How to Improve the Conflict in Your Story

If your story lacks conflict, there’s a good chance you won’t keep readers hooked. It’s almost impossible to go through a day without any conflict. For example, did you have trouble finding your keys? Could you find a parking spot at work or school? Did you forget to do some homework? This is all conflict, even if it’s nothing that will necessarily ruin your day.

 All characters need or want something, so this will be the source of your conflict and tension in your story. Your character needs to come across some obstacles. They need to be challenged. Without this conflict, your story will be incredibly boring.

 Here are a few tips to make your conflict stronger:

Include all kinds of conflict There are certain life-changing moments that will alter your main character’s life forever, but a novel needs to be made up of both big and small conflict. For example, your main character can suddenly be thrust into a situation where they need to stop the antagonist or the world will end, but they can also be a situation where they simply have a frustrating day. A small conflict does not lessen the bigger conflict, it actually helps humanize your main character and make them more relatable. We have both big and small moments in our life, but they all eventually add up and tell the story of us.

Focus on character values Conflict doesn’t work properly if you take away something your main character doesn’t care about. They need to really be fighting for something they believe in for it to matter to any of us. Think about what your main character values most. Their family? Love? Friendship? It can even be something like freedom or the ability to make their own choices. If any of those things are threatened, that will create incredible conflict that we all care about. If your character feels deeply about something, they’re going to be extra motivated to save it.

Raise the stakes There needs to be some risk involved in order to create conflict. If the conflict is easily resolved and will not change your main character’s day-to-day activities, it will get boring really fast. Writing a novel isn’t just about conflict/resolution, it’s also about sustaining that conflict throughout your novel. Say your main character needs to get to a location. The journey itself might be difficult enough just getting there, but then he comes across a dragon that he has to defeat. That’s raising the stakes of the original conflict. Making things more and more difficult until there’s finally a resolution will create suspense. You have to keep adding on to it.

-Kris Noel