A lot of writing advice starts with “Stories need conflict” but often ends there as well. Less attention is paid to creating the right kind of conflict or – as Kathryn Craft says in a post on Writer Unboxed – relevant conflict. “Have you ever been reading a book and out of the blue, some problem arises that you just don’t care about?” Craft asks. “As if ripped from the pages of some other book, a problem that feels irrelevant will stand between your reader and the further progression of the tale you thought you were writing.”
To ensure your conflicts are relevant, Craft recommends that you:
- Pay attention to your story’s identity. Choose your premise and theme, and align your novel’s events to align with those choices.
- Choose the right inciting incident. “While you might hook readers on the opening page with a bridging conflict, it is the inciting incident that changes everything in your protagonist’s life and tips her into the story,” Craft explains.
- Choreograph your cast. “Your story should focus on the attainment of your protagonist’s goal,” Craft writes. “The other characters are present to support or obstruct that goal in a way that will either directly or tangentially tie in to the premise.”
Craft also suggests a tool you can use to determine whether your conflicts are relevant. “Scene by scene, you achieve true, relevant conflict when each member of your supporting cast has a personal goal that 1) intersects with the protagonist’s achievement of her goal, and 2) either directly or tangentially ties in with the premise,” she explains. “Such conflict will then arise organically, and result in emotional turning points for your protagonist that keep him or her moving toward a satisfying, relevant ending.”
