I have now read many articles about conflict in literature but I'm still confused. What exactly is "conflict"? I know there are two main types of different conflicts: Internal and external. But how is a conflict supposed to look like? Does conflict mean two forces colliding in together? e.g. A character struggles with mental health and therefore finds it difficult to achieve their goals. Is a conflict something that stands between the character and prevents them from achieving their goals? Is it independent from the goal? Or what is a good short definition of conflict? Seems like I haven't understood anything... Is conflict something rigid, engraved or flexible, adjustable per definition? Also, does a prologue and every chapter have to include conflict? I probably would never have had to ask this question either if I finally knew what a conflict was...
It sounds like you've read only a very short explanation like a web article. To understand it more fully you should look into methods of plotting, which will explain it in much greater detail. I've heard it said there are 3 different kinds of conflict—Man vs man, man vs nature, or man vs himself. But there has to be someone or something blocking him from achieving his goal. Usually that's another person, the antagonist. In fact the word agonist means an agent of change. You need a protagonist (agent for positive change) and an antagonist (agent for negative change, at least from the protag's viewpoint and that of the reader). All the main characters are part of the conflict. Each one in some way is either helping or working against the main character's goal. And yes, each chapter, each scene, each encounter needs to develop or reveal the ongoing conflict in some way or you need to prune it out. Maybe a prologue can be just setting up the conflict, but it does need to relate to it in some way.
Thank you so much for your reply! Yeah, I've read web articles... Where can I find sources that explain it more broadly? Internal and external are just generic terms. I also heard of character vs. character, character vs. nature or character vs. themself etc. Now I can imagine more about the concept of a conflict. Thank you very much for the explanation! I understood that every single chapter or scene needed its own conflict, like a completely new one, but that's wrong? Each scene, each chapter should develop the conflict further? But I kinda struggle with identifying conflicts... Different types of conflicts. Looks like I didn't understand everything... I apologise for not understanding it. It's just... I'm so confused.
Not a completely new conflict, but it can be a sort of sub-conflict, related to the major one. But each scene and each exchange of dialogue etc should in some way relate to that major conflict or demonstrate important traits of characters. One way I've heard it described is that the main conflict is called the spine of the story, and any sub-conflicts are offshoots of it. You can look at videos, websites and books that teach various methods of plotting. Also known as story structure. One very good resource I ran across is the website NovelWritingHelp.com. Another great one is K M Weiland's blog Helping Writers Become Authors. Her posts are derived mostly from her books on plotting and story structure and related concepts, which are very good. You can also just do some searches for story structure or narrative structure or plotting a story. There are many such books and websites.
I find the word 'conflict' can be counter-productive, as it has connotations of strife or ill-tempered encounters, etc. Battles, arguments, power struggles, etc. I think I prefer to think of 'conflict' as goals versus obstacles. The conflict doesn't have to be some kind of combat. Maybe somebody wants something, or wants to do something, and is finding it difficult or frustrating for any number of reasons. The situation doesn't have to be life threatening, earth shattering, or hearbreaking. Just set a goal for your character in each chapter, and chuck a few obstacles between them and that goal. And yes, I think there's a good case for making this kind of thing happen in nearly every chapter ...although I'd never say 'never' or 'always' when it comes to writing. Maybe, as a subplot, two characters meet and are trying to get to know each other, but something or someone keeps interrupting them. Or one of them is not sure how much they want to reveal to the other one, although they don't want the other one to lose interest either. These kinds of goal/obstacle things can be very mild, but how they unfold will test and reveal the characters. The situation can come to a satisfactory conclusion at the end of the chapter, or carry on for a while longer before it gets resolved. It's a good idea not to give your characters an easy ride at any time ...OR, if the ride seems too easy (either to them, or to the reader) you might drop a hint that this easy situation won't last. Maybe something has happened in a previous chapter that the reader knows about, but the characters don't? The reader will know the characters are NOT going to have an easy ride, after all, even though the characters feel complacent and maybe overconfident at this particular moment. Gentle teasers keep interest in the story high—every bit as high as fights, battles, arguments, etc. Folks will want to know what is going to happen next. You can set this up in a quiet way, as well as in a loud, confrontational way. Most stories have a little of both, to vary the intensity. Too many loud, confrontational scenes can wear a reader out. They'll need to go take a pill!
Thank you again! I understand it better now! And I will definitely look for these specific keywords and sites!
Thank you so much for your detailed explanation! I understand it way better now! It's much easier for me now to get a picture underneath and understand the whole concept. "Goals vs. obstacles" is a very good paraphrase! Thank you!
Another good search to do is for 3-act structure. This is the standard narrative structure, though there are variations such as the 5-act structure and others. But this is the classic and the one to learn first. You should be able to find many sites about it. I recommend reading through several of them. And a thing to be aware of is that there's a spectrum with plot-driven narrative structure at one end and the much freer and looser character-driven form at the other end. Literary works are often character driven while your genre stories are much more plot-driven (usually). By genre I mean of course things like detective stories, Westerns, romances, science fiction etc. I would recommend to learn about plot/structure/narrative form and then also learn about character driven, more literary story form. Every story actually includes elements of both, but in varying proportions. When the plot dominates and character is minimized it's called plot-driven, if character dominates and plot is minimized it's called character-driven. Knowing this can help you navigate the waters much better. And trust me, you'll run across people who claim plot-driven is the only way to write, or the opposite, that it's pure garbage and character-driven is the best. That's when you just smile and say OK, thank you.
