A to Z Challenge: Conflict and Complications

Hi all! Just a reminder that I have a competition going to draw a map for the winner. So if you want a map but can't draw it yourself, e-mail me at mishagericke(AT)gmail(DOT)com.






There was once a girl who decided to write a book. She opened a word processor and started on her story. She wrote and wrote and before long, her story was finished. After a few adaptions, she believed her book to be ready and queried her favorite agents. The fifth one signed her and by the end of the year, she had a book deal. She published and the book became a best seller and she got an interview on Oprah. 


The End. 


Not very satisfying, is it?


Well, I'm happy for the girl. I mean I would love to go through the experience of finishing a book with no issues and getting an agent very quickly.


BUT. Do I feel happy and completed for the experience of reading the girl's story?


Uhm... no.


Why not? Because I write, and I know that just the process of writing is not simple. In fact, this whole idea of someone picking up a pen and quickly scribbling off a story with zero effort sort of grates my nerves.


I mean she didn't even fight for it! She made a decision and the fruits of her minimal effort fell into her lap.


That's where conflict and complications come in.


A common mistake among novices and non-writers is the belief that conflict involves at least two characters snarling each other and making each other hurt/sad/angry.


In reality, conflict in the literary sense refers to internal and external things and events that stands in the way of a character achieving his/her goal.


With internal conflict, the character has to face obstacles within him/herself in order to "win". To me, the lack of confidence, alcoholism, phobias and certain thinking patterns can serve as causes of internal conflict. For example, spiders standing in a character's way to the goal might not be that much of a problem unless the character wants to melt into a quivering heap because she/he's arachnaphobic.


If the spider is in fact Shelob, that would be an external conflict. Because now the character has to face a massive spider that is keeping him/her from the goal. Now, the factor serving as the obstacle is moved to outside the character.


So, the example of the characters above not getting along can become conflict if it is made bigger than petty squabbles. For example, one character can be the evil antagonist. Or the characters have to work together to get to the goal - and then the relationship must be on the verge of fracture.


The attainment of the goal(s) must be threatened.

There was once a girl who decided to write a book. She opened a word processor and started on her story. She wrote and wrote, but about half way through, a virus crashed her computer. For a long time, the girl wanted to give up, after all, she'd given everything she had to get to where she was. And now it was all gone. Still, she needed to write, so she started again. She edited her book to as good as she thought it could get, but then froze. What if she wasn't good enough? What if none of her wish list agents said yes? But she ended up doing it any way, because she knew she worked so hard. Then the rejection letters streamed in. One after the other. But she kept querying, knowing that one would say yes. The fifty-ninth agent on the list signed her in the end and by the end of the year, she had a book deal. She published and the book became a best seller and she got an interview on Oprah. 

The End. 

Better, right? I've already got a lot more sympathy going for the character. But is it as suspenseful as it can be? Not yet. 

I mean... everything is so cut and dried, isn't it? 

That's where complications come in. To me, complications make things difficult for the character. It won't necessarily stop him/her from reaching the goal, but it will certainly add extra stress that the character could deal without (but we readers couldn't). 

So that example of the characters bickering can be a good complication, because it makes thing harder on the character. 

I could list more examples, but the possibilities here are endless. Anything will work as long as it gets to the character. 

There was once a girl who decided to write a book. She opened a word processor and started on her story. But she soon found that the writer's life was far from easy. For the rest of her life had to carry on too. Her family did not always understand the depth of her passion for the story and seemed to interrupt her every time she touched the keyboard. Every now and then, she'd get work assignments that she couldn't postpone. But on she worked. Until disaster struck about half way through the story. A virus crashed her computer. For a long time, the girl wanted to give up, after all, she'd given everything she had to get to where she was. And it was all gone. Still, she needed to write, so she started again. It took months for her to get back to where she was, but eventually, the battled her way through. She edited her book, but struggled to get the story to shine. One crit partner would say they loved the story but hated the characters. The other said they loved the characters but thought the stories needed some more work. She took both into account, but still followed her gut and polished away to as good as she thought the story could get. When time came to query, she froze. What if she wasn't good enough? What if none of her wish list agents said yes? But she ended up doing it any way, because she knew she worked so hard. Then the rejection letters streamed in. One after the other. But she kept querying, knowing that one would say yes. The fifty-ninth agent on the list signed her in the end, but although the agent was great at getting interest in the story, the girl and the agent just didn't really like each other. Still, they stuck through it and gained each other's respect and by the end of the year, she had a book deal. She published and the book became a best seller and she got an interview on Oprah. 

The End.

So that's conflict and complications to me. How do you think about it?