How to Write a Novel: Conflict
“Conflict is the reason your character can’t have what he wants. If your character could have what he wants, then you have no book!”
—Debra Dixon, GMC: Goal, Motivation, Conflict
Conflict is all the things that your characters must face in order to reach their goal. It’s everything that gets in the way of them achieving what they want.
Conflict also keeps readers engaged with your story because humans can’t help but watch conflict play out. Witnessing conflict helps us figure out how we should act in the world in order to stay safe. It’s a psychological and physical necessity.
There are different kinds of conflict, and you can layer them all into your story.
External conflict
These are situations where characters face challenges from the external world. If the challenge is big enough, it can drive the plot of the entire story.
In Risen Gods, a tsunami is about to destroy the city where Ben and Lucy live in New Zealand. This kind of natural phenomenon also drives ‘human versus nature’ disaster movies like Armageddon, and ‘human versus creature’ stories like Jaws or Jurassic Park.
Conflict can also be supernatural. In A Game of Thrones, the entire race of humans is threatened by the rising of the White Walkers and the army of the dead, as well as the advance of winter. In The Hunger Games, Katniss must tackle the challenges and conflict of the game to survive. Ex Machina features humans versus technology, and there are countless stories of humans versus aliens.
External conflict can also be about society. For example, Brave New World by Aldous Huxley is set in a futuristic state where citizens have a wonderful life in many ways, but are kept docile by the drug Soma, and there are strict rules around how to live. Conflict comes when characters question and rebel against the constricts of society.
In A Game of Thrones, Queen Cersei finds herself in conflict with the High Sparrow, who leads a militant religious sect that takes control of King’s Landing. Cersei finds herself in conflict with a belief system and must submit to it, before finding her answer.
Interpersonal conflict
This is conflict between people. It might be within a family, or between friends or partners, or between different groups.
In A Game of Thrones, the Lannister family is brimming with conflict between the siblings — Cersei, Jamie, and Tyrion — with love, hate, and violence between them all at different times.
The TV series Succession portrays family conflict through the actions of each sibling as they fight to succeed their father in business — and win his love.
The Walking Dead TV series layers interpersonal over external conflict. The survivors of the zombie apocalypse fight each other as much as the walking dead.
Internal conflict
This is conflict within the character based on their situation and how they respond to it. The conflict stems from the influence of culture and family, their experiences and values, as well as their personality, and how they choose to act based on the plot situation.
In A Game of Thrones, Arya Stark trains to be an assassin, but in order to become a true ‘faceless man,’ she has to give up her family name. Is she a Stark or is she no one?
In Risen Gods, Ben Henare is Maori, but he doesn’t believe in the mythology of his people. He has to overcome his doubts about faith in order to ultimately triumph.
Use all types of conflict in your story
If your story is not engaging, try adding some conflict. Consider, especially, whether your novel has both internal and external conflict.
If your original premise focuses heavily on plot, you might want to explore internal and interpersonal conflicts to enhance the emotional drama of your story. If your story is more focused on personal development, it might benefit from a shot of external conflict along the way.
Questions:
• Can you identify the different types of conflict in the books you love or the books that are like what you’re writing?
• What would make the situation worse for your characters in each of the categories? How could you layer or amplify the conflict further?
Resources:
• The Conflict Thesaurus: A Writer’s Guide to Obstacles, Adversaries, and Inner Struggles — Angela Ackerman and Becca Puglisi
• GMC: Goal, Motivation, Conflict: The Building Blocks of Good Fiction — Debra Dixon
