Stories are all about conflict. There’s a Main Story Problem, faced by a Protagonist who doesn’t know if they can succeed against some Obstacle. If they fail, they lose something important to them. 

Conflict = Protagonist vs. Obstacle = Risk of Failure

The Obstacle can look like anything: corrupt government officials, uncooperative murder suspects, a really good looking guy…. The genre of a story will determine what type of obstacle the Protagonist will face.

But the really important part of Conflict is the Risk of Failure. What does the Protagonist stand to lose personally?

After all, a really good looking guy is not a problem if you are a woman who is looking for a really good looking guy. But it is a problem if you are a woman decided not interested in a relationship at this time, or if said really good looking guy is also her sister’s ex-fiancé’s brother who successfully sabotaged the wedding by running a herd of pigs through it and is now persona non-grata to both families and half the island of Dominica, and dating him would cause an international incident.

Uncooperative suspects are not really a problem if you are a well respected detective doing your job. After all, it’s to be expected, isn’t it? But if you’re a down on your luck detective, who needs to solve this case or risk losing your job, your wife, and your reputation… yeah, big problem.

So if we want to improve our conflict, we need to up the stakes. We need to create a personal risk for our Protagonist. A real reason why they need to succeed at whatever their goal is.

(BTW, the goal they set when they first meet the Main Story Problem is not usually the one they will end up achieving. Usually somewhere around 75% of the way through, they will fail and take on a new goal, which is what helps them thrive, instead of just survive. But I digress….)

Of course, we also need to make it clear that failure is a real possibility. The goal they want to achieve should be HARD. An uncooperative suspect who tells the detective everything he wants to know when he brings her a latté does not an interesting story make. But an uncooperative suspect who twists the truth constantly and sends the detective on a wild goose chase, taunting him when he comes up short every time…. yeah, that’s interesting.

A good looking guy who lives across the country is not a big deal for our heroine who needs to resist his charms. But a heroine who needs to fake an engagement in order to avoid Dominican prison after said pig incident, therefore putting herself in close contact with the good looking guy for an extended period of time could have a more serious issue.

And as our story progresses, of course, the goal should get more and more complicated to achieve. Meaning the risk of failure, and the chances of incurring the unpleasant consequences, gets higher and higher.

Our detective might find himself embroiled in a web of lies created by his uncooperative suspects. Our heroine might discover that good looking guy is also a really nice guy. Whatever the conflict, it gets harder and harder to overcome as time goes on and the protagonist learns more.

(This is because of the True Nature of the Conflict, which the protagonist does not understand when they set their goal at the beginning of the story. Which is why the protagonist will need to abandon this goal: it just doesn’t make sense anymore once they understand the True Nature of the Conflict.)

Conflict = Protagonist vs. Obstacle = Risk of Failure

If you’re finding your novel is lacking conflict, or if you just really want to amp it up, remember it’s all about what the protagonist has to lose.

• What is on the line, what are they risking if they fail to succeed?
• How is this risk real, given the Obstacle and the Protagonist’s personality?
• How do the odds of success get more complicated as the story progresses?

For on the connection between Conflict, False Goals, Risk of Failure, the True Nature of the Conflict, and True Goals, checkout the Plotting Workshop!

Happy Writing!
-Charlotte