Creative Writing

Conflict: The Basics

Conflict in stories might refer to any kind of disagreement, annoyance, or lack of harmony. Conflict may or may not be violent. A conflict may be an obstacle a person needs to overcome, an adversary, or an inner struggle. People have conflicts every day.

• A conflict may be large or small, complicated or simple. It may be dramatic, funny, or somewhere in between.
• Small conflicts add up. Stories often have a lot of little conflicts that might become, or be a result of, one big conflict.
• Conflicts may come from inside a person or from an outside factor.
  • Inside = Internal conflict (Should I or shouldn't I?)
  • Outside = external conflict (Person vs. Person or Thing)

Below are some basic conflicts and examples:

• Person vs Person
  • Example: Jack and Jill want different toppings on their pizza.
• Person vs Self
  • Example: Jack wants to eat a whole pizza for lunch, but knows he should save some slices for tomorrow. What choice does he pick?
• Person vs Nature
  • Example: Jack is on a walk and it starts raining. Jack needs to get out of the rain.
• Person vs Society
  • Example: Jack is stuck in a bumper-to-bumper traffic jam.
• Person vs Destiny
  • Example: Jack needs to get home by a certain time, but is getting delayed by many random things. Is he destined to be late or not?
• Person vs Supernatural
  • Example: Jack needs to prove his neighbor is a ghost.
• Person vs Technology
  • Example: Jack doesn't have access to internet, but he needs to pay his bills.

Conflict: Actions and Consequences

"For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction" - Isaac Newton's 3rd Law of Motion

This quote might also apply to a person's actions and resulting consequences in a story. Because every action has a consequence (good or bad), these consequences can move the plot of a story forward. 

A writer may brainstorm about the different conflicts that plot might involve. This brainstorming can include writing down questions about the story. (Note that sometimes an action might not have a visible consequence, or a consequence that happens in a character's lifetime)

The Butterfly Effect: when a small local action has large consequences somewhere else.

An example is included on the Example of Outline tab.