Conflict

Laer Carroll

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Lucienne Diver is both an agent and an author, giving her two perspectives on the art and craft of writing. AWers may know her because she posted a series of answers to questions in the AW Agents forum. So when she posted on her blog the contents of a recent talk which she gave I quickly read it. It's in three parts. One part I paid especial attention to, the one on conflict.

One paragraph especially stuck in my mind.

"Every chapter/scene should have conflict of some kind. No chapter or scene should simply be informative or something that moves the characters from one place to another. Take every chance you can to up the tension, but remember there also needs to be quiet moments for the readers and characters to catch a breath."

This advice sounds to me that it would apply most to plot-heavy stories such as thrillers and adventure stories. Or any story which is a narrative about moving toward a positive such as a treasure, or moving away from a negative such as an invading army. But I've read many stories both commercially and critically successful which have little or no conflict, where the focus is on the characters or the setting rather than the plot.

What are your perspectives on conflict?
 
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cornflake

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I think you misunderstand conflict. It's not (necessarily) fighting, arguing, etc. It can be internal. Every scene though, needs conflict; every scene should move the plot forward.
 

Curlz

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But I've read many stories both commercially and critically successful which have little or no conflict, where the focus is on the characters or the setting rather than the plot.
An example would be best way to discover whether or not there is actually a "conflict" there. Can you briefly retell a scene where you can't see a conflict? (I can't think of any).
 

amergina

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The best conflict is internal. What does the MC really want (rather than what they say they want)? What within themselves prevents them from getting it? What do they have to do to grow as a person? What are the obstacles within them that prevents that? How will the overcome those?

(Also, it's Lucienne, not Lucien)
 

Mondo

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Every chapter should tell a story and entertain the reader.

Write from the heart, edit from the mind, and worry about labels when you are grocery shopping.
 

Maze Runner

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Yeah, I'm having trouble thinking of a story where conflict isn't omnipresent. Even if it's most often just tension.
 

wolfking

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Character conflict is just as powerful as plot-based conflict, maybe more so.
 

KTC

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I don't write thrillers or adventures, but I make sure I always have conflict. I try to make it so the reader wants to go, "Wow, what a chapter! What happens next?" at the end of a chapter. I think back to the young reader novels I read when I was a kid. The good ones gave one an impetus to keep reading...

My writing is very character driven. I tend to make them the carriers of conflict...plot happens.
 

blacbird

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I think you misunderstand conflict. It's not (necessarily) fighting, arguing, etc. It can be internal. Every scene though, needs conflict; every scene should move the plot forward.

The key phrase in her quote is this:

Take every chance you can to up the tension,

And the key word is "tension". She inadvertently gives the impression that "conflict" and "tension" are synonymous. They aren't, and far too many inexperienced aspiring writers immediately translate the word "conflict" into some form of violence between characters. This is especially true, in my reading experience of manuscripts, with the many many many new writers interested in F/SF genres. I've often thought that such writers would do well to read some good atmospheric mystery novels, where "tension" and "suspense" are the operative adjectives, and physical conflict usually a secondary, occasional thing.

caw
 

Stephen Palmer

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There's also the conflict that an author can make between the book and the reader - which is more like the tension mentioned above.
It's sometimes the case that you want the reader to be appalled by the turns taken by the narrative - a kind of soap-opera technique.
 

BethS

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I think page-by-page tension is generated by the skillful handling of conflict throughout the story. And by conflict, I mean the literary definition. Conflict is a struggle between opposing forces. Those forces can be anything, from the very small to the very large, from deeply personal to world-encompassing. Good books, books you don't want to put down, have any number of conflicts going at once. There's the main story conflict--that is, the main goal of the character and everything that happens to prevent him or her from reaching that goal--but there will also be many lesser conflicts along the way. And all of these will generate questions that the reader turns the page to find the answer to. The constant search to have questions answered and to find out what happens next is the source of tension and suspense. Such tension can be subtle, sometimes very subtle, or it can be heart-pounding and in-your-face (and everything in between), but every good novel has it, and usually has it on every page.
 
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Laer Carroll

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[Conflict is] not (necessarily) fighting, arguing, etc. It can be internal.

Good points all. One point I want to second (or is it third or fourth?), that conflict includes kinds other than PHYSICAL.

I'd say that it can be EMOTIONAL, as when a character's desire to succeed comes up against their desire to be honorable. Or MENTAL, when s/he struggles with the problem that two seemingly true ideas seem to disprove the other.

