British fiction on the whole now has a somewhat wider angle than it used to have, and is less confined to quiet events, but it is still necessary too remind some writers that scope and resonance are important. Chapter 31 of Solutions for Writers deals with Increasing the Effect on the Reader Through Resonance . In future months, the subject will be dealt with again here. The fact that much if not most enduring fiction is based on differences . Those differences are in inherited characteristics, upbringing, and individual temperament, as in Pygmalion and My Fair Lady , or Lady Chatterley's Lover .
Cultural differences are a touchy subject for most people.
Touchy subjects arouse emotion. People in civil society usually try to overlook the differences but in fact do not. Their attempt to cover up noticed differences sometimes fail, hurting others. Social and cultural differences can be a source of feeling and high drama, essential to effective writing. Differences can be in clothing, choice of words, habits, mannerisms, and much else useful in both characterization and plotting.