Writing Problem: The Conflict Is Inconsequential, Flash-in-the-Pan
Problem: The Conflict Is Inconsequential, Flash-in-the-Pan
Solution: Many authors struggle to contrive meaningful conflict such that it either shapes or speaks critically to the trajectory of the characters it touches. Conflict is not a consequence or a corollary of scheme or impulse; conflict should develop as the story develops and grow as the character dynamics grow.
Explore character through conflict by reinforcing their goals and their perceptions (of reality), as well as the plausibility of maintaining either. Use conflict to reveal blind spots, biases, or fears. Conflict doesn't narrow the possibility of who characters are, or what the story might convey; conflict opens characters (or readers) to new methodologies, new stakes, and possibly new goals, as a result of enduring or overcoming the fracas in question. Conflict adds depth.
Writing Resources:
Conflict Thesaurus (One Stop for Writers)
Need Compelling Conflict? Choose A Variety of Kinds (Writer's Helping Writers)
How to Draw Readers in Through a Character's Choices (Writers Helping Writers)
Exactly How to Create and Control Tone (September C. Fawkes; ahbwrites)
Are Your Conflicts Significant? (September C. Fawkes)
Tension vs. Conflict (Hint: They Aren't the Same Thing) (September C. Fawkes)
How to Write a Dystopian Story: Our Gide (Jericho Writers)
Plot Conflict: Striking True Adversity in Stories (Now Novel)
How to Use Central Conflict and Drama to Drive Your Novel (Now Novel)
❯ ❯ Adapted from the writing masterpost series: 19 Things That Are Wrong With Your Novel (and How to Fix Them)
