Focusing on conflict in fiction

I taught a class last night in which a number of the writers produced scenes dominated by conflict.
Good for them because stories need things to happen and that usually comes out of conflict - characters argue, fight, feud etc.
It is through seeing characters in conflict that we see them at their truest, when their guard is down, when they are fighting something.
You can develop a character through conflict: the meek little parlour maid suddenly becomes the towering heroine of the story
Conflict takes the story on: a school is to be closed, two friends fall out, a community is torn apart by an event. All these types of conflict are a rich hunting ground for the writer.
Conflict can evoke a strong reaction in a reader
Conflict makes for good drama - and if that is happening then writing is easier.
It also gives you a structure for your story, a story to tell.

John Dean

KIlling off your favourites

Following on my recent blog on conflict in fiction, it reminded me of a conversation with a very good writer, who said: “I do not like making horrible things happen to my characters.“
I can understand that entirely: yes, I have hurt my beloved main characters but could I hurt them really seriously or even kill them off? Probably not.
But perhaps I am wrong because conflict is central to writing and that can mean really bad things happening to really good people.
Why? Because stories need things to happen and it is through seeing characters in conflict that we see them at their truest. 
You can also develop a character through conflict ie the meek little parlour maid becomes the towering heroine of the story.
In addition, conflict can evoke a strong reaction in a reader and make for good drama - and if that is happening, then writing becomes easier.

John Dean

Man/woman against .... (complete as applicable)

I blog quite a lot about the importance of conflict in fiction but what type of conflict you use varies from genre to genre.
Romance novels, for instance, require the primary conflict to involve two people struggling with a romantic relationship, mysteries require a conflict where a crime or disappearance must be solved and what makes a thriller is a high stakes conflict, the risk of harm or death to the protagonist and/or those he/she cares about.
The conflict in science fiction can include issues like the morality of creating artificial life or cloning whereas fantasy is about good versus evil. Then there is dystopian fiction where the conflict is with the nightmarish world around the characters.
More ‘literary’ stories (although quite what that means I am not sure, all stories are literary) revolve around the internal conflict and how the character deals with it.
Whatever your genre, it’s conflict that brings your stories to life.

John Dean

Conflict in fiction

I teach a lot about the role of conflict in fiction, which is vital because stories need things to happen and that usually comes out of conflict.
It is through seeing characters in conflict that we see them at their truest, when their guard is down, when they are fighting something.  You can also develop a character through conflict: the meek little parlour maid suddenly becomes the towering heroine of the story Conflict also takes the story on: a school is to be closed, two friends fall out, a community is torn apart by an event. In addition, conflict can evoke a strong reaction in a reader and make for good drama.
It is said that there are seven types of conflict; personally, I would narrow it down to six:

Person vs. Self A person’s struggle with his or her own prejudices or doubts or character flaws

Person vs. Person The struggle with other people
Person vs. Society When the protagonist’s conflict extends to confronting institutions, traditions, or laws

Person vs. Nature The protagonist is pitted against nature (think Moby Dick).

Person vs. Supernatural - be it monsters or deities!

Person vs. Technology - maybe the machines will take over one day.

 

John Dean

Why conflict matters in fiction

A lot of my teaching is about conflict in fiction but why is it important in writing? Because stories need things to happen and that usually comes out of conflict - characters argue, fight, feud etc.

It is through seeing characters in conflict that we see them at their truest, when their guard is down, when they are fighting something.

You can develop a character through conflict: the meek little parlour maid suddenly becomes the towering heroine of the story

Conflict takes the story on: a school is to be closed, two friends fall out, a community is torn apart by an event. All these types of conflict are a rich hunting ground for the writer.

Conflict can evoke a strong reaction in a reader

Conflict makes for good drama - and if that is happening then writing is easier

It also gives you a structure for your story, a story to tell.

 

John Dean

Conflict in fiction

Why is conflict important in writing? Because stories need things to happen and that usually comes out of conflict - characters argue, fight, feud etc.

It is through seeing characters in conflict that we see them at their truest, when their guard is down, when they are fighting something.
You can develop a character through conflict: the meek little parlour maid suddenly becomes the towering heroine of the story
Conflict takes the story on: a school is to be closed, two friends fall out, a community is torn apart by an event. All these types of conflict are a rich hunting ground for the writer.
Conflict can evoke a strong reaction in a reader
Conflict makes for good drama - and if that is happening then writing is easier.
It also gives you a structure for your story, a story to tell

John Dean

A matter of conflict

Conflict is important, nay central, in writing .

Why? Because stories need things to happen and that usually comes out of conflict - characters argue, fight, feud etc.

