Writing exercises: All Conflicts Great and Small

[rowyn]

What's the largest conflict you can think of?

The combined forces of all the mulitverses stood arrayed against their common enemy: entropy. "I think entropy's winning," one leader whispered to another. "Good thing it's slow."

What's the smallest?

By one extruded pseudopod at a time, the single-celled organism oozed forward across the slick surface, until it came to a thick black line that halted its progress. It stopped before the line, stymied.

Kim lifted her head from the microscope. "Teacher! I think there's a hair on my slide!"

(I could spend all day trying to think of bigger and better, or smaller and more minor, to top these, but I think at some point I am defeating the purpose of this as an EXERCISE. I already think that my whole response to "Imagine That" rather missed Vorhaus's point, which was to be imaginative without constraint or worrying about details.)

Comments

[level-head.livejournal.com]

You are born to write science fiction, my dear. You may as well relax to it. ];-)

===|==============/ Level Head

[tuftears.livejournal.com]

Smallest conflict that would come to mind to me:

"Really, dear," said the Willy Loman-lookalike to his wife. "Don't you think that you'd prefer this very sensible stationwagon?"

She barely glanced aside from her chosen vehicle. "We only live once, sweetheart. I rather think I fancy this SUV. And you could go fishing with your friends from work!"

That would mean going outdoors, he thought with a shudder. "Of course, dear. Whatever you like."

(how gratingly banal...)

[rowyn]

*blush*

That's very sweet of you.

[rowyn]

All depends how you define "small", I guess. :)

[jordangreywolf.livejournal.com]

And fantasy! (Not that I'm entirely sure that there's any distinct difference.)

[rowyn]

This is actually a bit of an in-joke between Level Head and me. He belongs to a "hard sf" writing group, and suggested that I might want to join it. I told him I didn't do hard sf; he, er, how shall I put this? Disagreed? Sounds about right. :)

I have since joined the group, but I remain skeptical about my ability to write hard science fiction. I'm not all that impressed with my ability to sustain consistency in a fantasy or even straight-fiction world, never mind making up plausible technology and throwing that into the mix. :)