April 13, 2020– We know that every story must have conflict and resolution, but did you know that there are six different types of story conflict? Let’s explore:
- Person vs. Person– This is the most common type of conflict in novels. It is the protagonist vs. antagonist (hero vs. villain). A good example of this type of conflict is…well…take any Disney movie; Gaston vs. the Beast, Ariel vs. Ursula, Mulan vs. the Huns and so on. There are too many examples to list of this kind of conflict!
- Person vs. Nature– This means conflict between characters and environment such as natural disasters etc. Some perfect examples of this type of conflict are the books/movies Twister or Dante’s Peak.
- Person vs. Self- I like to think that my novel Becoming James Cass (coming soon from Pandamonium Publishing House) is an excellent example of the conflict between the main character and himself. He’s always struggling to fight off his demons and has a ton of inner-conflict and self-destructiveness.
- Person vs. Society– The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood is an excellent example of this type of conflict. Struggles between individuals and the social codes in their world are what this type of conflict is all about.
- Person vs. Supernatural– We’re talking about pretty much any book by Stephen King. Pet Sematary is one of my favourites, but so is It…these are excellent examples of conflict between characters and the supernatural/paranormal world.
- Person vs. Technology–Machinia by Paul Moscarella (coming October 2020 from Pandamonium Publishing House) is an example of Protagonist vs. Technology. This is the conflict between character vs. scientific discovery. Also see, Terminator and Robocop for some other great examples.
What type of conflict does your novel have? Happy writing, X LLB
