Conflicts. They have the tendency to keep you interested.Conflicts sell. Despite the wish for a happy ending - and believe me, I ooh and aah with the best of them for one of those - trials, tribulations, and all those annoying adversaries must come out of the woodwork to make that happy ending all the more magical. Click for Free Writer's Block Help E-Zine and Free E-Book When the Sex and the City movie came out, I was more than ready for Carrie and Mr. Big to finally tie the knot, but when another hour and fifteen minutes or so still remained, I should have clued in right then to the concept of conflict. It wasn't until Mr. Big called Carrie to say he wasn't coming to the wedding that I realized that this was inevitable, as it had to stimulate the plotline even more. Because the hour and fifteen minutes remained, the conflict had to occur, although conversely, the remaining time was just enough for it to be remedied. Through the twists and turns of any good plotline, without giving too much away if you haven't seen it, a happy ending was had. The mere fact that loyal viewers watched Carrie and Big through their ups and downs on HBO, only to follow them to a blockbuster hit in theaters proves beyond a reasonable doubt that conflict most definitely sells. So spice up your stories with some of it. Make a young girl the object of ridicule and rejection, only to make her all the more deserving of being crowned homecoming queen. Capture the angst of a restaurant owner who can't seem to drum up any business until a famous celebrity eats in there one day and publicizes the homemade apple pie as the best he's ever tasted. Think about your favorite TV shows, movies, and books. Don't they all share the element of conflict? Let's look at some examples: Example #1: Television Week in and week out, Lost makes readers ponder the usual questions: What? How? When? Where? Why? All of these questions relate to the turmoil that each character feels and the problems that arise from not knowing all there is to know about the island. Example #2: Movies Stand By Me, a movie about four boys searching a railroad track for the body of a boy their age, addresses the conflict of growing up, and also of who will find the body first. Will it be the younger boys who the movie's audience is rooting for? Or will it be the older gang who just wants to capitalize on the fame they'll garner from finding a dead body? Antagonists most definitely help to create a myriad of issues for the protagonists of a story. Without the older gang (the antagonists of this particular movie), the odds wouldn't be at all against the younger boys, and conflict wouldn't exist, making for a less exciting plot. Example #3: Books If Harry Potter isn't chock full of drama, I don't know what book is. J.K. Rowling is a master of her craft, and mystifies readers with her truly magical storytelling. She weaves the various plotlines of each of her seven Harry Potter novels together, and makes sure no stone is left unturned, no questions left unanswered, and no detail left unknown. It was a truly incredible experience to read her seventh Harry Potter tale and find that I no longer had any questions remaining or details I had missed. Everything was answered - as it should be when writing is of that caliber. A knowledgeable writer knows how to work conflict into their piece. After all, would you want to read Harry Potter if you knew that no one ever had a problem with anyone else and the wizarding world was hunky dory? No tension ever existed and the characters never disliked one another at all? This wouldn't be exciting or emotional for you as you read. As writers, we are constantly seeking involvement with the subject matter we are reading. So give the same thing back as you write. Involve your audience or you just might lose them. Would you want to watch 24 if you knew that every character would survive till the end? Of course not. So characters on that show have to be wounded or die. There must be some sort of trouble. Otherwise the show would be a flop. Suspend disbelief. Even if the idea being presented seems ludicrous, believing in it is part of the magic of reading and writing. Don't discount what you're reading or writing because it seems ridiculous. The author of what you're reading may have a point they're getting to that you just don't see yet. You may have a point to what you're writing and not see just what it is yet. You'll get there whether you're reading it or writing it. Just have patience. Every story you've read, movie you've seen, or TV show you've watched, if it is any good, has some sort of conflict in it. Even if you don't notice it at first glance, it is there. Someone has a problem with someone else. It may even be a squabble at the cash register about the price of the cereal being bought. A fight may have broken out. There are so many options. Use your own life to consider what you have been upset about at times. Even if they just occurred in your own mind (you were upset about something and didn't know what to do to remedy it), that still counts. Writer's block is a conflict. Use the examples above and all throughout this website to resolve this and master your writing technique. You'll see that just as reading through conflict is worth the price of getting to the satisfying end of a novel, play, short story, etc., writing it is just as satisfying. You're writing what people are looking for and mastering your writing ability at the same time. So mix a little conflict into your stories. A happy ending can be your goal, but give your readers someone or something to root for. They deserve it, and you can deliver it!
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