One of the easiest mistakes in writing is assuming stories are about the external action of defeating the antagonistic force, when in reality they are about what the protagonist must become in order to face that conflict. Internal conflict vs. external conflict reveals how your story’s character arcs operate beneath the plot. The tension between […]
August 18, 2025 by 12 Comments CharactersWriting Better Character Conflicts With the 5 Conflict Management Styles
In fiction, every clash between characters comes down to a conflict management style. This is true whether you’re writing a heated argument or a quiet standoff. In real life, psychologists group these into five main approaches: competing, collaborating, compromising, accommodating, and avoiding. Understanding how each works can help you write richer, more realistic character conflicts. […]
February 21, 2022 by 52 Comments Characters9 Ways to Approach Relationship Dynamics in Fiction
Creating an amazing supporting cast that can offer important relationship dynamics in fiction will also help develop your protagonist. This isn’t just because great supporting characters will add color, drama, and nuance to your story in their own right. It’s also because every supporting character in your story has the ability to bring out new […]
January 31, 2022 by 76 Comments Plotting Your NovelConflict in Fiction: What It Really Is and Why It’s Important to Plot
Conflict is one of the central engines of story. We’ve all heard it: no conflict, no story. On the surface, that makes total sense. But I find there can be a lot of confusion around the word “conflict.” What is conflict in fiction really? What is its purpose? What does it look like in a […]
October 18, 2021 by 26 Comments CharactersHow to Make Your Character’s Choices More Difficult
One of the best things about conflict is that it pushes your characters to act. In every scene, your characters are making choices—big ones and small ones and thereby steering their fate. Some decisions will be obvious and require little to no thought, but others will be muddier, with no clear “better” option, generating inner […]
March 26, 2018 by 66 Comments How to Become a Writer7 Frequently Asked Writing Questions
The amazing thing about being a writer is that you get to be part of a writing community. Especially now, in the Internet age, you have access not just to the writings of the great minds who have gone before, but also to the shared wisdom, common sense, commiseration, and encouragement of all your contemporaries. If […]
August 28, 2017 by 30 Comments Characters7 Ways to Write Thematically-Pertinent Antagonists
Thematically-pertinent antagonists are the lynchpin that holds together any successful story. You can write delicious protagonists, snappy dialogue, riveting conflict, and deep themes—and still, your story can fail simply because the antagonist was taken for granted as a leering, two-dimensional bad guy. We’ve talked before about how (somewhat non-intuitively) the character who provides the entire foundation for […]
August 25, 2017 by 23 Comments Plotting Your NovelHow to Create Meaningful Obstacles Via Conflict
Conflict is one of those terms frequently used as a catch-all for compelling storytelling, when it’s really just one aspect of what makes a strong story. We use it even though we really mean the scene needs a clearer goal, or more tension, or a better character arc, but saying “this scene needs more conflict” […]
July 31, 2017 by 74 Comments Characters5 Tips for Writing a Likable “Righteous” Character
It ain’t easy being green, but sometimes it’s even harder being good. When you think of great characters in books and movies, those who pop to mind are often people of moral complexity: youngsters coming of age in a complicated world, antiheroes haunted by their own dark natures, wounded souls fighting not to succumb to […]
May 1, 2017 by 53 Comments Most Common Writing MistakesMost Common Writing Mistakes, