012 12:43:00

Conflict – The Story of Life

Driving my children to and from various events earlier this week, we had a discussion about what makes a good story. They are both working on writing a book (as am I — we’ll see who finishes first).

Stories, I explained, are interesting because they have conflict. There are most often two forces that push against each other. In classic stories, it’s good versus evil. Really interesting stories have subplots, which reflect conflicts within conflicts.

Yesterday, another mother and I were talking about the trials and tribulations of raising children: dealing with challenges, setbacks, watching children get frustrated and sometimes even cry (sometimes the children, sometimes the mothers). As a mother, you want to protect your children, but we also know that it’s the conflict that provides the growth opportunity for children. It’s just hard to remember that in the thick of the trials and tribulations.