Conflict is so important in novel writing. It's the key component that moves the story and characters forward. You should really have a conflict for every single character. When I'm writing a novel, personally I use index cards and have one for every character. On the cards, I write (by the way I use colored cards) the character's name, looks description, religion, likes, dislikes, kids, spouse, where they're from, and conflict. I pack everything I can think of on that card. When you're writing many characters, it's easy to forget, "Does Jo have blue or green eyes?"
When I was learning about how to write with conflict, I would watch a movie, I would say, "Breakfast at Tiffany's" is a great example, and I would get out a note pad (large one) and write down every character, what their internal and external conflicts were and what the arc of the story was, and the resolution of said conflicts.
I am posting here a lengthy but worthwhile lesson in conflict writing by Fay Robinson.
Building Conflict In Stories
Copyright 2000 by Fay Robinson
Conflict arises from characters not getting what they want. They must want something very badly, want it for a strong reason, and then be denied it for external and internal reasons. Conflict should grow steadily through the book, intensifying to a point where it appears there's no hope for the character to get what he or she wants. Conflict builds as the character faces larger and larger problems. And what a character wants often changes as a result of what he learns.
As a writer, your job is to keep your characters from getting what they want, at least as long as you possibly can. When they get what they want, the story is over. Delay their satisfacton. Place believeable problems in their path and make those obsticles grow bigger the harder the characters try to get past them. Avoid melodrama, however. Conflict must be believeable or your story won't be believeable. You'll lose the reader.
The movie JAWS is an excellent example of how conflict is introduced and grows throughout a story. No, it's not a romance. It's a story about courage. But it's gives writers a great visual lesson on conflict. It's also a great lesson on theme, the values of theme and how writers use them to create scenes. Those values are indicated in blue.
Let's dissassemble this story. I've indicated where the conflict is introduced and when and how it rises. I've indicated the basic scenes usually present in a novel and what they are (Initiating Event, External Conflict Emergence, Appearance of the Antagonist, Rising Conflict, The Reversal, The Point of No Return, the Crisis, the Climax, the Resolution) in red.
The deadline, always helpful in a novel to increase conflict, is indicated with an * I've also put goals, motivations and conflicts of the characters in boldface type.
JAWS STRUCTURE
From: the movie JAWS co-written by Peter Benchley and not the book by Benchley.
Major Characters: The shark, Police Chief Martin Brody, scientist Matt Hooper, shark killer/fisherman Quint.
Major Secondary Characters: Mayor Larry Vaughn.
Theme: Courage
Positive Value of Theme: Courage
Negative Value of Theme: Cowardice
Contrasting/Conflicting Value of Theme: Inaction; inappropriate action; foolish action
Negative/Negative Value of Theme: Thinking you're brave when you're not, or when you're actually being foolish.
Time deadline: Holiday weekend approaching.
Setting: Amity island, Massachusetts.
Visual item that expresses the theme: water
Dramatic Question: Will Brody have the courage to overrule the city council, put his phobia aside and deal with this threat to his new home?
Situational sentence: A police chief, a scientist and fisherman team up to kill a rogue shark terrorizing the inhabitants of a Massachusetts island.
Thematic sentence: A modern-day Ahab must overcome his phobia about water and his position as an outsider to protect his town and family from a man-eating shark.
Scene 1. INCITING INCIDENT
Young people enjoying a party on the beach at night. There's drinking. Girl, Chrissy, goes for a swim. She appears to be very good swimmer by her acrobatics. Boy who followed her is drunk and passes out before he can go into the water. Chrissy is viciously attacked by something underwater. She seems to almost get away from her attacker by clinging to a buoy, but attacker drags her away. She goes under and doesn't resurface. Something has killed a good swimmer.
Scene 2: Introduction of main character Chief Martin Brody. We learn this is Amity, an island, and that Brody is not an "islander" but an outsider from New York. This is the introduction of internal conflict into the story. Brody is out of his usual element. Brody's goal appears to be to enjoy life in this new, warm climate. He gets a call about the missing girl. His wife Ellen tells him not to get into trouble. "In this town," he says with a laugh. We know, then, that this is a quiet town. Brody goes to the beach where he and others find the partially eaten body.EXTERNAL CONFLICT EMERGES Girl isn't missing, she's dead, and something in the water apparently killed her.
