Conflict: What's Your Problem?

 Life causes a great deal of conflict. Some are life and death situations and others are only important to ourselves. Conflict leads to growth or experience and no novel is complete without it. So, what is conflict? Debra Dixon states, “Conflict is the why not.”

Know Thy Conflict

Conflict is the reason why your character can’t have what they want. In your novel, you, the author, must know and define what your character’s conflict is.  By knowing the character’s conflict you know what is at stake for your character. Your character must face the obstacle preventing him from attaining his goal.

Bump In The Night, Day, and Everywhere in Between

Your character’s GMC must bump, bang, and crash into each other. As these three letters are explored in your work, your character must be tested and with each test, your character will grow, develop and reach the goal most desired. These conflicting forces of your character’s GMC will make the character see if they truly wish for what they desire. This makes the character look deep within themselves and that’s internal conflict.

All in the Inside

Internal conflict is what stops our characters from learning their life lesson. Your character may have one goal he admits to the others such as Lord Bridgerton announcing that he will marry. But his internal conflict—the belief that he will die young like his father—stops him from pursuing the woman he loves. 

Internal conflict is the emotional turmoil that causes us and our characters' problems. It also stops the character from learning the life lesson. And for a satisfying end, the character must learn their life lesson.

War Games

Now you have to put it all into practice. In Goal, Motivation and Conflict, Dixon writes, “lay a foundation for conflict, create believable goals, motivate the characters, and nurture the conflict to the inevitable crisis or climax.”