Author: avadel
Category: Writing Tips
Come one, come all, to learn the hidden magic to a relatable story...
It's not unique characters, or fascinating worlds, or even spinning the most beautiful words. Shocked? Then lean in a little closer, and we'll you the secret...
First, make a guess:
Are you ready for the secret now?
The most important thing to the story, the thing that will draw your readers in above all else, what makes them pick up your book and come back for more, is one single word:
Conflict.
What's So Enchanting About Conflict?
It makes the readers care. Weren't you listening?
Just kidding. Conflict is important because without it, you have no story. You can have the most fantastical world with the most awesome, snarky character, but without conflict, then your character is just munching on cereal in pretty scenery.
But what exactly is conflict? Here's a good definition from Study.com:
"A conflict in literature is defined as any struggle between opposing forces. Usually, the main character struggles against some other force. This type of conflict is what drives each and every story. Without it, the story would have no point or purpose."
This doesn't mean you have to have the most epic plot or to have all the details of the story figured out. But you do need to have something to motivate your writing. What is important about your story? Why are you writing it? Figuring that out for your story, or even each individual scene, will often answer where your conflict lies. With no conflict, your story is a series of unrelated, pointless events. Readers read to escape the mundane, so writing a story about a normal person living a normal life doesn't give them much to grab onto.
Unless by a normal life, you mean someone going through struggles, trying to get through the ups and downs of life like we all are. That's not mundane, boring, or pointless. That has conflict, and that's a kind of conflict you can use in anything from realistic fiction to full-blown fantasy. It's not the only kind, though, so let's take a look at it and some others.
Three Spells to Cast (Types of Conflict)
Broadly speaking, there are only two types of conflict in a story: internal conflict and external conflict. Either there is some problem your character has inside themselves (a decision to make, a trauma to overcome, emotions to sort through) or your character has to overcome some problem outside themselves (beating the rival team, overthrowing an evil monarch, solving a murder, etc.). In most cases, your story should probably incorporate both of these at various points. Each scene should probably incorporate either one of these or a third third type of conflict that we're going to call reader conflict. More on that later.
Inner (Emotional) Conflict: This is our personal favorite because not only can you use it to make any scene more interesting, but it also creates deeper characters. Maybe you can't get out of writing a mundane scene. If that's case, this comes in handy!
So, you're munching on cereal. How do you feel about it? Was this your dead sister's favorite cereal? Did you have to make this bowl of cereal because your parents are too busy arguing to make you breakfast? Or is this the last normal meal you'll have before you go off to save the world/leave home forever/do something else that shatters normality? If so, that bowl of Cap'n Crunch just got a lot more interesting! Now the reader knows something about your character and has a reason to care about them. Great traits are rarely the thing that truly makes a character lovable; great conflict—and how they handle it—is.
Few people are 100% happy with who they are or what is going on in their life. Show the readers that reality about your characters. What are their faults, insecurities, traumas, heartaches? How did it shape their life to this point? How will it continue to shape the story? If you can answer those questions, you're already on your way to creating a deeply interesting story, no matter what kind it is.
Just be careful not to overdo it. Angst is good. Whiny is bad. Try to maintain some subtlety. People rarely admit everything they think—to others or themselves.
External (Goal-Oriented) Conflict: This is generally what people think about when they think about plot. What is your character trying to accomplish? More importantly, what are they willing to give up to do that? No matter how supposedly hard the goal is, if you don't have to make any sacrifices to obtain it, it'll feel like a cakewalk.
So, you want to wrest the galaxy from the control of an evil dictator. Say you waltz through every battle Emperor Evilness throws your way, effortlessly swipe the one-and-only thing that can kill him, and pop up in his throne room to murder him (after he gets through his evil monologue, naturally). You won! But what did you really accomplish? Victories that cost little feel cheap, and no one likes a cheap story.
Say instead you fight Emperor Evilness' minions, but lose valuable supplies in the first fight and, finally, your best friend in the last one. You consider giving up—it's looking pretty hopeless, and there's a lot of blood on your hands—but press forward to find the one-and-only thing that can kill the Emperor. It's booby trapped, though, and to get it, you'll have to swap it with your prized possession, the only thing you have left on your person now. Finally, you make your way to the throne room, get through the obligatory monologue, and fight the Emperor. It's a hard battle, and the only way to win is to sacrifice yourself (of course, author, you won't let your hero die, but he doesn't know that). Now, you won! But this story doesn't feel at all like the last one. We ache for all that was lost, for the decisions our hero had to make, and we thrill with his final, costly victory (especially when his buddies keep him from bleeding out and he comes back for book two!).
Beware of false tension, though! Just because you say sacrifices were made (or will have to be made) or that a battle was hard, unless we see the character give something up or struggle, it's the same as scenario one, just with a little more gloss.
Reader Conflict: This type of conflict is a little different from the previous two as it has more to do with your audience than your character. You create this type of conflict by making the reader wonder what happens next. We (hopefully) accomplished this in this article's introduction by telling you we had a secret, trying to get you to guess it, and finally revealing it to you.
To create reader conflict, you must create a mystery for the reader to solve. You can do this by showing them details that don't make sense to them yet, like having a character behave unusually without telling them why or introducing a mysterious stranger. Keep in mind, when you create this mystery, you are making a promise to the reader that you will eventually answer it. So, make sure that you don't ask a question that you can't answer, or at least aren't willing to hint at. Otherwise, the reader might feel cheated or like a thread was left dangling.
Now, your characters don't have to be ignorant of what's going on for you to create reader conflict. In fact, suggesting that the characters or the author knows something that the reader doesn't is the key element.
Some easy examples of reader conflict are mystery novels, where the whole plot is set up to slowly reveal the answer to a question, and cliff-hangers, where for a single moment, the reader is dying to know what happens next (they'll get their answer when they turn the page). Note, though: reader conflict can only stand alone for so long. Readers will bite for mystery, but usually that's not enough to make them care deeply, so make sure to weave the other two conflicts into your story as well.
How to Wave Your Wand (Creating Conflict)
So, now you know why conflict is important and what it looks like, but how do you create it? In general, there's a pretty simple answer, but sometimes executing it takes a lot of thought. To create conflict in any scenario, you have to ask yourself three questions:
1. What does the character have to gain?
2. What does the character have to lose?
3. What is the character willing to do because of that?
These are the stakes for your story. Once you have them nailed down, base your story around them, and don't forget to reassess as the story progresses and as your character's emotional states change. Without something to gain or lose, you're going to have a hard time generating conflict (or much genuine action) in your story.
Practice the Magic
In the comments, we challenge you to write a single in-line comment for each scenario that demonstrates application of conflict. The scenarios are intentionally mundane. See how much you can make us care! If you play, we'll leave you our feedback. (=
Emotional Conflict: John is getting ready to go to work in the morning.
Goal-Oriented Conflict: Amy wants to get an A on her next test.
Reader Conflict: Dylin is sneaking around his/her own house in the middle of the night.
That's all we have for you folks! Got any more ideas about how to create conflict? Let us know here, or write us an article about it! (=
Want to submit your own Tip?
Comment in this book and email your entry to avadelauthors@gmail.com. We'll review it, and if we think it's well-written and helpful to the Wattpad community, we'll post it! Your entry may be something you have written previously, even if it is published elsewhere. (=
Have a Request?
Comment on the first chapter with the topic you'd like to see. Your suggestion might just turn into an article!