Scene 3: The July 4 weekend is next week, the biggest weekend of the summer. (* Deadline *) Brody types his report. The medical examiner says it was a shark attack. Conflict escalates--girl wasn't accidentally killed; confirmation this was attacked by shark. Brody decides to close the beaches. (goal changes) (POSITIVE VALUE) so no one else will be injured (motivation) We discover this is a resort town dependent on tourist dollars and closed beaches this time of the year mean lost revenue. (CONFLICT) Boy Scouts are out swimming in the bay and tourists are starting to arrive. Conflict escalates--tourists mean more food for the shark. Introduction of Mayor Larry Vaughn and the city council. ANTAGONIST SHOWS UP (Vaughn) Conflict escalates--never had this kind of trouble in this town. Medical examiner amends report to say girl got tired and drown. Vaughn wants merchants to have a successful holiday weekend (goal) because this weekend's revenue will keep some of them off welfare during the winter (motivation). He will not back up Chief Brody's request to close beaches. (CONTRASTING VALUE: unwillingness to act by Vaughn and acceptance by Brody.)
Scene 4: ANTAGONIST SHOWS UP (Shark). First introduction to shark as a true character and major force of antagonism. Families at the beach, including Brody and his family. Conflict rises--we discover that Brody doesn't ever go into the water for some reason. We see a dog fetching sticks in the water. Others reluctantly go in at the urging of the mayor. Conflict rises--Dog disappears. A second victim, a boy, is eaten by the shark.
Scene 5: Conflict rises--Mother of eaten child posts a $3,000 bounty, which sets off more problems for Brody. Vaughn tells newspaper reporter to bury the story on the back page. Council agrees to have shark spotters and close the beaches, but only for 24 hours. (CONTRASTING) Conflict rises--Introduction of Quint, a crusty shark fisherman, who says this shark can swallow a person whole. He offers to kill it for $10,000 but council doesn't hire him. (CONTRASTING)
Scene 6: Chief Brody starts reading about sharks. Conflict rises--what he learns scares him more. His own child is sitting in a dingy at the dock that he got for his birthday. Brody and wife order him out of the water.
Scene 7: Night. Two men in a boat trying to catch the shark for the reward. They come ashore and chain a roast to a pier. The shark gets the roast. Conflict rises--shark is very big. We start here to get a sense of how big when shark pulls the pier. He also isn't frightened. When one man falls in the water he comes after him. Man gets out in time.
Scene 8: Pandemonium. Men overloaded in boats after the bounty. People coming in from all over, running into each other, using explosives. Conflict rises--someone is going to likely get killed trying to kill the shark. Introduction of Hooper, the scientist. He as called in by Brody. Hooper views remains of girl. Conflict rises--this definitely was a shark attack and not a propeller or accidental drowning. Damage to the girl is horrible. The shark, he says, is also larger than average. He decides to stay and help with the shark instead of going to his 18 month assignment (GOAL) because the situation is very unusual (MOTIVATION).
Scene 9: A shark is caught and strung up on the pier. Go national with the story, mayor tells the newspaper reporter now. (CONTRASTING VALUE) Brody is happy. His problems appear to be over. He wants to believe this is the shark because he really doesn't want these problems. He wants back his nice, quiet life. (REVERSAL OF PLOT) Conflict rises--Hooper says this is a Tiger shark and 100 to 1 isn't the shark that killed people. Bite radius is too small. He wants to open its digestive system. Slow digestive systems, he says. Boy's remains will still be there. This will be proof. Conflict escalates--Mayor says no. Boys mother shows up. Slaps Brody. He knew shark was out there for a week and didn't close the beach. Internal conflict escalates for Brody--Brody feels guilty for not fighting city council and doing the right thing.
Scene 10: Brody's house. He's a little drunk. Hooper arrives. Conflict escalates--still have a shark problem, Hooper says. Internal conflict escalates--Wife tells us that Brody has a major phobia about water. He never goes in it; he stays in his car when he rides the ferry. Brody has learned through his reading that this is probably a rogue shark and territorial. He won't leave and he'll feed on the swimmers. Brody realizes they will have to kill the shark to get rid of it (revised GOAL) or otherwise it will continue killing (MOTIVATION). No one, even his own family, will ever be safe.
Scene 11: Brody and Hooper go against Vaughn and cut open the Tiger shark. (POSITIVE VALUE). No remains of the child are found. Conflict escalates--Hooper convinces him to go out on his boat at night to pinpoint the shark's location. (POSITIVE VALUE). Brody is a bit drunk but also knows this is necessary, so he agrees. In 25 years there's been on murder or unusual death in Amity until now, he says. Conflict rises--they come across another victim, a fisherman. A tooth in the hole in the bottom of the boat is from a very large, Great White. Hooper drops the tooth, the evidence.
Scene 12: At the beach, Brody and Hooper try to convince Vaughn that they have a big problem. But Vaughn is still reluctant, especially because Hooper doesn't have evidence. (CONTRASTING) Conflict rises--it's July 3, the beginning of the holiday weekend. Beaches will stay open and shark, described by Hooper as an eating machine, will have lots to feed on.
