Conflict, as painful a teacher as it can be, is an opportunity for characters to discover who they really are—but only if they can let go of who they were. In this way, it drives character development. It demands action, forcing the character to step up, fight, and recommit to the goal, which in turn proves their worthiness to readers.
It will push the character to their limits and, in their most desperate moments, reveal who they truly are—their morals, values, and beliefs.#6569•
In 2016, the University of Vermont and the University of Adelaide took on an ambitious project: analyze the emotional arcs of 1,737 works of fiction from Project Gutenberg's collection and determine how many narrative plots they consisted of. The answer? Six. Each could be attributed to one of these six distinctive plot shapes that emerged over the scope of the story:
Rags to Riches: The story of a character who starts out disadvantaged in some way and goes on to overcome adversity and make it big. This story has a steady "rise" shape that takes it from failure to triumph (rise from despair).
Riches to Rags: The story of a character who has it all, then loses everything. This tragedy has a steady "fall" shape to it, a decline from start to finish (fall from grace).
Man-in-a-Hole: The story of a character enjoying a successful status quo who suffers a fall, taking him to the lowest of lows, which he then fights to pull himself out of. The shape of this story is one where two highs frame a dip or hole (fall-rise).
Icarus: The story mirrors the Greek tale of Icarus, who used wings of wax and feathers to escape his prison. But when he ignored the warnings about flying too high, the sun melted his wings and he plummeted to his death. This shape is marked by a character's rise and then his untimely fall (rise-fall).
Cinderella: This is the story of a downhearted character who gains happiness and fulfillment only to lose it and fall into despair. But rather than end there, the tale continues with the character making a comeback (rise-fall-rise).
Oedipus: This story, like the tragic Greek tale of the same name, involves a character who starts out well but quickly lands in trouble. They successfully climb out of this pit, but the rise is short-lived and they descend again to their doom (fall-rise-fall).#6593•
Often, conflict catches a character unaware—meaning, they act the best they can in the moment. Sometimes they succeed, and other times they fail. A victory might reveal strengths to feel proud of or areas to consider for improvement. A failure might show just how outmatched the character was or expose a blind spot, such as the case just mentioned in which the character's motherly instincts were used against her.
In a perfect world, the postmortem of the event should help the character determine what comes next and how to be better prepared. But, in reality, it often causes internal conflict to bubble up, especially if self-blame is lurking, triggering fears of not measuring up, being inadequate, and failing other people. These negative responses cloud a character's judgment and may hold her back.#6585•
Another beautiful aspect of the conflict-relationship combo is that a character's professional and private lives will contain a net of connections similar to a spider's web. Conflict that causes friction in one relationship will connect to others, triggering a host of problems. This can be useful when you need to bring your character to their lowest point by damaging their reputation, removing their closest supporters, or forcing them to choose work over family or family over their career.
Giving them bumps to navigate in a relationship can also help them see themselves from another's point of view, awakening them to their own shortcomings, which can spark the desire to grow and change.
And the right conflict can remind them of who and what they're fighting for … and why.#6586•
For conflict to matter to readers, something needs to be at stake: a cost incurred if your character fails to navigate the situation successfully#6574•
A fatal flaw is the character's blind spot. He doesn't see the damage it does, only the benefit of it stopping a problem before it can start. In the story, the fatal flaw will stand in the character's way of what he wants most. Until he realizes how his dysfunctional behavior and attitudes are limiting him and adopts a healthier approach, he will continue to fail to achieve his heart's desire.
Ironically, failure aids in this process by shining a light on the character's flaw and making it harder and harder to ignore.#2088•
Conflict is the event that demands a response; external or internal, it drives the character to make a decision. And there's no way out of it, because not choosing is also a choice that generates its own consequences.#2089•
Consequences are the result of the character's choice and can be positive (the right decision leading to a reward) or negative (fallout that hurts the character and makes the goal harder to achieve). In storytelling, consequences usually have strings attached—meaning, even if a character goes with the best option, there will be new problems, challenges, and unforeseen circumstances to navigate.#2087•
Hobson's Choice: Have you ever been offered something you don't really want, but maybe it's slightly better than nothing? That's a Hobson's choice. An example would be applying for a promotion and instead being given the choice of a deep pay cut or being laid off.#2096•
Sophie's Choice: This scenario is one where the character must choose between two equally horrible options. Named for the book (and movie) Sophie's Choice, in which the character must decide which of her two children will be killed, this is known as the impossible, tragic choice. However, it can also simply be a time-and-place decision, when the character can only be in one place at that time.
And the ramifications don't have to be catastrophic.
They can be minor—as in the case of the character being able to attend their own college graduation or their grandmother's 100th birthday party.
Regardless of the decision, guilt will accompany the character's choice in this kind of scenario.#2091•
Morton's Fork: This choice is agonizing because both options lead to the same end. It's Max (Mad Max) handcuffing Johnny the Boy to a gas tanker that has a time-delay fuse and handing him a hacksaw. Dying from the explosion or the loss of blood from cutting off his own ankle … it's a deceptive choice because there is only one outcome.#2097•