In a post on Writers Helping Writers, Becca Puglisi says that letting your characters talk is a sure way to put conflict on the page.
While you might be tempted to insert explicit conflict – like a physical fight – you shouldn’t unless the scenario is likely for your protagonist. “The best way to incorporate convincing conflict scenarios into a story is to pull them organically from the elements that are already there,” Puglisi says. “Conflict is lurking all around your characters and the story world, so grab a stick and start poking to see what shakes loose.”
Her advice includes:
- Start With the Story’s Cast. Puglisi recommends crafting your conflict from the very beginning stages of your writing, including when you pick your cast. “Think about what kinds of people might have crossed swords with your character at some point, will rub him the wrong way, or have goals that are in opposition to his own,” she says. “Think about which traits might get under your character’s skin. What attitudes or morals will be difficult for him to accept?” Build characters with those traits and the conflict will suggest itself.
- Let Your Characters Talk. Once you have characters who get under your hero’s skin, let them talk. “Dialogue is a great troublemaker because it can cause minor, surface-level tension or set the ball rolling for something huge, like the end of a relationship or a global clash,” Puglisi writes.
- Unintentional Clashes. Even characters who are friendly can have conflicting personalities. “Often, it comes down to basic personality quirks, such as someone who is always interrupting, a tactless party who unknowingly causes offense, or a chronic multitasker who doesn’t listen carefully and makes your character feel undervalued,” Puglisi explains. “Enough of these slight aggravations can add up throughout one conversation (or over the course of many) and lead to explosions.” The response to those explosions then leads to more conflict.
- Confrontational Communicators. Some characters will use the way they communicate to start conflict intentionally. They might say something threatening or belittling; steer a topic towards something uncomfortable; shift the focus to someone to make them uncomfortable; ask uncomfortable questions or bring up a sensitive topic; lie, omit, or exaggerate; reveal a secret or mistake; or ask questions they know someone can’t answer. “The exchange may appear respectful if others are watching or a certain level of decorum must be observed,” Puglisi says. “In these cases, it may not be what the characters say as much as how they say it, or what doublespeak or innuendo they can safely deploy to score a hit that will go over someone’s head.”
- Opposing Motivations. When characters have different motivations and goals, it comes out in dialogue. “Motivation plays a huge part in conflict development at all story levels because conflict typically arises when characters don’t get what they want,” Puglisi writes. “So when you’re planning your protagonist’s conversations, consider what they’re after. What are they hoping to achieve through that discussion? Then pit them against someone whose goal is in opposition to theirs.”
