What makes a good conflict?

[EmilyMiller]

Not sure I understand the question. Build up or foreshadowing for the conflict? If that's the question, then there's a range of answers. Conflicts that are well known and understood by the reader don't need much help, but some conflicts have to be developed very slowly. Much of the story can be development of the conflict.


Depends on the conflict. Many conflicts are never really resolved. The conflict may be a tool for developing the plot, and while the plot may be resolved the conflict will not.

Conflict doesn't have to be a big part of the story. It's a tool. In a slice of life series you can come up with an endless array of simple conflicts that are easily resolved, but aren't really a big part of the story.


Either. Internal conflict (man against self) has literary value.

There are a lot of external conflicts. In sci-fi, there's always man against the machine. In fantasy there's always man against supernatural forces. These don't have to be huge conflicts to drive a story. Maybe someone can't figure out how to answer their communicator.

It took a while for the FMC to work out what she was. Longer to figure her supposed purpose. Even longer to understand her true nature. The first few paragraphs are essentially an accelerated birth and childhood.

 

[Five_Inch_Heels]

I once posted 13 words.


Somebody else called it a story.


I didn't feel it was, but I didn't care enough to pursue the issue.

 

[maybenotacreep]

There has to be some sort of conflict either internal or external or at least an obstacle to make a story interesting.

For example my story 'Hot Sex in the Big Freeze' for Valentine's Day a few years ago sees no direct conflict between the two protagonists Derek (the narrator) and Janet, and it is a sweet romantic story about a young guy who is secretly in love with the pretty girl next door and everything ends happily ever after.

However there is some internal conflict for Derek who worries about revealing his feelings to Janet, fearing they won't be reciprocated and might damage their friendship with the two having grown up together. He also feels bad about some of his voyeurism of her. But of greater adversity to the pair is the times they are living in. For the story is set in Essex in January 1963, and the UK winter of 1962-1963 was the coldest in history - aka 'The Big Freeze' - and Derek and Janet must deal with the adverse weather conditions that affect every aspect of their daily lives, not least that central heating was fairly uncommon in most English houses in those long-gone days.

Very much this. An epic, world changing conflict can be very engaging. But so can the all the tiny internal conflicts.

Self doubt can be the basis of a great story. Is she as into me as I am into her? Is it too early for a first kiss? Am I being too rough?

I always find "confident" characters way more interesting if they show their confidence be working past their self-doubts as opposed to not having any.

 

[old_prof]

I'm curious very curious....

I see that avatar and the curious word makes me nervous about you ...

To your questions, there can conflict arising anywhere and it's pretty much omnipresent (says the man who ad crippling anxiety this morning). It can be as simple as is it too late to have a cup of coffee. Or should I go to bed with him? Or Is he being nice to me just to get me in bed?

I just watched a series of videos from Allison Buehner (thanks for the link @TheLobster -- links are here. I highly recommend them). A lot of er suggestions are how to establish the conflict without ever saying it in so many words. And always being aware of what the conflict is in any scene.

 

[NotWise]

It took a while for the FMC to work out what she was. Longer to figure her supposed purpose. Even longer to understand her true nature. The first few paragraphs are essentially an accelerated birth and childhood.

Was this meant as a reply to @NuclearFairy?

 

[EmilyMiller]

Was this meant as a reply to @NuclearFairy?

Yes it was

 

[anthrodisiac]

I'm curious very curious....

How much of a build up or foreshadowing is needed?

Long drawn out vs short and easily resolved.

In a more slice of life type series, how do you do several short easily resolved conflicts without it becoming aggravating and repetitive.

What makes a good sci-fy/fantasy/romance/action/whathaveyou conflict?

External conflict vs internal conflict?

Conflict is you shotgunning 500 questions at us.

The answer to all of your questions is, of course, "Yes," or "It depends," or "Help, this is so many questions, how do I answer this?" or "You make it work any damn way you want."

Everything can contain elements of conflict. Does the neutrino finally nudge a proton? Those matter-antimatter particles that popped into existence, will they self-annihilate as always, or will something be different this time?

Whatever type of conflict you have, the basis for good conflict is making someone care about the conflict. You need to establish stakes, sides, parties, What and Who. There is often a cost as well, a way to resolve the conflict, but not so easily and cleanly as all that. This is true of high stakes and low stakes, internal and external.

Big conflicts that are the narrative overarching conflicts should have smaller conflicts buried within them, a series of conflicts that works towards a resolution of the larger conflict. For larger works, internal and external conflicts should work in tandem to reinforce each other in some way, or play off of one another, intertwine somehow. Making conflicts that are entangled with one another helps to play parties against one another. Someone wins, someone loses. A good resolution of one conflict might work toward solving another, or it might worsen it, or create a new one altogether. Competing priorities tend to be the heart of many conflicts, and those can be big, small, internal, external, but creating the stakes and setting up potential winners and losers, that there is the heart of good conflict. A resolution doesn't have to be good, it's a neutral thing. It could be a shitty resolution, but the conflict is ended.

