Conflict plays a fundamental role in every novel, regardless of genre. It is the driving force that propels your plot forward.
If you are writing a story where all your character’s wants and desires come to fruition with little to no resistance, that would be a boring read. Even if it’s a feel-good story with a happy ending, you still want to have your readers feeling unsure about the possible outcome until the very end. One way to achieve this is to create compelling conflicts in every scene of your story.
So, What Is Conflict?
In a novel, conflict is created by any opposition that stands between your main character (or protagonist) and their goal. Your goal as a writer is to ensure that this opposing force is much more intimidating than your main character.
For example, if your main character’s goal is to win a championship belt and the character standing between him and this goal is a man who is one foot and three sizes smaller than him, then this story wouldn’t be a very interesting read. However, if it was a Goliath vs. David scenario, where your main character is David, then I would certainly want to see how things might unfold.
The ultimate goal of every writer is to keep your readers engaged to the very last page. Though this is a very difficult task, one way to go about achieving this is to create strong conflicts.
The opposing force that creates conflict should be greater than your main character, as you’ll want to create a solid possibility that your protagonist might not overcome this obstacle. Yet, at the same time, you don’t want this opposition to be so large that the chances of your protagonist becoming the victor are clearly improbable.
Your Main Character Should Directly Influence the Conflict
The conflict in a scene should depend on the main scene character. For this, you’ll need to know your character’s hopes and dreams, the things that they value in life, the things that they are venomously against, and dilemmas that would be most difficult for them.
For instance, your scene protagonist might be a female who values being a traditional wife, country living, and occupying a family home that has been passed down through generations. Knowing this information can lead to the creation of a plethora of conflict possibilities.
Inserting a husband who is going through a midlife crisis and suddenly wants to move the entire family to the city, is one way to introduce conflict in this scenario. Another way to introduce conflict is to create a best friend who has become a radical feminist and is intent on destroying the protagonist’s marriage so that the protagonist can also be “free from the chains of domestication.”
The opposition that causes conflict in your scenes doesn’t have to be another character. This opposition can take many different forms. Introducing an organization that aims to undertake commercial development expected to encompass the protagonist’s home is yet another way to introduce conflict in this scenario.
The Different Types of Conflicts You Can Create
As you have seen in the previous section, the possibility of conflict is endless once you identify what is important to your protagonist. The different types of conflict-causing oppositions that you can use are also in a wide pool. Some of the more popular types of conflicts include:
Character vs. Self
This type of conflict is also called an internal conflict, as it occurs within a character’s mind. This might manifest itself as a struggle between conflicting desires, beliefs, or emotions within the same character. In some extreme cases, this might be presented as mental health struggles, such as when a character is struggling with multiple personality disorder.
All other conflict types in this collection are external conflicts, as they occur between the main character and an external force.
Character vs. Character
Character vs. character is arguably the most popular type of conflict in fiction. This is mainly because the character vs. character conflict is the easiest to produce. Once you identify your protagonist’s goals, desires, values, and even significant personality traits, then it’s quite easy to create a character that opposes any combination of them.
However, if you want to create a compelling antagonist, who is not simply evil and one-dimensional, then you’ll need to put as much effort into developing the antagonist’s character as you did the protagonist. Your antagonist should also have a set of compelling goals and desires.
Superman vs Lex Luthor
One very formidable antagonist is the Lex Luthor character, from the Superman series. Lex’s character is complex and multi-dimensional. He is driven by a desire for power, success, and recognition, which is something that we can all relate to (to some degree).
Lex’s opposition to Superman isn’t simply because Lex is evil, but because he is fearful that Superman (who is an alien) might pose an immense threat to humanity. And this is a very reasonable fear.
What further complicates things is Lex’s complex moral compass. He often engages in morally questionable actions and then sees himself as the hero, operating under the end justifies the means philosophy. Lex is also jealous of Superman, as Superman has power that Lex’s money can’t buy.
Character vs. Unknown/Supernatural
In a character vs. unknown/supernatural conflict, your protagonist faces an antagonistic force that is initially mysterious or paranormal. Common examples of character vs. unknown conflicts are crime novels, where the detective hunts the anonymous serial killer. These types of character vs. unknown conflicts can also assume the title of character vs. character or character vs. group conflict.
