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Conflict

Force Your Character to Make Hard Choices

January 3, 2023

Force Your Character to Make Hard Choices

January 3, 2023

One of the best things about conflict is that it pushes your characters to act. In every scene, your characters are making choices—big ones and small ones, and thereby steering…

How to Uncover Your Character’s Inner Conflict

November 10, 2022

How to Uncover Your Character’s Inner Conflict

November 10, 2022

Conflict is a powerful element within the story and can be loosely categorized as either Outer (external) Conflict or Inner (internal) Conflict. The difference is that outer conflict is something…

The Role of Failure (and Conflict) in Character Arc

November 3, 2022

The Role of Failure (and Conflict) in Character Arc

November 3, 2022

The change arc. The process whereby, over the course of a story, the protagonist becomes aware of their weakness and evolves in whatever way is necessary for them to achieve…

How to Reveal a Character’s Internal Conflict

September 27, 2022

How to Reveal a Character’s Internal Conflict

September 27, 2022

If you’ve been on the writing trail long enough, you’ve heard plenty of talk surrounding conflict and the role it plays in storytelling. Whatever form it takes—annoying neighbors, quarrels with…

Release Day: The Conflict Thesaurus (Volume 2) Is Here!

September 6, 2022

Release Day: The Conflict Thesaurus (Volume 2) Is Here!

September 6, 2022

A new writing guide is joining the family today, so please say hello to the SILVER Edition of The Conflict Thesaurus: A Writer’s Guide to Obstacles, Adversaries, and Inner Struggles.…

A Look Inside The Conflict Thesaurus SILVER Edition

August 30, 2022

A Look Inside The Conflict Thesaurus SILVER Edition

August 30, 2022

In the past when we’ve released a 2-volume set, it’s always been at the same time, but with the Conflict Thesaurus, life was just too busy to try and do…

Use Conflict to Target a Character’s Soft Spots

August 25, 2022

Use Conflict to Target a Character’s Soft Spots

August 25, 2022

Conflict is a key story ingredient, one we need a lot of, but this doesn’t mean quantity is better than quality. Fiction isn’t a video game; waves of bad guys…

Need Conflict? Just Let Your Characters Talk

July 5, 2022

Need Conflict? Just Let Your Characters Talk

July 5, 2022

Story conflict has many purposes. It provides opportunities for failure and growth, elevates what’s at stake, and escalates emotion for the character and readers. We also know that our stories…

“They’re All Gonna Die!” Wait, Why Does That Matter?

June 14, 2022

“They’re All Gonna Die!” Wait, Why Does That Matter?

June 14, 2022

By Jami Gold Want to draw readers into our story? Of course! To do so, we often attempt to make the stakes bigger. Typically, that’s a decent approach. But imagine…

Setting Description Mistakes that Weaken a Story

March 29, 2022

Setting Description Mistakes that Weaken a Story

March 29, 2022

When you think about the key elements of storytelling, characters and plot immediately come to mind, but what about the setting? Do you view it as 1) a vital story…