Lesson One Conflict

What is conflict? Would you enjoy reading a story about a person who got along with everyone, got everything that they wanted with no effort whatsoever and had nothing bad happen to him? Would you like to watch a movie that featured a guy sitting on his couch, doing nothing for two hours? Conflict is the fuel that drives storytelling. Regardless of what genre you are writing there must be a hero, a goal and someone or something standing in the way of that goal.

Types of conflict: The most common types of conflict are:

• Person vs. Person
• Person vs. Situation
• Person vs. Himself
• Person vs. Nature
• Person vs. Society/The Law/Tradition/etc.

By far, the best conflicts occur between people. Even if the main conflict is against something larger, such as ‘Society,’ the opposition is best interpreted as being a person. Instead of the hero having a conflict against ‘Society’ in this example, he would have a politician as his personal opponent. The politician would be the flesh-and-blood representation of ‘Society.’ This is known as an allegory.

When should conflict take place? Page one, preferably in the first paragraph and/or sentence. The worst mistake that a beginning writer can make is to ‘set up’ his or her story at the opening. If you start your story with a long expository (information dump) segment, you will lose most of your potential readers. It is essential to set up the conflict right away so that the reader’s curiosity will be piqued!

The Bottom Line: When deciding to write a story, the first thing you must decide is what your conflict is. Identify your hero, his or her story goal, and earmark something (or someone) who will stand in the hero’s way of achieving that goal.