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Some writers seem to think conflict is characters
screaming at each other. Not true. Conflict is where the driving
character is faced with obstacles or a negative force and must decide
on a course of action to overcome them.
There may be other characters in the scene who
want your character to fail (the reader may even want your driving
character to fail) or it could only be your character at war with
himself. How many of us have tried to talk ourselves out of doing
something we know may not be the best course of action?
Whether it's other characters or the driving character
creating the obstacles, and whether they represent good or evil, those
obstacles are the negative forces. The negative forces in your story
provide the conflict. The driving character must overcome the
obstacles and negativity in his path to reach his goal.
 Internal conflict
occurs when the negative factors in the driving character's own mind
must be overcome. A clear example of this is in the opening scene in
L.B. Cobb's Promises Town (my review here)
where Virginia Rodriguez weighs the pros and cons of getting involved
in a high profile murder investigation. She must decide between two
courses of action, two expressed desires. Her internal debate creates
the conflict in the scene.
In order to engage the reader, you must create
suspense about what your character will do. The reader must see your character
thinking about all the alternative courses of his action.
Often the purpose of other characters in the story -- the mentor, the
shape-shifter, the negative force character -- is to offer
tempting courses of action that can change the main character's goal.
Bottom line: Without a clearly stated goal, the
reaching toward it, and the obstacles in the way so that your
character wins or looses something important, you don't have conflict
in your story, and you don't have a scene.
More
Articles
On Writing
Fashioning a Scene
Conflict
The Character's
Mind
Self-Editing
Roger's
Short Stories
Making Waves |
Roger Paulding, author of The Pickled Dog Caper, scheduled for a
Fall 2005 release by Panther Creek Press
Five Star Books
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