Boil fiction down to the essentials and what you find at the core is the main character’s desire for something. What your characters want is what fuels them through page after page of conflict.
You’ve undoubtedly heard the saw that without conflict, there is no story. But without frustrating the character’s ability to get whatever it is he wants, there can’t be any conflict.
How to Create Conflict That Lasts for 800 Pages
Middlemarch by George Eliot (affiliate link)
Take, for example, George Eliot’s masterpiece Middlemarch.
No explosions or high-speed car races in this book, and the hero isn’t out to save the Prime Minister from assassination or prevent another war with France.
So how does Eliot keep her readers’ attention for so long? Quite simply, her book is a superb example of delayed gratification. Eliot absolutely refuses to give her characters what they want, right up until the end.
What Should Your Characters’ Desires Be?
Most of the characters’ goals and desires in Middlemarch are simple enough.
- Dorothea Casaubon and Will Ladislaw want to be together.
Middlemarch (1994), BBC.
- The banker Bulstrode wants to keep others from learning about his criminal past.
Middlemarch (1994), BBC.
- Dr. Lydgate wants to pay off his debts and live in harmony with his wife.
Middlemarch (1994), BBC.
- Mary Garth wants her quasi-fiancé Fred Vincy to start acting like a responsible human being.
Middlemarch (1994), BBC.
Eliot tantalizes readers by allowing the characters to get close to their goals, only to be pushed back once again. The result? Readers keep turning page after 800 pages to discover if, when, and how these characters will accomplish their goals and get what they want.