Scene 13: Ferry arrives packed with holiday tourists. Brody tries to get extra deputies. Conflict rises--no deputies available until Monday. Tourists flock to the beach. Brody patrols. Vaughn convinces people to go in the water. Brody's oldest son wants to go in with his sailboat but Brody says no, put it in the pond instead. Vaughn tells news reporter than rogue shark that "supposedly injured" some bathers, is gone, although in actuality three people have been killed. He continues to deny what needs to be done out of foolishness. (NEGATIVE/NEGATIVE) Conflict rises--shark is seen going into the pond. Knocks over a boat and son's boat. Chews off the leg of a boater. Almost grabs Brody's son. Brody makes a decision; has had enough stalling. He'll make Vaughn sign the voucher and hire Quint to kill this shark. And he'll help. POINT OF NO RETURN.
Scene 14: At the hospital, Mrs. Brody asks if he wants her to take the kids home. Back to NY? No, he indicates. They are staying here. (reinforcement of his point of no return decision). He forces Vaughn to write a $10,000 voucher to hire Quint. Vaughn signs. His kids were on the beach, too. (change of goal for Vaughn--to protect people's lives rather than merchant's income) (POSITIVE)
Scene 15: Quint's place with Hooper and Brody. Conflict between Quint and Hooper is obvious. Quint is an old seaman who doesn't trust anyone under 60. He dislikes the "wealthy college kid" Hooper and doesn't want him along on the hunt for the shark (conflict for Hooper to his goal). Hooper comes along as a mate at the request of Brody, but Quint makes it clear he's the captain and the others will do what he says. Quint will do the job (GOAL) but wants the money and other concessions (MOTIVATION).
Scene 16: On the water, Quint says he used two barrels once to float a shark so he could kill him. Tension/conflict between Quint and Hooper starts to escalate. Brody nearly blows them up with the compressed air tanks. He's out of his element. Shark begins to toy with them. He's very smart, Quint says. Conflict rises--shark is not doing what most sharks do. They get their first good look at the shark. He's 25 feet long and weights 3 tons. On radio to Mrs. Brody, Quint says everything is ok, not to worry. (CONTRASTING VALUE). He thinks he can handle the situation but he's being unrealistic. He shoots one line with a barrel into the shark. Brody loses his courage. He wants a bigger boat. (NEGATIVE VALUE)
Scene 17: Night on the water. Quint and Hooper compare scars. We learn that Quint was a member of the U.S.S. Indianapolis, which was torpedoed in 1945 after delivering the bomb for Hiroshima. 1100 men went into the water. All but 316 killed by sharks. He hates sharks and that's why he's spent his life hunting and killing them. (QUINT'S TRUE MOTIVATION). Shark attacks boat. Conflict rises They lose lights. There's a brief fire.
Scene 18: Dawn. Conflict rises-- salt water in fuel puts boat engine in bad shape. Brody gets on radio for help. Conflict rises--Quint destroys the radio. They will have no help. Quint thinks he's being courageous but he's being worse than a coward, he's being a fool. (NEGATIVE/NEGATIVE). Quint fires 2nd barrel into the shark, and a 3rd. Conflict rises--shark still stays down with 3 barrels, boat is smoking. When they tie barrels to cletes on the boat, the shark is able to drag it. They try to drag the shark to shore. Conflict rises--shark is dragging them back out to sea. The boat floods. They lose cletes. Shark attacks boat again. Quint finally realizes they are no match for this shark. He heads for shore. Conflict rises--shark chases them. engine is overheating and smoking, boat is quickly sinking. Shore appears in the distance. Motor quits completely.
Scene 19: Quint all out of ideas. He asks Hooper what he can do with his fancy equipment. Hooper goes over the side in the shark cage. He plans to inject poison into the shark. Conflict rises--shark attacks cage and crushes it; Hooper drops spear gun with the poison. Attempt to wench the cage back up causes more damage to the boat. They are about to sink. Conflict rises--Shark attacks back of boat, kills Quint. CRISES. Brody is now apparently alone. Quint is dead. Hooper, he thinks, is dead. The boat is sinking and Brody can't swim. All appears lost. Death seems imminent. (DARK MOMENT). Shark comes into wheelhouse to eat Brody. He stuffs an air tank in its mouth in desperation. He manages to climb out and grab a rifle. Boat has sunk to level that only very top is visible. Brody climbs the mast and boat sinks. Clings to mast as it goes over towards water. Brody shoots at air tank and misses as shark attacks. Conflict rises--Brody almost in the water; gun almost in the water. Brody has possibly one shot left before he's in the water and dead. He shoots, hit tanks and tank exploded. Shark is killed. CLIMAX.
Scene 20: RESOLUTION. Brody clings to wreckage. Hooper appears. He is alive. Together they use wreckage as a life preserver and kick towards shore.Their courage has saved the town and people's lives.