Or SOCIAL, when characters struggle by peaceful means to champion different outcomes. I'm a fan of military fiction writer W. E. B. Griffin who includes a lot of the infighting between military services over budget and strategy. A fact that anyone who's ever had long contact with the military knows sometimes overshadows their struggles with a common violent enemy.
 
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Laer Carroll

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I'm deeply suspicious of absolute rules that everyone should follow. I want to know WHY? And to know what are the EXCEPTIONS? My far too many years of experience tells me that unexamined assumptions that we are supposed to take on faith can come back to bite us.

Diver herself acknowledges that there can be exceptions to the rule that every scene should have conflict. In the paragraph I quoted she ends it by saying "…remember there also need to be quiet moments for the readers and characters to catch a breath".

That at least I understand. Stories where the tension from scene to scene goes up and up eventually deliver diminishing returns. Even adrenaline-addicted adolescents who love thrillers tire of shock after shock. The latest super scare just doesn't scare anymore. All our hard work to make it scary fail.

One technique Shakespeare (and other writers) used was the comic-relief scene, such as the gravedigger scene in Hamlet. Not only does it not have tension, but it has humor as the dominant emotion readers experience in the scene. Other kinds of tension-relief scenes include ones where the main character(s) take stock of their situation and plan their next steps. Another is the road-side food break, as in the middle of the first Jason Bourne movie when he and his hired driver eat at a restaurant and he confides in her that he has amnesia and is distressed about who he is.

So it seems to me that the rule Diver quotes should be expanded to "Every chapter/scene should have PURPOSE of some kind". The purpose might be to show conflict. But it instead might be to defuse conflict when we decide we're close to introducing too much.

That still leaves the first question I asked at the beginning of this post. WHY should scenes have conflict? What good is it? Why does it satisfy readers (IF it does)?
 
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Maze Runner

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The most interesting conflict to me is internal. We are our own worst enemies. I agree, Laer that the comic relief scene, or scenes where in other ways the tension is released are needed. But still, just like in life, we know it ain't gonna last. Even at those times there's the shadow of the conflict you've already established. I agree with BethS that tension of some kind or another is always there.

ETA: And to address this: That still leaves the first question I asked at the beginning of this post. WHY should scenes have conflict? What good is it? Why does it satisfy readers (IF it does)?

My answer would be without conflict there's no action necessary. If your MC wants nothing, needs nothing, let's call it a day and meet up at Happy Hour. And without action there's no story. This from someone who likes the occasional navel gazing, if it's an interesting departure.
 
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Laer Carroll

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WHY should scenes have conflict? What good is it?

My answer would be without conflict there's no action necessary. If your MC wants nothing, needs nothing, let's call it a day and meet up at Happy Hour. And without action there's no story.

I quite agree. Every story has someone striving against obstacles for some goal, maybe positive like a treasure, maybe negative like escape from danger. Conflict comes from the MC dealing with each obstacle.

What I object to is a rule that EVERY scene have conflict. Stories that follow that rule are races toward a goal, whose ads probably include the phrase "non-stop action" or some such. Although that blurb is usually untrue; most fast-paced books have slower scenes where (for instance) the heroine takes rest stops and regroups before returning to the race.

There are plenty of very successful books that are slower paced, some with scenes with no conflict at all. That doesn't mean the scenes have no purpose.

Some of them focus on showing the setting. An example of this is a book I finished a couple of weeks ago and which my lady friend devoured in two nights and asked for more books by its author. It takes place on Nantucket Island, and is almost a travelogue. Some scenes dwell on the quaintly picturesque village, some on the magnificent natural vistas. Readers who love such books are less interested in how they will turn out than in simply being IN the story, being THERE. These readers will read the books over and over again even though they know how the story will turn out, and so experience no tension.

Some books are almost character studies, with scenes where we follow someone around doing fairly ordinary actions, interacting with people or doing everyday chores, perhaps reminiscing. These scenes too may have no conflict at all. Readers of these books enjoy the people, want to be with them, or be them.

So it seems to me that a scene can advance the plot OR show the setting OR develop a character. OR do some combination of the three. It's up to us to choose what effect we want to create whether we choose a "pure" scene with just one purpose or a "combo" scene with several.

What I never want to do is robotically follow some rule because I don't know I can choose to break it.
 

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Actually, I think this was the problem with a scene I found myself stuck on. After having writers block for two days I scrapped the scene, created an entirely new one, and tada! My writer's block is gone!

The scene in question was really just filling in some of the world's backstory.
 

