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For a story to be interesting its outcome must be uncertain. This uncertainty is driven by the conflict facing the characters.
For a story to be interesting its outcome must be uncertain. This uncertainty is driven by the conflict facing the characters.
Conflict - the central struggle which a protagonist attempts to overcome.
Introduction
Introduction
There is nothing worse than a boring story; a story in which it feels as though nothing happens, or at least, nothing interesting. For something to be interesting its outcome must be uncertain, and in stories this uncertainty is driven by unresolved conflict.
A genuine source of conflict is crucial to good storytelling. In this entry, we learn about the different types of conflict a character can face, and how these conflicts can lead to different kinds of storytelling.
Understanding Conflict
Understanding Conflict
For a conflict within a story to be engaging, it must be both challenging for the character who is faced with it, and able to be overcome.
Let's consider a hypothetical example of this.
Imagine a sports game is in progress. With five minutes to go, the winning team has more than three times the score of the losing team, and this losing team has lost half of their players to injury. Thus, the outcome of the game is all but decided. In this situation, we can imagine the people in the crowd already leaving the stadium to get to their car before everyone else.
Okay, let's reset the example.
Imagine that, this time, with five minutes to go the winning team has just one more point than their opponent, the top players for each team have just returned from the bench, and the winner of the game will advance to the finals. In this situation, we can expect that the crowd will be on the edge of their seats, frantically cheering for their teams.
This eager anticipation for a desired outcome is what writers hope for in their readers. Therefore, when studying texts, we should look for the source of conflict that sets up this anticipation.
Types of Conflict
Types of Conflict
When crafting a story, writers must decide what type of conflict their protagonist is faced with.
Consider the excellent comic by Grant Snider below, which illustrates some of these conflict types. Then, we will examine each conflict type in more detail.
Illustration of conflict types in literature. 2014. Grant Snider. Incidental Comics. Creative Commons.
Character vs. Nature
Before there were towns, cities and social media algorithms, mankind was forced to survive against the natural world. In a character vs. nature story, a protagonist must overcome something from the pre-civilised world, be this hostile animals, harsh weather, or lack of food or water.
Character vs. Character
The classic struggle between one person and another, a character vs. character story sees the protagonist pitched against an antagonist in a physical, mental, or emotional contest.
Character vs God
Although this label suggests that God is singular, a character vs. god story refers to any narrative in which the protagonist is confronted by some kind of supernatural power.
Character vs. Society
Taxes too high? Forced to work in a brutal factory all day? These are examples of character vs. society conflicts, which draw upon the power imbalances in human civilisation to create meaningful challenges for characters.
Character vs. Self
Here, the protagonist is faced not with an external opponent, but their own nature. Character vs self stories explore subjects such as loneliness, substance abuse and fatal flaws that people must try to overcome.
Character vs. No God
What if there is no God? What if there is no higher power to provide meaning and order in existence? (along with a pleasant afterlife). In character vs. no god stories, people must find purpose in life without the comfort of religion.
Character vs Technology
Modern technology has sped up communications, produced food to feed millions, and made journeys that used to last months take only a few hours. It has also produced screen addiction, opioid dependency, and an obesity epidemic. In character vs. technology stories, writers explore the unintended consequences of life in a technology-filled world.
Character vs. Reality
What happens when a character begins to suspect that the world they are living in is not real? Could they be living in a dream? A computer simulation? These intriguing concepts are the subject of character vs. reality stories.
Character vs. Author
Imagine there is a man named Gary. Gary begins to suspect that his world is not real. In fact, Gary begins to realise that he is a character I have just created as an example of a character vs. author story. What will Gary do now? Good luck, Gary.
Multiple Conflicts
Multiple Conflicts
It is worth noting that while texts usually revolve around one central conflict, there may well be other types of conflict present within a story.
A central conflict may involve a combination of conflict types, and dynamic supporting characters may have their own conflicts to overcome as they progress along their character arcs.
Finally, while a character may seem to be faced with a straightforward conflict (such as a character vs. character challenge), their true source of conflict can sometimes turn out to be a more internal, or even existential, threat.
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