I can’t tell you the number of times I’ve sat down with students and discussed their writing just to reveal to them that they have no real story. It seems real to them. They gave details. However, at the end of their story, there is no great resolve or relief. It is simply words on paper detailing boring points that lead nowhere.

Conflict must happen. Action begins with the first conflict that leads to the next and the next and the next… until the character reaches a turning point. They get what they want or they don’t. They live or they die. Something big is about to happen, and once that something happens, all excitement falls to a resolution that feels natural. No more cliffhangers leaving us on the edge of our seat. As a reader, we may want more of that character, but we are left feeling satisfied with the ending.

Conflict, depending on the genre, can come in many varying degrees. Misunderstandings in a romance. Who is the killer in a mystery. Maybe the conflict is much deeper and they are battling themselves and their own insecurities. Or perhaps, they are battling against the chains of society that keeps holding them back because of race or economic reasons.

When planning out your novel, think about that main conflict and all of the conflicts in between. How can you show those conflicts? Plan it out clearly. Include it in your outline. Then write it out.

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