Writing Craft: Conflict

Without conflict there is no story, just a news report. 

Boring.

Exciting stories always have conflict. The more conflict, the better. What does conflict do?  it gives your main character a challenge to overcome. It gives her something to worry about, think about, react to. 

In The Thwarting of Mr. Dingsnapple, I set up a variety of conflicts for Sweetie to overcome.

Here are some of her conflicts:

• Stop Mr. Dingsnapple from taking her eggs
• Outsmart Cleopatra and Tut to keep them from finding her nest
• Struggle with Cleopatra and Tut after they discover her nest under the porch
• Escape from Mr. Dingsnapple’s cage
• I don’t want to tell the rest, read the book and find them! 

Set up a worksheet with the following information on it:

Fill a page with this chart  repeatedly. While you are brainstorming your story, it will help you identify conflicts and how each character reacts to it.

• Print out a copy of the page and carry it with you
• When you think of a conflict, jot it on the issue line
• If you fill your page with issues, print another
• Go back and start filling in the details of each issue 

• Issue:
• Main character POV:
• Opponent POV:
• Arguments:
• Action:

Let’s take a look at how it works:

• Issue: (Name the conflict here)
• Sweetie wants to hatch her eggs
• Main character POV: (What is your main character’s Point Of View on the issue?)
• She is thrilled at the chance to hatch her very first clutch. Hatching her eggs is the most important thing in her life.
• Opponent POV: (This is the character who opposes, or causes problems for your main character.)
• Mr. Dingsnapple has a chance to make extra money from the sale of the goose eggs
• Cleopatra and Tut – Mr. Dingsnapple may give them a reward if they show him where Sweetie is hiding her nest
• Arguments: (Jot down a little information or possibly things the characters might say)
• Mr. Dingsnapple – Good! Here are four more eggs. I need to gather 100 eggs to sell within the next couple of months. I can’t let any eggs go.
• Sweetie – if Mr. Dingsnapple takes my eggs, I’ll never have a chance to have babies! 
• Cleopatra and Tut - who does Sweetie think she is? We don’t get to hatch our eggs, why should she be able to hatch her eggs?  Besides, who cares about stupid old eggs, anyway?
• Action: (What action happens?) Action is extremely important.  This is where you jot down the kind of actions your characters will do.
• Sweetie tries to hide her nest
• Mr. Dingsnapple searches the zoo for her nest
• Cleopatra and Tut search for her nest

Once you’ve filled out this form, you can use it as a guide to flesh out your story. 

Another word or two about conflict:

• Conflict is directly related to action.
• You cannot have too much conflict and action in your story. 
• Try to make something happen on each page.