CONFLICT Q&A

Coming back to the Q&A on Conflict, having covered the basics of External and Internal conflict, it's time to look at one of the questions I've been asked about it -

Lacey said:

I really struggle with balancing internal and external conflicts and I tend to lean toward external. While I understand the principles of letting the internal drive the external I'm still not getting it right. I'm sure I'm missing something... Where's the magic formula ;)

My simple answer is - Don’t balance them!

The 'magic formula' is this -Internal conflict must always be the most important.

INTERNAL =INSIDE = EMOTIONS
INTERNAL EMOTIONS/EMOTIONAL CONFLICT drive the plot.


In other words, the external conflict must create the internal conflict and combine with it – and then the internal conflict (the feelings) must drive everything.

People act on emotions. On what they feel inside.There may be external conflict but it’s what they FEEL about it that motivates them and drives them into conflict.

EXTERNAL can add to/ make an internal conflict worse but the INTERNAL must be there and must be the dominant driving force.

And EXTERNAL can only make it worse if they let it (ie if the INTERNAL) lets it.


Let's recap on Romeo and Juliet
There is a feud between the families - which is EXTERNAL

Romeo and Juliet are from those different families which is EXTERNAL

But when they meet what they feel (which is INTERNAL) makes them want each other more than this feud.

But they believe their families will hold them back/punish them/ opposite family might even kill them(INTERNAL) They fear they can never be together.

If they didn’t give a damn about their families/feelings/thought they could persuade them – the EXTERNAL conflict wouldn’t push them into doing what they do. It's those INTERNAL feelings and conflicts that do that.

How does it worsen ?

When Romeo sees Tybalt fight Mercutio – his INTERNAL conflict makes this EXTERNAL one worse – and the INTERNAL conflict makes his feeling at having fought the enemy - and killed Tybalt - worse

Juliet’s INTERNAL conflict is made worse because Romeo – who she loves - has killed her cousin – so she should hate him. But her feelings for him (INTERNAL) make her INTERNAL conflict worse.

Then her father insists she marries Paris. EXTERNAL. Her feelings for Romeo (INTERNAL) and the fact she is already married (EXTERNAL) are affected/made worse by her INTERNAL conflict which drives her to the fake death plot.

EMOTIONAL/INTERNAL conflict should underlie everything that’s happening. It should always be in the characters’ and in the readers’ minds. It is the INTERNAL conflct that makes your hero and heroine react, that motivates them, that drives everything they do.

So Lacey, if you tend to lean towards the external, you are getting the balance all wrong. You need to focus on the internal conflict and let that dominate.

We'll look at ways of getting this balance right later.

(c) Kate Walker 2010

Conflict Q&A 4 - Internal Conflict

The second - and much the most important form of conflict is INTERNAL CONFLICT

INTERNAL CONFLICT

INTERNAL CONFLICT is the characters’ own problems, their personality traits, fears, doubts, beliefs, which they have to change or overcome to get their happy-ever-after.

Internal conflict is also called CHARACTER ARC.

INTERNAL conflict is a person’s INTERNAL struggle over opposing goals. It is inside, hidden from witnesses

INTERNAL CONFLICT comes from the characters themselves; it’s whatever they bring to the story, both emotionally and intellectually.
An emotional conflict is one that grows from feelings.

EMOTIONAL conflict is always internal.
The EMOTIONAL CONFLICT needs to affect the hero and the heroine’s relationship, so that they are irresistibly drawn to each other while simultaneously feeling that a relationship can’t possibly work between them

Emotions don’t have a logical basis and they can’t be reasoned away – they ARE

( Lesley Wainger)
INTERNAL is PERSONAL in that it grows from innate issues and insecurities everyone has. You carry them around with you. They touch you on the deepest and most personal levels

INTERNAL CONFLICT is

- the meat of the story
- The real issues that keep the characters apart after external problems have been solved
- Misplaced guilt, fear of rejection, pride, lack of self-esteem – internal problems
- Often the characters are unaware of their internal conflicts so these are the last ones to be resolved.
- Think of conflict (particularly internal) as like an onion – peel away the outer layers(External conflicts) , more and more until you get to the heart – the internal conflicts - and then go deeper till you find the REAL problem.

- The soft core is the part of character hidden away – because protected - because most vulnerable, deepest feeelings are carefully hidden except from those we trust the most

Characters must have both internal conflict and external conflict

External conflict makes the internal conflict worse
Internal conflict makes the external conflict worse

Think about Romeo and Juliet - the family feud (external conflict) had been dragging along for a long time before R & J actually met.

It was when they met and fell head over heels for each other that everything changed - and the internal conflict took hold -

The feud now kept them from declaring their love

It forced them apart

At first Romeo tried to avoid the brawls in the street etc - but

When Romeo became involved in a duel with Juliet's cousin and killed him then the whole story turned into a tragedy.

Juliet was torn between loving him and hating him for killing Tybalt

All of these are the internal conflict that makes the external conflict so much worse
And then the Duke banishes Romeo (external) Which makes it even worse

And Juliet's father insists she marry someone else . . .

And the whole thing snowballs out of control - which leads the two lovers to their terrible lowest possible point - their Black Moment.

Of course with R&J it ended in tragedy so there was no Happy Ever After Ending. But this is the point you want to bring your reader to - the one where they reall feel there is no chance of a HEA, until . . .

But we'll come to that later.

(c)