Understanding Conflict (And What It Really Means)

Skill Builders Series #2

by Janice Hardy

Do you struggle with creating conflict in your novel? You don't have to. Janice Hardy, award-winning author and founder of the popular writing site, Fiction University, takes you deep inside one of the most important aspects of storytelling--conflict. She'll help you understand what conflict really is, discuss the various aspects of conflict, and reveal why common advice on creating conflict doesn't always work. With in-depth analysis and easy-to-understand examples, Understanding Conflict (And What It Really Means) looks at how to develop and create conflict in your novel. It also explores the things that affect conflict (such as tension), and the misconceptions that confuse and frustrate so many writers. This book will help you:
Understand what conflict means and how to use it Tell the difference between external and internal conflicts See why conflict isn't a "one size fits all" solution Determine the type of conflict your story needs Fix lackluster scenes holding your writing back Understanding Conflict (And What It Really Means) is more than just advice on what to do and what not to do-it's a down and dirty road map to how conflict works, designed to help you create the right conflict for whatever genre you're writing. By the end of this book, you'll have a solid understanding of what conflict means and the ability to use it to craft strong and compelling fiction.

Genres: Writing, Nonfiction, Crafts, Reference

144 pages, Paperback

First published July 31, 2017

About the author

Janice Hardy is the award-winning author of the teen fantasy trilogy The Healing Wars, including The Shifter, Blue Fire, and Darkfall from Balzer+Bray/Harper Collins.

She also writes the Grace Harper series for adults under the name, J.T. Hardy.

When she's not writing fiction, she runs the popular writing site Fiction University, and has written multiple books on writing, including Understanding Show, Don't Tell (And Really Getting It), Plotting Your Novel: Ideas and Structure, and the Revising Your Novel: First Draft to Finished Draft series.

Reviews

[Irvin Rodhe · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thanks to this book I could actually understand what conflict really is and how to use it to elevate your writing to another level. It's not a quick read, I had to read it twice and re-read some parts, but it was totally worth it. I've read other books about this subject but none were that informative as this one. Highly recommended for any aspiring authors.

[Bonnie Randall · Rating 5 out of 5]

As a writer you have doubtlessly had at least one crit partner tell you that your story "lacks conflict" - and then been baffled as to how your manuscript is underperforming. Understanding Conflict peels away the layers of misconception about this beast called 'conflict' and helps define the direction a manuscript needs to go in order to maximize the conflict in a story (hint: conflict is not tension. And obstacles are not conflict either).

An excellent manual for veterans and /or newbies. Janice Hardy is clearly passionate about the craft of writing, and it shows through in her deeply analytical, yet conversational style of instructing the art of writing solid, compelling prose.
5 Stars.

[Jonathan H. MONTES · Rating 5 out of 5]

This review was inspired by my annotations. To view all my detailed annotations you are welcome to join my Patreon page (John Lawchamp). For $0.99 you can read my favorite lines and excerpts from the book with additional personal thoughts. The annotations are released once the review of that book has been posted on Goodreads. Why spend $15.00 on a book you are not invested in when you can explore the main topics for a fraction of the price? Visit Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/Lawchamp

John Lawchamp’s Review:
A writer should never stop reading about writing, or reading in general. This book runs 120 pages, paperback. I would say that every page is critical, or at least a good chunk of it to understand what truly defines conflict in fiction. Some writers throw events into their stories thinking that they are creating conflict and pumping-up the stakes, but in reality they are just pumping air into a tire with a giant hole, and even more so while listening to the hisss of the exiting air they continue pumping and pumping. Why? Because they never learned the meaning of conflict when it comes in the form of writing and building a plot. This book will help with that!
I enjoyed it and saw it fit for the 5 star rating.

[Adrian · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was an excellent book. It really helped clarify a lot of confusion I was having with the concept of conflict and what it means and also how to create it and use it appropriately. This will be getting a lot of use as a reference book!

[Riley Trist · Rating 5 out of 5]

Y’all are NOT READY for how good my book is gonna be after this next revision!!

[Mary Catelli · Rating 4 out of 5]

A how-to-write book.

What is conflict, how it relates to tension, how it differs from character arc (which you may not need), the importance of goal and motives for everyone, obstacles and whether they move the story forward -- and more.

[Don Gerstein · Rating 5 out of 5]

Writers can't go wrong reading this book. Janice Hardy delves deep into the definition of conflict, focusing how writers mistakenly believe they have created conflict while in fact they haven't introduced any challenge into the task.

