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Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/q/37613
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

Edit 3 - Even though this is the third edit I feel it has to be included here at the top. My question as it stands is based on the assumption that reader interest does not exist in plots without conflicts. After reading the two answers and responses to my comments to those answers, I realize that I need not assume anything of that sort.

**Background -** For a while now I have been building a character who is an ordinary human trader and most probably will stay ordinary throughout their life. I haven't decided a gender for this person but I might go with a male character eventually. I have been setting up scenes of the life of this character and discovering the world the character lives in bit by bit. The world inhabited by this character is one that is similar to the beginning of the Renaissance era in Europe and has some sprinklings of magic.

**Short version -** My plot currently does not have a lot of conflict in it and I am not interested in adding a lot of conflict to it as I want to describe the life of an ambitious trader in a fantasy setting. It is all about this character. That's all. (Kindly read Edit 2 if you are only reading this short version).

**Elaboration -** So my character actively avoids conflicts but tries to grow as a person and thereby takes on moderately difficult tasks. As I build this character and their world, I find that there is not a lot of conflict in the plot. There are some personal dilemmas the character is facing and the character wishes to become a better trader and eventually own a treasure fleet of ships and that is the sum total of the motivations behind their actions. They face external obstacles too but they do not turn into 'save-the-world-or-die-trying' scale of choice based quests. I find that I am very interested in my character and want to explore their life as it progresses. As yet the writing is first person present tense for simplicities sake. It may become biographical or even autobiographical if I go in that direction. I originally had no intention of talking about this or showing this to another person. It was just a hobby that I did to relax, a sort of escape into my own fantasy world.

Recently I have been thinking of packaging this writing to a wider audience but the reason I have kept this character as they are is that I absolutely detest shoe-horned conflict. Most of the 'rivetting pageturners' and 'top bestsellers' have characters on whom the entire world of the setting depends upon and I always find myself thinking 'That's just too much to happen in a person's life'. Commercially, I understand the need for this and I am not against these types of stories but I choose to go for a 'slice of life' approach. I just want to explore the life of a trader trying to make a living and not wanting to be the hero. A character whose life has a normal amount of external events and is not very deeply philosophical or extremely intelligent to conduct a bunch of insightful introspection into their persona. A character who takes the safer choices because they are not a hero, they are a normal regular person looking to live comfortably.

**A crude by-line** of the plot as of now would be - The life of an ambitious Venetian trader / merchant in the early 1400s with some magic sprinkled into the setting.

Question

**What would be your suggestions to generate and maintain reader interest in a story of this type without creating a 'legend on demand' type of character?**

A friend suggested adding more comedy to the dialogue for starters.

Any other comments / suggestions / criticisms are welcome.

Thank you very much for taking the time to read this.

Edit 1 - For clarity and objectivity in the question.

**Edit 2** - While maintaining the tension every few pages is a good and maybe even a necessary part of writing a story / book, the focus of this question is to explore methods in writing that generates and maintains reader interest at least for a few pages at a time without progressing the plot at the same pace as the earlier few pages. As a friend mentioned 'comic interlude' is an effective method. Are there other such options?

Original score: 7