Must Have Conflict

Conflict may be an uncomfortable part of life, but it’s a necessary part of stories.  Now this may seem obvious to most, but so many of us also like happy stories where everyone gets along since so few get along like that in real life.

Don’t get me wrong – I like happy endings.  I’ve written often before about how dark stories can lead to brighter resolutions, and how I detest writers pulling the rug out from underneath me and giving me a shitty ending that makes me feel awful.  That’s not what I’m talking about – I’m talking about how stories must have conflict to be interesting to the read.

Let me tell a story from my childhood.  There was a great board game I used to love called Survive.  You had to escape from an island that was breaking apart and get to safety, all while avoiding sharks, waves, and other hazards.  One game, my friends and I decided we wouldn’t try to put any obstacles in anyone else’s way.  The result was a disaster – very boring and everyone tied.  We decided right then and there, for the sake of entertainment, that we had to have some conflict.

Novels are the same way.  People won’t read a book where everything is hunky-dory because nothing is at stake.  So find some stakes.  Find some conflict.  You don’t have to be an asshole and try to be overly shocking, but there has to be something.  Even children’s books have conflict.  If you do otherwise, then you’ll have an audience smaller than that subset.