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Conflict without Combat
Conflict is one of the knottiest and most misunderstood elements of fiction. That makes sense, of course-- conflict is designed to perplex and challenge the character, and that difficulty often affects the author too. The misconceptions about conflict are many, and can often be traced to helpful editors who demand more and more conflict ("Just get them up a tree and throw rocks at them!") and then reject books for having "too much contrivance, too much bickering."
But conflict can't be dismissed as just too complicated to bother with, because it is, quite simply, the fuel that powers the plot. Without conflict, you might write a great character study, or a lovely portrait of a group of people living in a certain time and place... but you won't have a tragedy or a comedy or an epic... or even a story. The trick is treating conflict as an ally, not an enemy, in the crafting of your story.
So this booklet will guide you through understanding conflict in a deeper Its purpose in the story, and its purpose for the character. Then there will be some exercises which will help you work through this in your own story, especially how conflict can connect plotting with characterization, causing change both in the story events and in the protagonist.
First comes a definition of conflict (what it is, and what it isn’t).
Then we’ll outline the conflict through the three acts of the plot.
Then we’ll get into conflict and character.
Then we’ll look at how to “do” conflict in the turning point scenes.
This booklet, by award-winning author and teacher Alicia Rasley, gives you examples and exercises to help you apply these insights to your own story.
But conflict can't be dismissed as just too complicated to bother with, because it is, quite simply, the fuel that powers the plot. Without conflict, you might write a great character study, or a lovely portrait of a group of people living in a certain time and place... but you won't have a tragedy or a comedy or an epic... or even a story. The trick is treating conflict as an ally, not an enemy, in the crafting of your story.
So this booklet will guide you through understanding conflict in a deeper Its purpose in the story, and its purpose for the character. Then there will be some exercises which will help you work through this in your own story, especially how conflict can connect plotting with characterization, causing change both in the story events and in the protagonist.
First comes a definition of conflict (what it is, and what it isn’t).
Then we’ll outline the conflict through the three acts of the plot.
Then we’ll get into conflict and character.
Then we’ll look at how to “do” conflict in the turning point scenes.
This booklet, by award-winning author and teacher Alicia Rasley, gives you examples and exercises to help you apply these insights to your own story.
64 pages, Kindle Edition
Published January 14, 2016
2 people want to read
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