In a new blog post, mystery writer Zara Altair suggests ways to create conflict in your mystery novel. Unlike the heroes of thrillers or action-adventure novels, your sleuth might not get into physical conflicts with suspects or culprits, so you need other ways to engage your readers and keep pages turning.
“Conflict happens when your character wants something (their goal) and someone or something prevents them from reaching the goal,” Altair says. “Conflict is obstruction. Through most of your mystery novel, your character cannot reach the external goal because people get in the way.”
In a mystery novel, this means waiting for the lab to analyze data, finding interview subjects who may not want to be found, and dealing with people who hold back information. Those obstacles create conflict when your hero tries to get past them. Even when your sleuth is successful, their actions may cause more repercussions.
You can also create internal conflicts that feed your story’s theme and goals. “While internal goals deepen the character and make them more relatable to the reader, if you use them as additional obstructions to the main story goal, then your reader cares deeply,” Altair writes. She recommends mixing and matching internal and external conflicts and setting them against each other.
