Creating Internal Conflict?

Discussion in 'Character Development' started by Venom., Jul 4, 2014.

  1. GingerCoffee

    GingerCoffee Web Surfer Girl Contributor

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    That depends on your characters and your story.
     
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  2. cutecat22

    cutecat22 The Strange One Contributor

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    Internal conflict doesn't always have to be about the character doing something they don't want to in order to get to the prize, it can also be about them changing their minds or views about something.

    Maybe your character is totally against, I don't know, hmmm, people who don't work until he/she falls in love with a person who does not work and then takes time out to explore why they don't work. Or maybe they hate all animals, until an animal saves their life a-la-lassie style etc.

    If you have worked out your character's good and bad points, their strengths and weaknesses then you will probably find some internal conflict as they make their way through your story, sometimes, you may not even see it coming until you start writing. I constantly find there are things in my writing that I didn't always plan for, avenues that my characters lead me down that I always explore. I don't always use them in the final piece, but sometimes they themselves come up with absolute gems.
     
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  3. Venom.

    Venom. Active Member

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    So how exactly do character arcs pan out with internal conflict in mind? They're both very related, yes?
     
  4. cutecat22

    cutecat22 The Strange One Contributor

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    I guess so. Every character will have some kind of internal conflict if they 1) are looking/wanting something or 2) something happens to them that makes them change their view about something.

    Which is, the basis of all stories, characters wanting something or changing when something happens to them.

    Take some recent films: (anyone else feel free to add to this as my head is kinda mashed at the moment ...)
    The Heat, Sandra Bullock's character starts off as a stiff, no-nonsense by the book FBI officer until her views of others get changed.
    Mean Girls, Lindsay Lohan's character wants to fit in with the 'cool' kids until she realises how bad those cool kids actually are.
    The Goonies, a simple treasure hunt to save the family home turns into a story of growth and acceptance of flawed people.
    FSOG, both characters know exactly what they want until they are faced with the choice of walking away empty handed or accepting a new path that neither of them ever thought was possible.
     
  5. ToDandy

    ToDandy Senior Member

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    Here is an easy way to think about it.

    Think of it as Character WANTS vs. Character NEEDS

    Inner conflict comes from a clash of those two things. When a character thinks he wants one thing but he needs to do another. From their your various character traits (such a moral person or immoral person) will shape how the conflict plays out.

    From there it becomes easy.

    Example: A character WANTS to go on a date with a girl before she leaves town, but the character NEEDS to study so he doesn't flunk out of a class and lose his scholarship.

    It allows the reads to wonder which he will pick, and question which should he pick.


    There are other ways to create inner character conflict, but this is by far the easiest.
     
    Last edited: Jul 23, 2014
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  6. Venom.

    Venom. Active Member

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    There probably is, but I'm just not sure. I get so muddled down and confused. Perhaps a few popular examples would help.
     
  7. Sheriff Woody

    Sheriff Woody Active Member

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    Think of it like decision making.

    A character wants something. They can make the decision to go for it, or not go for it. But there's no conflict if there are no consequences.

    A character wants something, but taking that thing will hurt someone he loves. Boom - internal conflict. There is a consequence for taking the thing - it will hurt someone else.

    A character wants to keep something, but knows it can help someone else. Boom - internal conflict. There is a consequence for holding onto the thing - someone else will be hurt if they do not get it.

    These are very rudimentary examples. Great internal conflict involves putting your character in a situation where their object of desire - whatever it is, money, sex, drugs, a pencil, could be anything, as long as the character feels the NEED to have it - is unobtainable. Keep it from them for as long as possible, and design situations that prohibit the character from getting what they want.

    The movie SPIDER-MAN 2 (Sam Raimi version, not the terrible new one) is jam-packed with internal conflict. You see Peter Parker's desires to stop being Spider-Man and to be with Mary Jane, but his role of using his great power resonsibly is prohibiting him from quitting crime-fighting and settling down. His escapades as Spider-Man make him lose his job, late for school, miss the play. He can't pay rent, can't help his Aunt May with her bills, can't get solid work at the newspaper. As we see and understand from all these examples, being Spider-Man is ruining every aspect of his life.

    External conflict would e man vs. man or man vs. nature, but internal conflict is man vs. himself. The struggle is inside.

    How to design scenes that show internal conflict? First, you need to know what conflict you're aiming for - what is the overall internal struggle this character will face in your story, and how does it tie into the theme? Once you know that, you can brainstorm as many scenarios as possible that put your character in a position where an outside force is in direct opposition with what your character wants, thus prohibiting the character from defeating their internal struggle. If anything, the outside force of conflict should exacerbate the internal conflict and make it worse.

    Write a lot and do this a lot and it will come easier, just like anything else in life. The harder you work, the better you become. :)
     
  8. cutecat22

    cutecat22 The Strange One Contributor

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    And don't be afraid to have your character argue with themselves about the conflict too. You don't have to describe it from the writers point of view. One of my characters is written in first person POV and at one point I got so frustrated that I did actually write "I just don't know what to think anymore."

    At the point I was writing, I actually didn't know what to think, I was at a writing crossroads and wasn't sure which direction the story was heading. A few weeks later, I'd got the story sorted but I left those words in, they suited the character and the plot and gave the reader the feeling of the character's confusion.
     

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