Smaller works you don't really have the luxury of going big and creating intricate webs, so there should be a core conflict that is established quickly. In fact, in all media, the sooner you establish the conflict, the better. Conflict tends to be one of the biggest hooks you have in a story, so get us to it quick and make us care.

What most readers are usually after in stories with conflict is a sense of catharsis, or at least a satisfying ending that brings things to a relatively neat conclusion. Most stories have this type of ending for a reason, it's the most satisfying to someone who has spent X amount of time sitting with these characters, and (hopefully) cares about what happens to them. That is, of course, not universal. Messy, ambiguous endings can be quite fun as well, but the trick there is to give a psuedo-resolution to the conflict, where you're tying a bow on the story itself, if perhaps not necessarily the conflict. You hint that it continues in some way, but the arc of the story ends before that occurs. Those can be trickier to do satisfactorily, and tend to occur in shorter works because you have less time sunk in for the reader who's invested a great deal of emotional energy waiting for the big payoff, and not giving it to them requires a deft hand to still give them something.

Now, of course, you can toss all that out the window and do something else entirely, and you can make it work, like anything in writing, if you do it well enough.

 

[Britva415]

a story starts off with the person or couple going about their normal life, with only a few hints here and there in the beginning as to what the big conflict will be.

I mean, that's... A way to begin a story. It most certainly isn't some universal formula for starting all stories, but it's a way. Those hints better come quickly and not be too subtle, though, or it's just going to seem like nothing is happening and there are no stakes.

This is a whole different matter from misdirection from what the real stakes and the real conflict are. Twists and surprises are fine. But a meandering intro that takes too long to get to any sort of point is going to seem like a shaggy-dog story. In other words, an unfunny joke.

 

[NuclearFairy]

I mean, that's a way to begin a story. Those hints better come quickly and not be too subtle, though, or it's just going to seem like nothing is happening and there are no stakes.

This is a whole different matter from misdirection from what the real stakes and the real conflict are. Twists and surprises are fine. But a meandering intro that takes too long to get to any sort of point is going to seem like a shaggy-dog story. In other words, an unfunny joke.

Yeah, like I said, works best in a psychological thriller, where just about everything has you tensing up, and then when the scary stuff starts happening for real it's almost a relief.

Hmm, I think a slow seduction story could work the same way. Like you said though, you'd want to put the first subtle bits of flirting in early, while with a thriller you could get away with going a scene or two before dropping any of the hints.

 

[Stanfield2025]

Yes that, but also, a story starts off with the person or couple going about their normal life, with only a few hints here and there in the beginning as to what the big conflict will be.

Generally even in the "normal life" phase, I would think there'd be conflict of some kind. Even if it's a small one.

 

[SimonDoom]

Conflict, I think, is more interesting and dramatically satisfying when it is at least partly internalized, so the external conflict is mirrored by internal conflict within the characters.

Consider the classic novel Pride and Prejudice. The conflict is captured in the title. Darcy and Elizabeth are fundamentally admirable people who are destined for love and marriage, but several overlapping conflicts keep them apart and make the story interesting. One conflict is the legal system of entail, which prevents Mr. Bennet from passing on his estate to his daughters, and thereby creates the plot need for them to find mates. Then there is the conflict between Elizabeth's and Darcy's respective social statuses, and what they and all the characters around them think about that. Then there is the conflict created by Jane and by Mr. Wickham, which gives rise to Darcy's mistakes, which gives rise to Elizabeth's mistakes about his character. There are all kinds of conflicts, but the most interesting are the conflicts within each of them concerning the attraction and repulsion they each feel for each other.

Many of my erotic stories concern either incest, exhibitionism, or sex outside marriage. All of these erotic subjects involve elements of taboo, which creates conflict, both external and internal. The elements of conflict give the stories erotic sizzle. There's nothing particularly erotic about someone who's a lifelong nudist going, again, to a nudist resort. But there's a lot of sizzle to a modest house wife running naked down the street on a dare. There's an external conflict, in the form of laws against that sort of thing and the possible negative consequences, and an internal conflict, involving modesty and shame.

There's no magic formula concerning foreshadowing and building up. One could write a novel about a modest housewife who becomes an exhibitionist, or one could write a 3000 word short story in which the story begins with a dare. They're both perfectly valid approaches, and both can lead to fun and erotic results.

