Internal
conflict adds meaning and complexity to the
external conflict, but it's the external conflict that
forces a character to make internal choices and changes.
And the key to a
story’s tension is that a character has choices to
make. Which will it be? What will be the fallout?
For readers to care about a story the choices and the
resolution must have consequences for the main character
In
the broad perspective, a novel's need of an antagonist is
really the main character's need of something to force
him or her to make choices. Characters, like ourselves,
don't easily take difficult paths. No thank you. If we're
not forced to, we simply don't.
One
of the best ways to force a character into choices is to
develop an antagonist who will naturally jab into the
root of a character's internal conflict and who's goal
is opposite that of your hero (the hero, by the way,
doesn't need to explicitly know their goal). The
'antagonist' doesn't have to be an evil outlaw with a
sweaty hat, it can be a storm or society or a new job or
a worm.
Conflict—Medium
Shot (Bumps rising toward a Climax)
On
the way toward your hero's goal a series of conflicts or
obstacles occur that prevent him from reaching it. If
you have a bad guy these often result from run ins with
him or his minions. Each external mini-conflict or bump
must drive down to the root of a character's internal
conflict, slowly teaching the character a life lesson or
giving them the option to change.
In
Finding Nemo, for example, Marlin's external goal is
to,
well...find his son, Nemo. Mini-bumps along the way include
leaving the safety of the coral reef in the first place and
later fighting sharks.
These events tear away at Marlin's weakness: his lack of courage.
An important component
of suspense at each mini-climax is choice. If there's no
doubt at all as to how a character will proceed at each
junction then the plot is without suspense and the
character without conflict.
A character's decision must proceed from
powerfully conflicting alternatives if we are to read with empathy instead of mere curiosity.
We
are fascinated by a character's actions largely in light
of the actions rejected and the stresses endured as a
result.
Conflict—Close
Up of a Page (Spoken)
Try to instill emotion,
tension and conflict into every conversation and on every
page. Imagine what boring neighbors Jerry and Kramer
would be if whenever they met everything was wonderfully smooth
instead of eternally ripe with argument and banter. For
Seinfeld these little battles are either starting points
or nuances of the episode's big 'battle', and you'll
have a difficult time locating a full minute without
them. Perhaps more importantly they put Jerry, Kramer
and the rest in stark relief and in doing give us the
opportunity to (kind of) love them.
Take a closer look at
any good book, film or TV show and you'll be shocked at
just how much page to page or minute to minute conflict
you'll find.
Conflict—Close
Up of a Page (Subtext)
Whenever we deal with
people with whom we have conflict, whether love or hate,
how much of what we think and feel do we really say?
Usually not everything, for one reason or another. But
our feelings get through in subtle ways—off
handed remarks, body language, and through the very mood
of our actions.
These subtextual
motions are an underlying dialogue in themselves and
usually more compelling and effective to use in your
story than having a character blather out exactly what
they're thinking at every particular moment. Situations
in stories,
like in life, are far more complicated. In Casablanca,
for example, Rick and Renault's entire
relationship is subtextual (rent the classic and see for
yourself).
Conflict—the
Buddha’s Perspective
We're not
attracted to stories without conflict simply because we can't learn
anything from them. They are empty of the seeds that
might nurture our own growth, in whatever direction that
might be. Of course we love to read happy stuff in
books too, but only after the hero has traveled his or
her difficult path of personal growth and finally
reached the reward for their journey.
>>
Find out more with The Hero's Journey in the Good Links
Section
The best books about
building drama and conflict.
>> See More Books about Writing a
Novel or Film Script
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