WHAT IS CONFLICT?

We all know what conflict is, right? No?

There are two common definitions:

That’s the traditional definition that all of us understand. Conflict results in a fight, yes?

On a simple level, conflict in a story is where one character wants to do something, and (usually) another character stops them. This can be a case of goodies versus baddies. But be careful: conflict isn’t necessarily an argument or a fight. This would, typically, be called external conflict. The conflict we can all see and it is the type of conflict requires some physical action to resolve it.

On a deeper level, it can also show something about belief systems. If your protagonist encounters people or a situation which contrasts with their own beliefs, they need to decide if  to confront the situation or not. If they confront, and overcome the conflict, they can effect change in themselves or their situation. They will overcome a philosophical conflict, or an internal conflict.

Can conflict always be written into a story. Is it essential?

In this wonderful writing world, we don’t need to do anything we don’t want to. Rules are there for guidance, but they are also meant to be broken. 

BUT… a story is made better with some conflict, some challenges for our protagonist. We all like to try to associate with our protagonists. We like to feel that we understand these characters, and imagine what we would do in their circumstances. And we know life for us real people is never one smooth glide through the days. There is always something which crops up, something negative, which we need to deal with. This is conflict, it is in all of our real life stories, and it should be in the stories we construct.