 

[Britva415]

Chapter 1: It's All Green Lights And Convenient Parking Spaces
Chapter 2: It's All Bikinis And Beers
Chapter 3: Are You Still Here? It's Hitting The Fan

 

[Stanfield2025]

Conflict, I think, is more interesting and dramatically satisfying when it is at least partly internalized, so the external conflict is mirrored by internal conflict within the characters.

What do you mean by the internal conflict mirroring the external conflict?

 

[anthrodisiac]

Chapter 1: It's All Green Lights And Convenient Parking Spaces
Chapter 2: It's All Bikinis And Beers
Chapter 3: Are You Still Here? It's Hitting The Fan

You had me at convenient parking spaces.

 

[Britva415]

You had me at convenient parking spaces.

See? End of story, right there.

 

[Britva415]

What do you mean by the internal conflict mirroring the external conflict?

I think it simply meant "there's both," but of course authors can come up with ways to enhance that beyond a pure coincidence or a naked reaction.

Like - the internal conflict could be about how the external conflict presents a difficult choice. Or the internal conflict could have a flavor to it, an energy or a quality, which colors the nature of the external conflict. This could be in experiential terms from the conflicted character's point of view, or, it could be in terms of a simile, allegory or metaphor for the reader to appreciate. And more.

 

[SimonDoom]

What do you mean by the internal conflict mirroring the external conflict?

For example, in an exhibitionist story, society imposes limits on public nudity. There are laws, social mores, public embarrassment. These create external conflict. But individuals internalize these feelings. They become part of their makeup and internal motivation.

In an erotic exhibitionist story, for example, a woman is dared to engage in an act of public nudity. There's external risk, and therefore conflict. But it's internally where it's really interesting. The woman has, metaphorically, an angel and a devil sitting on her shoulders. One is telling her that she shouldn't do it, but the devil is saying, "Come on, do it!" That's internal conflict, and that internal conflict motivates the protagonist in different ways, drives the plot, and makes things fun and interesting. If the woman simply says, at the beginning of the story, "Sure! I'll do it. Sounds fun, why not?" it's not as fun. If she absolutely doesn't want to but is forced to against her will, it's also not as fun, unless you're into nonconsent stories. The fun lies in the internal conversation: "Should she or shouldn't she?" That's conflict.

Some people may not see it that way, but that's how I see it, and that's the part of erotic stories that works for me as a reader and makes it fun for me as a writer, too.

 

[BobbyBrandt]

The most important ingredients in a person’s life are resistance and challenge. (i.e.: An airplane that faces no resistance from the wind never leaves the ground)

Therein lies the foundation for most conflict.

Can the character(s) use these ingredients when encountered to ascend through whatever situation they are facing in a stimulating fashion that readers find satisfying?

Therein lies the foundation for most resolutions.

 

[Cagivagurl]

Firstly, as a fanatical motorcyclist... Buy the bike... End of story... Although there was that funny joke about a motorcycle advertised on Craigs list... Ad said. For sale brand new motorcycle, less than 1000 miles. Going cheap because, apparently. "Do whatever the fuck you want, doesn't actually mean that."

Secondly, conflict... It doesn't have to be huge, or earth shattering. Sometimes, it's not the real source of the conflict. The real source happened months... Years ago, and it surfaces again during most arguments, making even the smallest thing reason for a world war.
Those are the really juicy conflicts... One party or the other is thinking. "why is this so fucking important?"

 

[StillStunned]

I think a good conflict is one that engages the reader. I've read too many books and seen too many movies and television series where I just don't buy into it. A lovers' spat that could be solved by two minutes of talking together. A character agonising about a fabricated problem. Someone acting against their established character just to create drama.

Make your conflict plausible within the context of the story and characterisation. Make it big for higher stakes, keep it small for lower stakes. Use different levels to vary the pace and intensity of your story, make it ebb and flow. Don't spell everything out, but trust your reader to infer what's happening without spelling it all out. That will give them a sense of ownership and enhance their engagement.

 

[JohnBJohn]

I generally agree that conflict, broadly defined, makes a story, any sort of story, more fun and interesting.

An erotic story usually is more fun if there is some kind of conflict. Something that has to be overcome to reach erotic fulfillment.

So, in other words, a plotline enhances the story. Otherwise, it's just two people meeting for sex.

I completely agree and will sometimes skip the sex scenes to get back to the plot.

 

[KittyOfSteele]

In a more slice of life type series, how do you do several short easily resolved conflicts without it becoming aggravating and repetitive.

I have a good answer for this from a vlog. I suggest you watch it before I go for a breakdown, unless you want spoilers.

