Wattpad Creators Weekly Writing Challenges

Conflict in Storytelling

Hello, Creators! 

We hope you're feeling feisty, because today's post is all about conflict! Conflict is the backbone of most western storytelling traditions, and a necessary element when it comes to hooking and engaging readers. Conflict is created when your character comes up again obstacles that prevent them from achieving goals. If conflict were a mathematical formula, it would look like this: Character Goal + Obstacles = Conflict.

Conflict can exist on a societal level, an individual level, and an internal level. While most stories focus on one central conflict, some stories will use all three main types of conflict at one point or another.

Person vs. Society

The Person vs. Society conflict depicts a character's conflict with larger social forces. Usually, a character struggles with a community or social context that controls, exploits or condemns them for being who they are. For instance, a person who identifies as queer or LGBTQ+ in a culture that detests gender non-conformity. Conflicts between individuals and society most frequently occur when a society's rules forbid a person from making certain decisions or following certain instincts. Because of this, a character's goals clash with society's demands. The Handmaid's Tale and 1984 are great examples of the Person vs. Society conflict.

Person vs. Person

The Person vs. Person conflict is the most common type of conflict seen in stories. This is your classic Hero vs. Villian/Protagonist vs. Antagonist setup. The Villian is stopping the Hero from achieving their goal, or they are both competing for the same goal. However, this style of conflict can also describe your Hero going up against their friends and family. Think about what characters want from each other and how they're going to collide, even if they are on the same team.

Person vs. Self

The internalized Person vs. Self conflict can be the most difficult for a writer to pull off, but it has the capacity to be the most rewarding for the reader. Like in real life, characters often have deep-seated internal beliefs about themselves that are holding them back from achieving their goal. Imagine a character who is devoted to peace having to go and fight in a war, or someone afraid of the outdoors being forced to go on an epic global adventure. The best characters are forced to challenge everything they think they know about themselves in order to achieve their goal.

For this week's exercise, come up with a list of all the conflicts in your story. Why type of conflicts have you already built into your narrative? Does your story have an antagonist? Can your protagonist struggle with their society at some point? Do they have an internal struggle? Is there any way to add additional conflict into your story to make it more compelling? Do you think you could use all three types in your story?

Happy writing!