It is through seeing characters in conflict that we see them at their truest, when their guard is down, when they are fighting something. 

You can also develop a character through conflict: the meek little parlour maid suddenly becomes the towering heroine of the story

Conflict also takes the story on: a school is to be closed, two friends fall out, a community is torn apart by an event. All these types of conflict are a rich hunting ground for the writer.

In addition, conflict can evoke a strong reaction in a reader and make for good drama - and if that is happening then writing is easier.

 

John Dean

Handy hints on writing conflict

These are some of the handy hints from our free writers’ toolkit . We’ll be running a few more over the days to come but the full guide can be downloaded from the home page of our website at www.inscribemedia.co.uk





 Conflict - why does it matter?

Why is conflict important in writing? Because stories need things to happen and that usually comes out of conflict - characters argue, fight, feud etc.

It is through seeing characters in conflict that we see them at their truest, when their guard is down, when they are fighting something.

You can develop a character through conflict: the meek little parlour maid suddenly becomes the towering heroine of the story

Conflict takes the story on: a school is to be closed, two friends fall out, a community is torn apart by an event. All these types of conflict are a rich hunting ground for the writer.

Conflict can evoke a strong reaction in a reader

Conflict makes for good drama - and if that is happening then writing is easier.

It also gives you a structure for your story, a story to tell



Writing from the heart
Emotion is something of which some writers are wary, preferring to produce work without revealing too much of themselves.

However, for many other writers, there cannot be fiction without a sense of themselves in it.

For some authors, there is always part of them peering through, their fears, their hopes, their aspirations, their take on life. They may not say ‘and this is me’ but it is there all the same. For many authors, writing has to be a deeply personal art.

Of course, it is not all autobiographical - many writers write characters and scenes which readers find abhorrent and use language and ideas with which readers might not agree but which need to be there because they reflect the world about us.

However, in there somewhere are also tantalising glimpses of what the writer really thinks of the world.

John Dean

Tips on conflict

These are some of the handy hints from our free writers’ toolkit . We’ll be running a few more over the days to come but the full guide can be downloaded from the home page of our website at www.inscribemedia.co.uk




　
　


A word to the wise - creating good dialogue
Dialogue is crucial to the success of any story. Good dialogue can make a story, bad dialogue can wreck it.

Bear in mind some of these rules of conversation and reflect them in the dialogue that you write.

A lot of the time, we do not speak in correct sentences/we often use short sharp phrases.

Keep your dialogue crisp - we can tell a lot about a person in a short snap of conversation.

Dialogue must take the story on.

Do not pack dialogue with extraneous information. Don’t write like this:
“I saw William, although everyone calls him Bill, my neighbour of ten years in Acacia Avenue, in Darlington, and observed that he was his normal glum self, to which we - that is my wife, Edith, and I - have grown accustomed in the weeks since his wife left him for a younger man and filed for divorce. I assumed that the darkness which seems to have assailed him since then has not lifted.”
If you need to slot in that information, find a way of doing it more subtly: ie “Saw Bill this morning. His usual gloomy self. Not sure he’ll ever recover. The divorce really has knocked him backwards.”John Dean

The six types of conflict in fiction

I teach a lot about the role of conflict in fiction, which is vital because stories need things to happen and that usually comes out of conflict.

It is through seeing characters in conflict that we see them at their truest, when their guard is down, when they are fighting something. You can also develop a character through conflict: the meek little parlour maid suddenly becomes the towering heroine of the story Conflict also takes the story on: a school is to be closed, two friends fall out, a community is torn apart by an event. In addition, conflict can evoke a strong reaction in a reader and make for good drama.

It is said that there are seven types of conflict; personally, I would narrow it down to six:
Person vs. Self A person’s struggle with his or her own prejudices or doubts or character flaws

Person vs. Person The struggle with other people
Person vs. Society When the protagonist’s conflict extends to confronting institutions, traditions, or laws

Person vs. Nature The protagonist is pitted against nature (think Moby Dick).

Person vs. Supernatural - be it monsters or deities!

Person vs. Technology - maybe the machines will take over one day.

John Dean

Conflict in fiction writing

The Global Short Story Competition had an entry yesterday that reminded me of a recent conversation with a writer who said: “I do not like making horrible things happen to my characters.“

The story entry in question really put the character through the mill; like your characters or not, conflict is central in writing. Why? Because stories need things to happen and it is through seeing characters in conflict that we see them at their truest.

You can develop a character through conflict: the meek little parlour maid becomes the towering heroine of the story.

In addition, conflict can evoke a strong reaction in a reader and make for good drama - and if that is happening then writing is easier.

Still time to enter this month‘s Global Short Story Competition at www.inscribemedia.co.uk
John Dean