Conflict is the opposition between a character and whatever stands in the way of what they want, whether another person, the world around them or their own mind, and it drives the action of a story.
Where the term comes from
Merriam-Webster gives the literary sense as the opposition of persons or forces that gives rise to the dramatic action in a drama or fiction. The Wikipedia article on narrative conflict says conflict can be internal, inside a character's mind, or external, between a character and outside forces. It reports that the basic types have been codified as man versus man, man versus nature and man versus self, with a fourth, man versus society, sometimes added, while noting that these categories are not universally accepted. It also lists others that writers mention, including man versus machine, fate, the supernatural and God. The same article says conflict creates tension by leaving the reader unsure which side will prevail, and that a story can have several conflicts at once. The wording is traditional and gendered, and it is easy to restate as character versus character, nature, self or society.
An example
Rosalind keeps bees on a hillside farm. In one afternoon she faces three conflicts. Her brother arrives to say the farm should be sold, and they argue (person versus person). A storm is coming, and the hives are exposed (person versus nature). Under both, she is quietly wondering whether she stays out of love or out of fear of leaving (person versus self). The scene works because the three pull in different directions: saving the hives means turning her back on the argument, and winning the argument means letting the hives take their chances.
Common mistakes
- Conflict that is all argument and no cost. Two characters shouting at each other do not make a conflict unless something is at risk.
- Only external conflict, so the character has nothing to decide on the inside.
- Resolving the conflict by coincidence, which spares the character from the choice that the story built.
- Giving every scene the same type of opposition, so the book feels repetitive.
How to check your manuscript
For each scene, write what the viewpoint character wants and what stands in the way. If either answer is blank, the scene may have no conflict, and that may be fine for a breather but not for several in a row. Then label the type of each conflict and look at the mix across the book. A story with only one type can feel narrow. Finally, check the ending: which conflicts resolve, which stay open, and whether the reader will feel the result. The entries on the antagonist and the subplot show two ways that opposition is organised.
In Musael, the plan board keeps notes on every scene, so you can write the conflict beside the scene it belongs to and scan the whole book for gaps.