Tag: external conflict

Writing Tip of the Week: The Importance of Conflict in Your Story

Posted on by Ian Dawson

Most of us go about our daily lives determined to avoid conflict.  In the real world, it can be a real pain dealing with angry, disagreeable, and aggressive people, which can, in turn, negatively impact your day as a whole.  If we find ourselves involved in a conflict, our primary goal is to end it or get away from it as fast as possible.

Obviously, there are those in the world that thrive on conflict and cause trouble for others, but for the most part, people like to have a semblance of peace in their day-to-day lives.

I’m sure you’ve heard the phrase, Conflict equals Drama, and it’s true. Conflict is a must-have in the fictional world of a novel, a TV show, or a movie.  Conflict helps drive the story forward, reveal character, and create an intense dialogue between those in conflict. 

Suppose a story lacks a conflict for your protagonist. In that case, it can drag, feel aimless, and even cause the reader or viewer to lose interest.  So, let’s talk about conflict and how to keep things alive in your story.

How Big Should the Conflict Be?

Not all conflict revolves around world-ending superhero movie stakes.  A conflict can be as simple as a disagreement between the main character and another character.  It can also be during the final showdown between the protagonist and antagonist.  It’s something that puts a wrench in the protagonist’s day, and it’s something they have to work to overcome to get to their sense of normalcy once again.

Let’s look at story conflict on a scale of 1 to 5.  One is the bare minimum.  Maybe it’s a couple who can’t agree where to go to dinner or siblings who can’t decide whether to get a cat or a dog.  Simple, low-stakes conflicts that will probably have an amicable resolution sooner than later.  

A five is a relentless assault on the main character that has no clear end in sight, and the antagonist has the upper hand from the start.  Horror movies are often a 10.  Superhero movies can be up in the 10s.  Disaster movies as well.  High-stakes and a lot to lose if the main character is defeated.

In the middle are stakes and conflicts that can mirror real life, raise stakes, and create consequences for the main character. They aren’t easy to resolve but have some kernel of hope of a win nesting inside them.  

Think about what you’re currently writing.  What are the main conflicts the protagonist faces?  Are they Ones?  Fives?  In the middle?  Then ask yourself if the conflict is big enough for your main character to fight to defeat whatever the conflict is.  Will the struggle?  Will they suffer in some way?  Have setbacks?  Will these conflicts help them grow as a character?

Don’t Fear Conflict

It’s okay for your main character to argue with someone.  It’s okay for the protagonist to disagree with other characters.  If your protagonist gets their way from chapter one to the final page, it’s going to be a dull and predictable story. 

Hallmark movies have conflict.  As you read this, Hallmark Channel has started airing Christmas movies 24/7. Never seen one?  Watch one and jot down the main conflicts that the main character faces throughout the story.  On our scale, they are probably 1s and 2s (if you want 3-level conflict, flip over to Lifetime), but there is still conflict present.

When we hear the word Conflict, we think of shootouts, explosions, fistfights, and screaming matches.  But conflict can take many forms rooted in a more realistic world than Batman versus The Joker.  

Sitcoms can create a conflict out of a minor situation and expand upon it for 22 minutes.  One of my favorite shows, Frasier, does this beautifully.  From minor disagreements, misunderstandings, past rivalries, and more, these smaller conflicts can be a well-spring of material that can be used that don’t have to result in Metropolis or Gotham City being destroyed.

And just because your main character argues with someone doesn’t make them unlikeable.  It makes them appear more human, which is a good thing.

External & Internal Conflict

What’s causing the conflict in the story?  If it’s something outside the main character’s control, it’s an External Conflict.  It disrupts the protagonist’s world that has to be resolved to return to their sense of normalcy.

Most stories revolve around External Conflicts. There’s a threat, a natural disaster, an antagonist creating chaos.  Whatever it is, it’s outside the main character.

Internal Conflicts can be a direct result of an External Conflict. Still, these are things the main character is struggling to overcome that are causing issues within.  

Maybe they were just served divorce papers.  The divorce is an External Conflict, but the feelings the main character has are an Internal Conflict.  The protagonist must resolve the External Conflict (why does the partner want a divorce?  Where are they?  How can we fix this problem?).  At the same time, they must deal with the Internal Conflict (what did I do to lead up to this moment?  How can I change and become better?  Is there something wrong with me as a partner?).

All characters, like real people, need to have an External and Internal life, which assists in creating the External and Internal Conflicts that serve the story and help the character grow and change within and without.

As you work on your story, think about how the external events are affecting the main character internally.  How are their thoughts, feelings, and fears impacting their ability to stop the External Conflict they’ve been thrown into?

Conflict as a Driving Force

Conflict creates problems for the protagonist.  In turn, the active protagonist sets out to resolve and end the conflict.  Other conflicts may pop up in the meantime that must be tamped down as the main character continues their pursuit toward their goal of ending the conflict.

The majority of main characters in mainstream entertainment want to end the conflict they’re dealing with and go back to their life before everything got out of control.  Of course, in working to stop and resolve the conflict, they will grow as a person and learn from their experiences, which creates their Character Arc.

Viewing for Conflict

Grab a couple of your favorite movies, a few episodes of your favorite TV shows, a novel you’ve read before, a notebook and a pen, and analyze the conflicts in each. Make a note about the main conflict, how the main character sets out to resolve it, and how they evolve throughout the story to end the conflict.  

Now, look at your story and see where conflict can be increased and the stakes raised for your main character.  What is your protagonist’s goal?  How do they initially plan to resolve the conflict that has presented itself and upturned their calm state of being?  How will they change as they work to resolve the conflict?  Will they become a better or worse person by the story’s end?

Happy Writing, and I’ll see you in two weeks!

