How to Create Central Conflict: The 6 Types of Central Conflict

Central conflict in a novel is when a main character’s defining desire clashes with an internal or external obstacle. Early in most stories, a powerful change will initiate the main conflict for your protagonist. In traditional literary terms, the rising action introduces the conflict, and the falling action resolves it in some way by the end of the story. The central conflict molds the shape of the journey your characters will take.

The purpose of conflict is to move a story forward. Identifying the central conflict is a crucial step in formulating the driving force behind your idea. If nothing is at stake, then a person’s choices don’t matter very much, and the audience will begin to lose interest. If you always give your characters what they want, your story will lack tension. Conflict and tension are what your characters need in order to grow, so don’t let them get off easy. Don’t just think of conflict as dramatic action, it can come in any form—it will depend on what your characters want and what stands in their way of getting it. The most important thing to remember is that conflict should increase as the story progresses.

There are a few common types of conflict you can deploy in your writing:

1. 1. Internal conflict vs. external conflict: Most central conflicts are an artful blend of both inner conflict and outer friction. An external battle will inevitably give rise to internal conflicts; overcoming both leads to change. This schism is often present among the types of conflict below—for example, sometimes a character must do things they ordinarily wouldn’t do or would strongly disagree with in order to overcome the obstacle at hand.
   
2. 2. Character vs. society: Often, the harsh rule of a society conflicts with the freedom of your protagonist. That goes for oppressive dystopian governments, as well as particularly smothering social norms—anything that sets your main character away from the status quo. Katniss Everdeen railing against injustices of The Hunger Games, Romeo and Juliet defying political divides, and Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale are all examples of what happens when characters take on societal pressures.
3. 3. Character vs. character: Pitting characters against one another is a time-honored literary element, whether it’s a standard hero and super-villain clash, or something quieter, like dramas between neighbors or friends. In this case, the relationship itself becomes the central conflict, oriented around a key difference in worldview. Think Harry Potter versus Voldemort or Hamlet versus his scheming, power-hungry uncle.
4. 4. Character vs. nature: Sometimes, forces of nature make a more-than-adequate foe. Nature conflicts introduce the unpredictability and indifference of weather and wildlife, pitting your hero against the elements. In The Old Man and The Sea by Ernest Hemingway, a man meets his match in a giant marlin. In Robinson Crusoe, a young adventurer is shipwrecked on an island for nearly 30 years.
5. 5. Character vs. technology: A showdown between a character and an invention that grows out of control usually centers around a larger question of morality or humanity. In the age of AI, it’s a popular conflict to unpack. I, Robot, a short story collection by Isaac Asimov, features a cast of human-like robots in situations that demand action with philosophical consideration.
6. 6. Character vs. destiny: This type of central conflict was a favorite of the ancient Greeks, who built stories around characters who tried to avoid their preordained fate. It’s a technique still employed in contemporary literature, too: In Neil Gaiman’s American Gods, a man named Shadow is conscripted into the service of mythic gods who still walk among modern society, despite his attempts to leave them behind. In Lord of the Rings, Frodo confronts his destiny through a number of trials as the destroyer of the ring.

When expanding your narrative, you’re going to need to create conflict for your protagonist (and your bad guy, too). For this, you’ll need forces that work against them, like antagonists or any oppositional element that thwarts your character’s main desire. You can build conflict from a character’s standpoint, stemming from their unique core values or fears, or from a thematic question you’re looking to explore, like good versus evil. Here are some tips for creating a central conflict for your story:

• Go big. The stronger the forces of antagonism are, the more well-developed your character will become.
• Align the conflict with your protagonist’s wants and needs. The conflict should be tailored to your protagonist’s main desire.
• Shift your protagonist’s situation from bad to worse. Conflict and the pressures of conflict have to increase with time, or you’ll lose the reader’s interest.
• Raise the stakes. What a character wants must be important enough to fight for—from their point of view. It doesn’t have to be literal life and death, though it must feel close.
• Make your conflict worthy of your themes. Petty squabbles do not make a narrative. When creating a central conflict, be sure it aligns with the dramatic themes and questions of the overall story and makes sense within those parameters. A good central conflict demands attention and is complex: It cannot be solved right away.

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