No Conflict, No Story: Make It Count!

The Greeks had a good word for this: agon. It’s where we get protagonist and antagonist from. Essentially, what they realized was that the real center of drama was conflict. You may remember this series of conflicts from your high school literature class:

Man vs. Man
Man vs. Nature
Man vs. Himself
Man vs. Society

Although very simple—and we recognize that Man vs. Himself is not a satisfactory way to describe Hamlet—this list effectively shows us that stories are about different kinds of conflicts. And, if you think about the books that most moved or influenced you, you’ll realize that they are all centered around a conflict.

Do not think about your story in a Man vs. Man way if your detective protagonist is matching wits with a serial killer. Do use this kind of conflict to understand that it is really about how the character is revealed through the conflict.

By: Marc D. Baldwin, PhD

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Marc D. Baldwin, PhD, is the Owner/President of www.edit911.com, one of the world’s best editing services. Founded in 1999, Edit911 has edited over 21,000 documents for 15,000 clients. They have a perfect A+ BBB rating and a 100% satisfaction guarantee.