Go Forth and Procreate

I am thinking that I would like to include characters with some of the attributes who have influenced me in my life - including my colleagues and students, friends, people from university, people from when I worked in the disability field. I will try not to make them too obvious, as I would twist them so that they are changed or a melange of several people. I guess I will try to stick to a central protagonist and antagonist arrangement to allow the conflict to be emphasised. My main problem is that I do not instantly seem to generate conflict, as I prefer to avoid it in real life!! Maybe there is some conflict right there....

I wonder what the best number of characters to have - I guess it depends if the story is character-driven or plot-driven. I was wondering if there was such a thing as character-plot-driven but I guess not...

Does anybody know of good competitions to enter, or magazines that would except short stories. It would be good to get some experience as I increase my trade.

Hope it is going well for you!
Drop by sometime again!