Ms. Hardy doesn't present a do this/don't do that approach; rather, she offers hundreds of examples that present a clear vision of the topic. I found myself thinking of many opportunities I had missed to create reader interest through conflict, and I found myself with pages of notes to review the drafts I am currently working on.

I rate this book highly, a must read for anyone who might be struggling with engaging readers and keeping them turning pages from start to finish. Five stars.

[KT · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hardy has created an excellent book which outlines the basic aspects of conflict and which includes tips on how to create conflict. Unfortunately, the book fell apart in the last two to theee chapters. Hardy started to repeat things she’d already discussed, while labeling them as new different ideas. She contradicted things she said earlier and the organization of the text becomes confusing. Overall however, very helpful for as an introduction to conflict in fiction writing.

[CK · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the third guide book by Janice Hardy I read. (after "plotting your novel" and "understanding show don't tell").

This one delivers just like the others did. It was clear, structured, full of practical advice, and full of useful examples. These are truly useful tools.

I was afraid that this book may be just a repetition of sections of "plotting your novel" but it was not. There is obviously some overlap as there should be, but there was real added value to this book.

[R. Evergreen · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is fantastic.
It provided me a myriad of options to introduce more conflict in my stories. It was clear, concise, detail-oriented.

After a thorough read I'm confident I can incorporate not only more conflict, but also make it more diverse and make it spring up from different sources in my material.

[Piero Mattirolo · Rating 5 out of 5]

I gave this book a 5 star rating not because I consider it an outstanding book in absolute terms, but rather because it does fulfil its promise of helping understand conflict in writing.
The author provides useful advice on introducing or enhancing conflict in fiction writing.

[Peggy Miller · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great!

This has been very beneficial for someone like me as a newbie fiction writing. I appreciate your detailed, but easy to gasps the information you provided. New writer need the mechanical of writing broken down.
Thank you, this is a must read for writers.

[Valerie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such a helpful book. Conflict is my nemesis in my writing and this book has helped to her me some solid tools and direction in how to fix it and make the conflict in my stories pop. This will be one of my writing bibles that I will refer to time and time again.

[Chessela Helm · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a great book about writing conflict. Lots of great analysis and new ways of looking at things.

[Shu Long · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well developed, straight to the point and practical.

[Mario Russo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good stuff.. I'm kinda enjoying these books that are focused on one topic only and goes as deep as it goes. Hope it becomes a trend. Recommended.

[G. Edward Smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book.

Perfectly written and amazing advice. The easily readable book is chocked full of great advice and has helped me so much in planning my second novel.

[Ann Thomas · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the most helpful books on writing I have ever read. Highly recommended.

[Nikki Kincaid · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really helped me understand conflict and how to add it to my writing.

[James Walter Lee · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good, but not great. I enjoyed Hardy's book Understanding Show, Don't Tell more. She's a brilliant teacher, but I didn't connect with this book like her others.

[Kathleen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent resource.

[Marcy Kennedy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Full of good information and useful examples.

[Linda Grischy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent book for writers who want to improve their craft. Janice has a way of explaining things, making it easy to follow. I highly recommend this book.

[Andrea Bøe Abrahamsen · Rating 5 out of 5]

A treasure trove of good tips about story conflict!

[Lori Puma · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent introduction to how to create conflict in fiction.

Ms. Hardy catalogs the different meanings of "conflict" across different types of stories and all the ways writers can go wrong in trying to create those different types of conflict. She covers what she calls the "conflict of the plot"-- the physical challenges characters face-- as well as the "conflict of the character" --the mental/emotional challenges that arise in a character's mind.

I'm a developmental editor, and I've found that the writers I work with need more lengthy examples and repetition over time to truly master the concepts covered. However, this book is a great place to start and belongs on every novelist's reference shelf.

[Pamela Harstad · Rating 4 out of 5]

Many ideas

Janice presents several opportunities to add conflicts to your novel. Good for planning or fixing your story. A resource to keep.

[Judy L. Mohr · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book reviewed by the JLM Writing Books Book Club (https://storycoach.judylmohr.com/book...) in April 2022. The first two chapters of this book provides useful information, defining what conflict within writing really is and what it isn't. However, this book became repetitious with examples that didn't overly make sense if you weren't already familiar with the examples chosen.
This book was not added to the recommended books for writers list that Judy maintains on her website (https://storycoach.judylmohr.com/book...).

[Tanya Gold · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good introduction to the concept of conflict in fiction.