Abstracting Conflicts · 1:16pm Oct 12th, 2015
Invisible Ink
Conflict of Interest: Abstracting Conflicts
Like all things in writing, there’s knowing the rule, understanding the rule, then knowing when to throw it straight out of the window. As such, I want to focus on when most of what I’ve said about narrative conflict can take a long walk of the proverbial short pier.
A story must have conflict or it just isn’t going to be interesting, but what happens when some or all of that conflict is not produced by characters? Well, where diffuse, low-intensity conflicts are very similar to a story’s setting, abstract conflicts are more akin to a story’s plot. The first example that springs to mind is the 2011 film Warrior, where two estranged ex-army brothers end up fighting in the same MMA tournament against each other. This is the premise for the story, and it’s made pretty clear where it’s going about 20 minutes in – that is, it’s the plot of the film. It’s also a major source of the story’s escalating conflict, but neither brother knows about the other until well over halfway into the film, so this conflict exists only as an expectation on the part of the viewer. This is conflict existing in the abstract.
Conflict generates emotion which results in engagement. A mystery is information a reader wants that has not been presented to them yet; a joke is a buildup of expectation subverted into surprise; a train-wreck plot is one where the reader can anticipate a future conflict that the characters often can’t. These are abstracts that can be planned and plotted in the same way as narrative conflicts, save that the actions and fallouts are essentially the plot and mood of the story itself.
Just as very diffuse or background conflicts can vary in their intensity and rarely support a story on their own, so abstract conflicts can vary in relevance to the direct narrative and need to be layered in with narrative conflicts to create a full story. The advantage of thinking of conflicts on these three levels (essentially theme, narrative, and plot) is that it becomes easier to make sure there are always several ‘angles’ from which a reader can think about a scene. Not only does this alleviate any danger of a plot becoming too simplistic or appearing to happen in a vacuum, but it also increases the chance that a reader will enjoy a story from the perspective they enjoy, whether that’s the characterisation, the overarching plot, or the world you’re setting that story in. Try not to decide for your reader why they’re going to enjoy what you’ve written, and throw your net as wide as your plot allows!
It also helps that an author can better track the pacing of a work by keeping each of these kinds of conflict in mind. If you plot your main story to have five major peaks of excitement, but fail to account for the effects of your abstract conflicts, you may end up going too high too quickly, or burning out your reader by not giving them a proper rest. It also helps to make sure that your abstract conflicts also get a little change-up now and then to stop them from getting stale – whether that’s actually changing the specifics, varying the intensity, or solving one entirely and starting another.
Nuance isn’t always as difficult as it first seems; most of the time it just means having characters and/or the reader reacting to more than one stimulus at any given time. It’s the reason that larger stories almost always have a few sub-plots going on, to pull characters in different directions or to distract or misdirect a reader/viewer. It's never strictly necessary to have any one of these angles, but it’s rare that a story isn’t optimised by having all of them, just as your characters are optimised by having conflicts all of their own, even if the reader will never know them.
Pacing and conflict and fundamentally intertwined. Only by understanding them fully can an author be sure of making sure both aspects of a story function both independently and in symbiosis.
-Scott ‘Inquisitor’ Mence
I like this advice about widening the net. I've only just learned about how to write theme, relatively speaking, and using it as a vehicle for more conflict is a really juicy concept that I will have to consider. And possibly employ in a story I plan on writing in the future...
3465652 Thanks. Struggling with my conviction to keep these up at the moment, so it's good to know some of it is finding purchase.
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I don't know how your blog views generally go. I've assumed that everyone else is treating these as I have been, namely soaking in the wisdom and having nothing to respond to. :B
I'd appreciate it if you'd keep these articles up - I find them extremely valuable. I'm just soaking in the wisdom, as PP said. I also don't want to waste your time by saying something that won't be a positive addition to the commentary.
In any case, thank you for sharing your thoughts with us.
As always, flawless advice. Really loving where this series is going.