BethS

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These readers will read the books over and over again even though they know how the story will turn out, and so experience no tension.

Mmmm, not so sure about that. They aren't in suspense about how the story will turn out, true, but I know from personal experience that rereading a story I love engenders its own kind of tension based on anticipation of upcoming scenes, whether favorite or not-so-favorite. (Dread is also a form of anticipation.) Without that sense of anticipation, I should think the story would be a dead bore to reread.
 

Bufty

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It seems to me every writer wants his readers wanting to be THERE - IN the story. And reading a novel for the second time doesn't automatically remove tension or enjoyment. You make strange assumptions.

And as far as never wanting to 'robotically follow some rule because I don't know I can choose to break it' is concerned, surely only yourself prohibits you from breaking any rule with which you don't agree.

Readers who love such books are less interested in how they will turn out than in simply being IN the story, being THERE. These readers will read the books over and over again even though they know how the story will turn out, and so experience no tension.

...

What I never want to do is robotically follow some rule because I don't know I can choose to break it.
 
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bombergirl69

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This is a great topic--so many facets! I agree with Beth, though--there has to be (if a reread) some anticipation of what will happen that keeps me coming back. as I rework my MS, I'm thinking of all the things that keep people turning pages--stakes, investment, tension--will they or won't they? A lot of what people say they "can't get into" may have to do with not finding enough conflict (in which the reader is invested)

As a timely example, we don't normally turn on our TV to watch traffic. But, a slow moving Chevy Bronco driven by a high profile murder suspect? The stakes are huge! Will they catch him? Will something happen? A good chunk of the country tuned in to find out!

If I just describe a car chase - the red car pulls ahead but the blue car roars up from behind. Wait--someone's shooting from the red car, the blue car's falling back...and so on--it's not really that interesting until we know the stakes - the guy in the red car is trying to get to the airport with the only vaccine that will save the world, but the people in the blue car want to stop him! Will the guy make it?

Even quieter scenes, as others have mentioned, have some degree of conflict and stakes. And this is a problem in countless stories. Two lovers sit hand in hand, in the softening twilight. It's lovely, he looks her her..she looks at him. It's perfect...blah blah blah. If it goes on like that - he's happy,s he's happy, the settings lovely and nothing really happens, IMO, it gets boring in a hurry. But, if she looks at him and can't remember his name, keeps seeing her ex husband, wonders if her lover knows his ex wife's ear is sitting on ice in the cooler with the wine, worries if she's too old to have kids, etc., it's compelling.

Actually, I think a lot of books suffer from too little conflict, or unclear stakes (yes, I see conflict but why should I care?) = very little tension. This is true even in how people tell stories to each other. There are plenty of folks who go on and on (and on) about events where absolutely nothing happens! (I went to the PO and then the grocery store and then the--no wait! I went to the PO and THEN the hardware store and then the grocery store--bought some apples. Then--oh this is hysterical--I returned my grocery cart to the store! So funny!

Anyway, great topic and one i'm considering hard at the moment!
 

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/.../

Actually, I think a lot of books suffer from too little conflict, or unclear stakes (yes, I see conflict but why should I care?) = very little tension. /.../
Also lack of central protagonist, and a lack of central antagonist--those too tend to be very important, especially in adventure fiction. Or films.
I watched Lifeforce (1985) many times, trying to see why this film--which in theory should have been the great comeback of British cinema, to show Hollywood what's what, a sci-fi/horror epic for the ages, based on a successful novel--failed. How can a story be made up of many great parts, but fail to click?
The third or fourth time I watched it I realized that with half the film gone it's still not clear who the MC is. People keep appearing and disappearing, lots of theoretically exciting stuff happens, but there's no focus.
 

Devil Ledbetter

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A good way to get conflict in every scene is to bake it into the story. Set things up so conflict will be inherent.

If your story is lacking conflict, rethink the characters' relationships to each other and see if you can rearrange things to get your conflict baked in. Coworkers are one thing. Coworkers who are close family members are another thing. Family members or coworkers with longstanding jealousies, envies or grudges are yet another. You're going to have more conflict with the coworker who married the MC's high school sweetheart, more still if he's also his brother, and even more if your MC isn't over the fact that mom always like him best. This is a simplification only to make a point: bake that shit in and the conflict will write itself into every scene.

Conflict doesn't have to involve big arguments, fisticuffs, car chases or swordplay. I find conflict more interesting when it's subtle, emotional and boils down to relationships, with the heat being turned up slowly and steadily.