Hellooo, everybody! Today we're talking about the one thing
that literally every novel thrives on, conflict! Conflict is the crux of storytelling and
plotting. It is the root of every TV show, movie, comic book, book—whatever. Which basically
means that if you can't write conflict, you can't write a story, no pressure.
A lot of writers feel intimidated at the prospect of writing conflict, which is kind
of weird. We experience conflict in our everyday lives. We are surrounded by chaos and turmoil.
Or is that just me? The point is conflict isn't difficult to master, at least when you understand
its basic parts. Today I am breaking down the ten best tips for writing conflict. I'm telling
you how to break it down to its key parts, how to make it last throughout your novel, and
how to use it to surprise your readers. If you want to nail storytelling and craft a conflict
that absolutely hooks your readers, stick around. (The sound of a pen scratching. LOGO.) Before we get started, thank you so much to
Milanote for sponsoring today's video. Milanote is an easy to use tool that allows you to organize
your projects and ideas into visual boards. It's not the same as traditional software. Most
software exists as a linear document, but Milanote allows you to move your ideas all over the place,
like a studio wall or a poster board. This makes a lot more sense because creativity is anything
but linear. Milanote allows you to take your big mess of ideas and move them around however you
please, which is perfect for mapping out ideas, organizing, and planning your novel and its plot.
It serves as a creative hub for whatever you're working on. Like planning your author platform,
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feedback. Personally, I'm a big fan of Milanote. I use this platform every single day. I use it to
plan out my YouTube content. I use it to work on my newsletter. And of course, I use it to map
out my writing, including crafting conflicts. And even better, you can use Milanote for free!
$0. If you're ready to start planning your book, including its kick ass conflict, check out
Milanote for free using the link below. And if you're super hyped about Milanote like
I am, upgrade to their pro subscription. It is amazing. Don't forget to subscribe to
my channel. I post new videos on Wednesdays, and if you wanna be alerted as SOON as I upload,
ring that bell. The Savior's Champion and The Savior’s Sister are available in ebook, paperback,
hardback and audiobook. They're available at all major retailers. So if you like yourself some dark
fantasy romance with tons of conflict, check them out. They're linked below. Now I'm breaking down
the ten best tips for writing conflict. These tips are pivotal to crafting a compelling story
and you definitely need them in your arsenal. Number One (1): It's mandatory. Conflict
is the basis of plot, without conflict you don't have a story, period. “But Jennaaa,
my book is light hearted and fluffy!” Big fucking deal. Conflict simply means a struggle,
disagreement, or incompatibility that lasts for a long period of time. A conflict can
be as serious as the end of the world, or as frivolous as which teen queen is gonna
rule the school. Examine books, TV shows and movies from completely different genres. No
matter if it's romance, sci-fi, or horror you will notice one common denominator. Conflict!
The basis of storytelling revolves around one or more conflicts that the characters have to
overcome. So basically, there's no getting around this. You don't need life or death stakes, but
your books gotta feature some kind of struggle. Number Two (2): What does your character care
about? If you're struggling to pin down a conflict? Take a look at your main characters and
ask yourself, what do they care about most? At the start of The Savior's Champion, Tobias cares
about his family's well being. At the start of The Savior’s Sister, Leila cares about her sisters, as
well as the protection of her realm. Thus it makes sense for their conflicts to revolve around these
elements. If the characters cared deeply about something, any issue involving those things is
going to matter a lot to them. They'll be invested in resolving this conflict, and so will the
reader because they're following this character's experience, their thoughts and emotions. It's also
important to note that what your characters care about can change throughout the story. This is
especially relevant if there are relationships, whether they're romantic, familial, or platonic
that develop throughout the course of the story. The more complicated the plot becomes, the more
avenues for care and conflict you can explore. Number Three (3): Give your goal and
obstacle. This is the easiest way to create conflict. Take the thing your character
cares about and put an obstacle in front of it. They care about getting into Harvard, but a
handful of their peers are standing in the way. Two characters care about one another,
but their communities come from rival gangs. They care about supporting their family,
but they have to enter a deadly tournament in order to do so. Take a look at what your
character cares about, or what their goal is, and put an obstacle in front of it that
makes it hard to achieve. It's that simple. Number Four (4): Genre matters. You already
know that conflict is mandatory in all genres, but not all genres treat conflict the same
way. In certain genres, conflict needs to be life and death. But in other genres, the
conflict needs to be light or even funny. This is why it's important to understand your genre.
Especially if you're writing a multi genre story, or a story that fits into a sub genre. Say you're
writing a murder mystery, obviously in this case, the stakes need to be life and death.
But if you're writing a romantic comedy, the stakes need to be much lighter because
your goal is to make the reader laugh. A lot of romantic comedies include stakes like losing
your job, or getting a crush to like you. Sure these are very real stakes, but they're not
the end of the world. Compare this to sci-fi, which often boasts stakes that are literally
the end of the world. Creating a conflict that fits your genre will help ensure that you're
meeting your target audience's expectations. Number Five (5): Every chapter matters.
Each chapter needs to move the conflict forward in some way. It doesn't have to be
huge, like a plot twist or a cliffhanger. It can be the tiniest inch forward.
