Conflict is the backbone of any good story. It makes readers want to keep turning the pages, desperate to discover what happens next. If you want to write a novel packed with conflict, you’ve come to the right place. In this blog post, I’ll give you tips on crafting dynamic scenes of conflict that will keep your readers hooked from beginning to end.
So, what are some tips for writing conflict in your novel? Here are five to get you started:
- Make sure each character has a clear motivation for why they’re doing what they’re doing. Without this, the conflict will feel contrived and forced.
- Allow the conflict to escalate gradually. Start with small disagreements and then amp up the stakes as things progress. Conflict doesn’t always have to be big and dramatic. Sometimes the most interesting stories come from more subtle conflicts, like those between friends or family members. Experiment and see what works best for your story.
- Don’t be afraid to let your characters make mistakes. This will only make them feel more real and relatable to readers. We need to be able to root for them, and this means giving them relatable goals and motivations. Remember that not every character needs to be involved in every scene of conflict. In fact, sometimes, it can be more effective to have just one or two characters locked in battle while the rest of the cast watches on from the sidelines. This allows you to focus on the emotions and motivations of the characters involved and explore their relationship’s intricacies.
- Use dialogue to heighten the tension between characters further.
- And finally, remember that conflict should always serve a purpose. It should move the story forward and help to develop the characters in some way. One of the best ways to create believable conflict is to write about universal themes we can all relate to. Love, loss, betrayal, ambition, greed, fear… these are all emotions that we have all felt at one time, so they make for great fodder for conflict in your novel.
With these tips in mind, you should be well on your way to writing conflict that is dynamic and engaging. Would you like to talk about writing conflict? Get in touch here.
Want to read something similar? Check out the following:
How to Create a Realistic Character
How to Create Tension in Your Writing
