Escalate Conflict to Keep Readers Turning Pages
Writer’s Digest|May - June 2024
Draw readers in through physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual conflict.
JANE K. CLELAND
Escalate Conflict to Keep Readers Turning Pages

Every great story depends on conflict to propel it forward. Conflict is found in your book's overarching concept-the big idea-expressed in a way that highlights the tug-of-war between opposing forces. The more profound the conflict, the more compelling the read. Conflicts can be transcendent, fueling the plot of a sweeping epic novel or memoir, or they can be of limited scope, telling an important story by focusing on a single example. Broadly, there are four categories of conflict:

  • Physical-an altercation or a threatened attack
  • Emotional-a feeling that drives the character to act, such as loneliness, love, or depression
  • Spiritual a loss of faith, self-doubt, or shaken beliefs 
  • Mental-an intellectual challenge or puzzle

Your story can focus on any one of these categories, some combination of them, or all of them.

Deciding whether a conflict is suitable for a certain story is a complex task. Not only do certain genres come with specific reader expectations, but the conflict has to be relatable.

All Conflicts Are Internal

On the face of it, it would seem that there are two kinds of conflicts: external and internal. However, it is people's reactions to an incident, not the incident itself, that generates a conflict. In other words, all conflicts are internal. If someone doesn't care about a situation, you don't have a conflict. This means, of course, that we need to understand what makes people care. Consider what other authors (see chart on next page) have observed about the anatomy of conflict, starting with one of America's founding fathers, Thomas Paine, who said, "The harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph."

Storytelling Requires Conflict

It's easy to mistake premise for conflict. Consider this: In Victorian England, a couple meets and falls in love.

Do you see the problem? There's no conflict.

هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة May - June 2024 من Writer’s Digest.

ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.

هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة May - June 2024 من Writer’s Digest.

ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.

المزيد من القصص من WRITER’S DIGEST مشاهدة الكل
Writing for a Warming World - Imagining the overwhelming, the ubiquitous, the world-shattering.
Writer’s Digest

Writing for a Warming World - Imagining the overwhelming, the ubiquitous, the world-shattering.

Climate change is one of those topics that can throw novelists—and everyone else—into a fearful and cowering silence. When the earth is losing its familiar shapes and consolations, changing drastically and in unpredictable ways beneath our feet, how can we summon our creative resources to engage in the imaginative world-building required to write a novel that takes on these threats in compelling ways? And how to avoid writing fiction that addresses irreversible climate change without letting our prose get too preachy, overly prescriptive, saturated with despair?

time-read
8 mins  |
July - August 2024
Kids' Author Meg Medina Inspires Readers
Writer’s Digest

Kids' Author Meg Medina Inspires Readers

WD chats with the National Ambassador of Young People’s Literature.

time-read
6 mins  |
September - October 2024
The Horrors of Grief
Writer’s Digest

The Horrors of Grief

Whether hot off the presses or on the shelves for years, a good book is worth talking about.

time-read
3 mins  |
September - October 2024
The Mystery of Growing Up
Writer’s Digest

The Mystery of Growing Up

New York Times-bestselling author Jasmine Warga tackles a new genre with her signature blend of empathy for her readers, agency for her characters, and the belief that art is the great connector.

time-read
5 mins  |
September - October 2024
Education
Writer’s Digest

Education

Even if it's not your thing, you're probably familiar with the term dark academia.

time-read
4 mins  |
September - October 2024
A Do-Over Romance
Writer’s Digest

A Do-Over Romance

Karin Patton, the first-place winner of the 24th Annual Writer's Digest Short Short Story Awards, shares a funny story about secondchance love and a brief Q&A.

time-read
7 mins  |
September - October 2024
Everyday Wonder
Writer’s Digest

Everyday Wonder

How to mine awe from the mundane

time-read
8 mins  |
September - October 2024
From Ordinary to Extraordinary
Writer’s Digest

From Ordinary to Extraordinary

Unveil the hidden beauty in the facts and transform your nonfiction with the power of wonder.

time-read
6 mins  |
September - October 2024
Childhood: Our Touchstone for Wonder
Writer’s Digest

Childhood: Our Touchstone for Wonder

How to get in touch with Little You and create big new work for today.

time-read
8 mins  |
September - October 2024
Agent Roundup
Writer’s Digest

Agent Roundup

22 agents share details, about what kind of writing will pique their interest and offer tips for querying writers...

time-read
6 mins  |
September - October 2024