So long as the conflict is evolving, you're on the right track. This is
a problem that's often overlooked. Writers will devote an entire chapter
to nothing but character development, or a tiny funny moment that totally deviates
from the plot, but gosh darn it, isn't it cute? It really isn't. The conflict, whatever it is,
needs to remain relevant from chapter to chapter. Which brings us to, Number Six (6): For every
answer, create a question. This is one of the easiest ways to see if your conflict is relevant
from chapter to chapter. Conflicts usually create questions. Will they survive? What's her SAT score
good enough? Who's the father? It's fine to answer questions throughout your story. In fact, you
absolutely should. Otherwise readers are gonna get bored or confused. But for every question you
answer, try to create at least one new question. They don't have to be back to back or related
to one another. But every chapter should end with some questions still lingering. Because
if all the questions are answered, there's no reason to keep reading. And quite often, answering
questions will automatically create new questions. Number Seven (7): Avoid sagging middle syndrome.
Sagging middle syndrome is when the middle of your novel meanders. The plot is abandoned, the
stakes remain the same, and nothing important happens. Often sagging middle syndrome comes down
to abandoning the conflict. The conflict has been put on the back burner while the author explores
subplots or filler, for pages upon pages. Don't do this. Remember what we just talked about.
Every chapter needs to move the story forward, even a small bit. You can do this by intensifying
the conflict, answering questions, and creating new questions. The point is the middle of your
novel has to be engaging. You can't just abandon the conflict, because the readers will get bored
and put the book down. I may or may not have an entire chapter about sagging middle syndrome
in Shut Up and Write the Book. Just saying. Number Eight (8): Conflicts can change. A lot of
writers overthink conflict. They're worried that they can't make it last throughout the entirety
of a novel. The thing is, it's super common for conflicts to evolve over time. This happens across
all genres. The conflict at the start of the novel doesn't have to be the same as the conflict
at the end. Take the Savior's Champion, the conflict at the start of the novel is that Tobias
really needs to find a way to financially support his family. This conflict is resolved by chapter
three. He enters The Sovereign’s Tournament which guarantees his family income for life. But now
we have a new conflict. Tobias is stuck in this tournament and his goal is to not die. Then he
develops feelings for a woman he's not supposed to fall for, which puts his life in greater
jeopardy. And then he learns that she doesn't wanna be associated with the tournament either,
which creates a new goal. Escape the tournament and take her with him. This is the case for a lot
of stories. I encourage you to examine TV shows, movies, books, comics—whatever else, and you will
notice this happening a lot. Even if the goal remains the same, the obstacles may change, and
that's a great way to keep your readers engaged. On a related note, Number Nine (9): Raise the
stakes. In order to keep the story engaging you need to make sure the conflict remains engaging. A
conflict that stays the same isn't engaging. Thus, we have to constantly raise the stakes. You
can do this in multiple ways. As we already covered you can change the conflict itself.
But you can also keep the goal the same, and simply worsen the obstacle. Say the
obstacle is an evil wizard. But now he has super deadly magic at his disposal.
Instantly the stakes have been raised even if the conflict remains the same. On the
flip side we can keep the obstacle the same, but intensify the goal. Maybe originally your
character just wanted to save their family, but now they have to save the whole world. This
is your job as a writer, as the story progresses think of ways to make the conflict even more
dire. This also applies to lighter stories. Sure, a job promotion isn't life or death stakes, but if
new competition rolls in, that's clearly going to raise the stakes. Ask yourself what can I do
to fuck over my character, and do just that. And Number Ten (10): One of my favorite tips,
subvert expectations. Certain conflicts are expected in certain stories and that's fine.
There's always going to be a murder in a murder mystery. There's always going to be a haunting
in a ghost story. But subverting expectations is a great way to surprise the reader, and put
a spin on a particular conflict. This doesn't mean you betray the genre. That is the last
thing you wanna do. But provided you don't break genre rules, you can still put your own
spin on certain tropes or cliches. For example, in the romance genre, miscommunication is a
very common conflict. One character only hears part of a conversation and assumes the worst,
or they witnessed something and misinterpret what happened. Miscommunication is a real
thing that happens in real relationships, so it makes sense to include it in romance. But
usually this conflict lasts for the whole damn novel, which can really annoy readers. This is a
perfect opportunity to subvert a common cliche, and surprise your readers. In The
Savior's Champion, Tobias and Leila have a miscommunication that leaves Leila pissed
off for no reason. Based on reader expectation I could have allowed this miscommunication to
continue for the entire book, but instead, I had it resolved in the very next chapter. They have
an adult conversation, Leila listens to Tobias, and then she apologizes for overreacting. This
is how subverting expectation works. You take a conflict that typically occurs in a certain
way, and then you write it differently. It's a great way to move the overall conflict
forward while still surprising the reader. So that's all I got for you today. Thank you so
much to Milanote for sponsoring today's video. Like I said, I use this platform every day.
I am a huge fan, and even better you can use them for free! $0. Nothing! I got Milanote linked
below. Definitely check them out, and if you are a big fan of them like I am, upgrade to their
pro subscription. It's amazing. Don't forget to subscribe to my channel. I post new videos on
Wednesdays, and if you wanna be alerted as SOON as upload, ring that bell. The Savior’s Champion and
The Savior’s Sister available in ebook, paperback, hardback and audiobooks. So if you'd like yourself
some dark fantasy romance with a whole lot of conflict, definitely check ‘em out. They're linked
below. And be sure to follow me on social media. I'm on Instagram, TikTok, BookBub and Facebook.
And of course you can tweet me @JennaMoreci! Bye! (Older Male Voice) This is Wembelton! If you
haven't subscribed to Jenna's channel, then by all means, go for it! The people will love you
for it! Go on! Press the button. Ding that bell! See you soon!