If we put this into writings: two bikers are awake very early in the morning, with the goal of going to the beach to catch a glimpse of the sunrise. FMC is a bit more shy, whereas MMC is more outgoing. We see everything from FMC. Story begins with them getting gas, but they're running out of time, they just don't know it yet. This is important.

First conflict: they do a no-no on the road. FMC gets nervous, that's internal conflict. My question sometimes here is: how could this be worse? I could have the police spotting them, and I could have a chase scene, or I could have them persuade the police, or seduce the police. Or I could just not have the police, and just have FMC suddenly be paranoid for cameras, or a ticket coming to her inbox by morning. Whatever.

Second conflict: FMC wants a snack, so they stop by a gas station. There's a lot of conflicts here in the vlog: she wants to go by the drive-by, but isn't sure whether they're open, or if even it's open, MMC almost left her behind, he decides to walk in and check, FMC can't hear him because she has music blasting on her ears (they have a proximity chat app to talk to each other on the road, btw)... The drive-by is closed, so they both walk-in. Store is empty on the vlog, but it can also be packed, or the store could be in the middle of a robbery. In any case, MMC goes to put her order, but FMC finds out the screen she'll be using is out, so she has to find one. Again, someone else could be hogging it, whether it is through indecision, or crazyness. MMC is also indecisive on what she wants; you can listen to her in the vlog saying she wants something, but can't have it because she'll bloat...

Third conflict: when they get out of the store, they notice the sun is beginning to rise earlier than they expected, that's why they didn't know they ran out of time. Both beging to be on a rush. Actually, MMC leaves FMC behind, therefore she has to catch up. They might be speeding too. How to make it worse? Another chase, or a chase if one hasn't been held. Maybe there's a roadblock. Or both, even. Why have to choose one single problem from a list of options when combining them all is always the most interesting choice?

Fourth conflict: they arrive at the beach, but realize they don't have a place to park, so they figure they should park in a spot they shouldn't. FMC argues they're not going to be there for a long time anyway. So they make their way to the beach, MMC leading the way, with FMC complaining that he's blocking the best view. They finally make it to the beach, watch the sunrise, and take their photos and videos of it, and have their breakfast. How to make it worse? It's a nude beach, or they can't take pictures, or the beach is closed... or maybe the beach is packed, and they can't get a single good shot.

Last conflict: MMC notices it might rain soon. While that's what happened in the vlog, a more interesting conflict is them getting their bikes taken, fighting for them, or returning to find a ticket, or a boot of sorts. Or having to deal with a Karen.

Each one of those major conflicts is a chapter to the whole story. You can see that in each chapter the conflict is always different. A lot of slice of life stories always focus on one different major conflict per chapter, so the goal is always different, especially in stories where there are no antagonists. The conflict itself is the antagonist.

 

[yowser]

Good discussion of an interesting exemplar. Two main principles at work: the internal conflicts draw you into the protagonists' emotional worlds, as a reader you now have a connection with them, as you've either had the same or similar bit of indecision or can imagine it. Emotional interest.

Second, now you're dying to find out what they do, And What Happens Next? I am desperate to keep reading. Conflict enhances interest and connection.

 

[Britva415]

The most important ingredients in a person’s life are resistance and challenge. (i.e.: An airplane that faces no resistance from the wind never leaves the ground)

A person who never experiences physical resistance doesn’t develop beyond frail bones and toneless, thin muscles. Now you face a bunch of other challenges.

A person who never experiences emotional or material challenges doesn’t develop self-reliance. Now you face a bunch of other challenges.

A person who doesn’t experience pathogenic immune system challenges develops avoidable allergies. Now you face a bunch of other challenges.

(I don’t know how good the aCkShUaL sCiEnCe is on that last one, but it makes a good simile for what we’re talking about.)

An author who doesn’t experience ideas for conflict (read: “challenge”) doesn’t get much in the way of views, votes, nice comments, and favorites. To some people, that’s a bunch of other challenges to face.

 

[Britva415]

Don't spell everything out, but trust your reader to infer what's happening without spelling it all out

But don’t obfuscate too much. I almost never quit reading a novel once I start it, but I recently noped out of Len Deighton’s first novel because the plot was too obscured. I couldn’t tell what was happening, so I consulted an online plot synopsis, and what I read in the synopsis was like… I didn’t get that at all from the chapters I had plodded through, waiting for it to reveal itself.

That’s not the only reason I noped out: It also suffered severely from one of the first-person narration pitfalls. But the impenetrable plot tipped the scale.

By “impenetrable” I don’t mean I couldn’t follow it due to being complicated. I mean it was too unclear. The author trusted too greatly in (this) reader’s ability and willingness to infer from excessively subtle and obscure showing.

It was a case of “don’t (adequately) show or tell.”