Wednesday's Writer's Tip - Conflicts #MFRWauthor #BooksWeLove

The major characters in every story need both an inner conflict and an outer one. The outer one is often easier to come up with than the inner one. The outer conflict belongs to the plot and the inner one to the character or characters.
An outer conflict and be a phenomena of nature, one of society and one of people against people. These can be easier to design than the inner conflict. The outer one must be urgent. We've all seen these in stories. You have five days to solve this problem. In two weeks something drastic will happen. Time plays an important part of the outer conflict.

The inner conflict is different. This is some inherent part of a character's nature. This could be the temptation to step outside the rules of society to gain an object. This war could take place within the character. Can I do this and still regain the love or respect of another  of the characters he or she wants to impress.

Both the inner and the outer conflict must be of great importance to the characters and to the story. Weak or vague conflicts weaken the story. Conflicts too easily solved do the same thing. Readers want to see the characters struggle with their conflicts and to overcome them. A conflict that can't be conquered also leaves the reader wondering.

So design your character's conflicts both internal and external by making them hard to solve or overcome but always knowing that they must be solved.