Writing Tip of the Week: The Importance of Conflict in Your Story

Posted on by Ian Dawson

People generally do all they can to avoid Conflict in their everyday lives. We will often go to great lengths to stay out of situations that make us uncomfortable, make us confront an issue, or even deal with someone who makes us feel anything but peaceful. For the most part, humans prefer a sense of neutrality.

But not in fiction.  

Fiction requires Conflict as an essential ingredient to make a narrative move forward. There has to be something or someone driving the protagonist to act; to get them out of their neutral state and make them work toward a goal that looks impossible to achieve on the surface.

Let’s explore a little about Conflict and its role in fiction.

Conflict = Dramatic Tension

Your protagonist wants something. Another character wants something else. Only one of them can get what they want in the scene or chapter. And so, this Conflict creates Dramatic Tension between the two characters, and – hopefully – the Conflict and dramatic tension pique the audiences’ interest. Who will get what they want? How will they negotiate to get what they want? What are they willing to do or say to achieve their goal?  

Watch any film or TV show, and you will see this played out on either a small or a larger level. If you watch Law & Order: Special Victims Unit – or most procedurals – you can see this play out in almost every scene. There is a conflict between the detectives over how to interrogate a suspect. There’s Conflict between the suspect and the detectives interrogating them. There’s Conflict while a witness is being questioned. All of which creates Dramatic Tension and leaves the audience curious and wanting more.

Comedy is also rife with Conflict. Yes, Dramatic Tension does exist in sitcoms and comedy movies as well. It’s what helps keep the story moving forward and the audience engaged. On I Love Lucy, Lucy Ricardo wants to be in a TV commercial. Her husband, Ricky, says she can’t do it. A Conflict between the two characters has now been created. It then evolves into Dramatic Tension, which in this case is played for laughs.

Conflict Isn’t Always Good vs. Evil

When we picture Conflict, we think of Batman vs. The Joker or some other large-scale epic showdown between good and evil. But that is not the case. While this is a clear-cut example, conflicts are often between best friends, or kids and parents, or employees and employers.  

Maybe the characters just have a minor disagreement about how to punish their child for their bad behavior. Perhaps it’s a conflict between and father and son over what type of first job the son should apply for. Small conflicts between characters that aren’t an explosive battle of wills destroying Gotham City can be just as impactful, just as exciting, and just as engaging.

Conflict Should Be Organic

The source of the Conflict that occurs should have sense and logic to it within the story you are telling. Have you ever watched an action movie where a car chase or bar fight just happens for no reason? If there’s no reason for the Conflict to arise, it feels forced and out of place.

All characters want or need something. When your characters each want something different, a conflict is formed. In Avengers: Infinity War, Thanos wants the Infinity Stones to achieve his goal. The Avengers have an opposing goal: stop Thanos from acquiring the Infinity Stones. It’s a basic conflict, but it makes sense and is logical within the confines of the story being told.

There should be a reason for Conflict to exist at that moment in the story. If there’s no conflict present, figure out why and what’s causing a lack of Conflict between the characters involved. At the same time, don’t force Conflict to happen. If you cut the scene or chapter, would it impact the story?  

Conflict Ups the Stakes for the Protagonist

Imagine a story where nothing goes wrong for the protagonist. No matter what, everything goes right. Now, take that same character on her way to a big job interview, when someone runs into her, shoves a device in her hand, and seconds later, the office building she was headed to explodes and collapses. As she comes back to the reality of the chaos around her, she discovers there’s a detonator in her hand. Her fingerprints are all over it. Someone notices the device in her hand and calls out. Panicked, she gets up and runs.

She’s now wrongly accused of blowing up a building that she was headed to, with her fingerprints on the detonator and people screaming that she caused the explosion.

Talk about Conflict and Upping the Stakes!

While this is an extreme example, giving the protagonist a – even to them – life and death situation to deal with gives them motivation to achieve a goal despite the odds. Katniss in The Hunger Games ups the stakes on herself when she volunteers to take her sister’s place in the games. The stakes continue to mount as the games continue, and she must do all she can to survive—plenty of Conflict.

In Legally Blonde, Elle Woods wants to go to Harvard Law School. Based on what we know about Elle at this point in the film, even we think she’s creating stakes that seem impossible.  

Both The Hunger Games and Legally Blonde show us two strong protagonists actively putting themselves into situations where the stakes could not be higher for either one of them. The stakes up the Conflict, which increases the Dramatic Tension, which keeps the audience engaged.

Internal and External Conflict

Characters can have inner conflicts, wants, needs, desires, and motivations. These can help add dimension to a character and help lead to their growth and arc through the narrative.  

External conflicts are opposing forces outside the inner life of the character.  

In Lethal Weapon (1987), Sergeant Martin Riggs is depressed and suicidal (Internal Conflict) after the death of his wife (External Conflict). His new partner, Sergeant Roger Murtaugh, is melancholy about his age and retiring from the LAPD (Internal Conflict). He is not very happy to be saddled with a new partner who’s a live wire (External Conflict). Two characters with conflicting internal and external conflicts then have to face a conflict even larger than them. No wonder the movie was such a hit!

Giving your characters Internal Conflicts that must be dealt with during their External Conflicts is an excellent way to up the Stakes and add to the overall Dramatic Tension.

Creating Conflict between characters in your writing is a fun way to see how your protagonist and others respond to someone entering their space and destabilizing the neutral world they – like all of us in the real world – so desperately desire. Take a few of your characters and write a couple pages of Conflict between them and see if you discover anything new about them.

And, the next time you watch a movie, a TV show, or read a novel, observe what the Conflict is in each scene, what the stakes are, and how those conflicts and stakes lead to the dramatic tension in both the scene and the narrative as a whole.  

Happy writing, and I’ll see you next week!