Character vs. supernatural conflict is found in science fiction novels. In a science fiction novel, sometimes the supernatural antagonist is known to the protagonist, but most times this force is initially unknown.
Character vs. Destiny/Fate
This type of conflict occurs when a character battles against the notion that the course of their life is predetermined. A popular example of this is when a character is expected to carry on some family legacy, such as a business or occupation. Another example of a character vs. destiny/fate conflict is having a character’s desires oppose a fortune teller’s prediction.
Character vs. Society/Group
A character can be in opposition to societal values and norms, or a specific group in society. The character vs. society/group conflict is a major theme in The Hunger Games, where Katniss Everdeen opposes the regime and their annual Hunger Games.
Character vs. Nature
The character vs. nature conflict occurs when a character warns against or tries to prevent some type of natural disaster, such as a volcano eruption or a hurricane. This type of conflict is also present in stories where there is a plane crash in the middle of the jungle, or a ship is lost at sea.
Character vs. Technology
This type of conflict explores the tension between a protagonist and some type of advancement in technology. This advancement in technology can have implications such as a breach of privacy or the potential extinction of humanity.
Scene Conflict Analysis of The Hunger Game
The first chapter of The Hunger Games has several short scenes, where Katniss Everdeen (the protagonist in each scene) identifies a goal, then must overcome some sort of opposition, but eventually achieves her goal. This is until the final scene of the chapter where we arrive at the reaping, which was constantly foreshadowed from the first scene.
Katniss vs. The Reaping
This scene begins with Katniss (the protagonist) and her family heading to the reaping ceremony (the antagonist). Like the main conflict of the novel, this scene conflict is one of character vs. society. It is also a character vs. destiny/fate conflict as the names selected during the reaping are left entirely up to fate.
Katniss’ Goal
In this scene, Katniss aims to make it to the end of the reaping without hearing the names of the people she cares about (including herself).
The Power Dynamics
Given that participation in the reaping is a mandatory stipulation of the government, Katniss and the other children of District 12 have no other option than to participate. Refusals to attend the reaping ceremony will result in imprisonment.
The reaping ceremony and by extension the government is clearly more powerful than Katniss.
The possible outcomes
- Neither Katniss nor any of the people important to her are selected.
- Prim (Katniss’s Sister) is selected.
- Gale (Katniss’s only friend) is selected.
- Madge (Katniss’s only closest classmate) is selected.
- Katniss is selected.
The most devastating option in the list of outcomes for Katniss is Prim’s name being selected. However, this is the least likely scenario as Prim’s name has only one occurrence in the collection of names, whereas Katniss and many other children have their names entered over twenty times.
The Stakes
Given that some children in other districts train their entire lives for the Hunger Games, while the children in Katniss’s district don’t have the resources to do so, any child selected from District 12 has been given a death sentence.
The Eventual Outcome
Prim’s name is selected, but Katniss volunteers to replace her, which is another devastating outcome, but less so than if it were 12-year-old Prim.
Final Thoughts: 7 Essential Steps in Scene Conflict Creation
Identify Protagonist Scene Goal: When creating conflict in your scene you’ll first need to identify what your scene protagonist wishes to accomplish, and why this goal is important to them.
Identify Protagonist Scene Opposition: Your scene antagonist doesn’t have to be evil, but some of his goals and desires most conflict with those of your Protagonist.
Display the Power Dynamics: Ideally, your antagonist must be more powerful or more intimidating than your protagonist.
Identify The Possible Outcomes: Any scene can have a collection of different outcomes. This is where you’ll need to identify even the most unexpected possibilities. For example, a sixth possible outcome of the scene from The Hunger Games above would be if, in celebration of the 75th anniversary of The Hunger Games, they decided to select two females from Division 12, and Katniss and Prim were selected.
Identify The Stakes: You’ll need to clearly outline why it is that your protagonist needs to emerge as the victor against the antagonist. The highest stakes are that of life and death, but other devastating options include the possibility of a ruined reputation or imprisonment.
Escalate Tension Gradually: You should use the lead-up to the outcome to create tension and suspense for your reader.
Present the Outcome: Finally, you’ll need to present the outcome to your readers, you have the option of delaying this and allowing them to speculate a little, but eventually, they’ll need to let them know what happens. Usually, the most unexpected or devasting outcome is the best option.
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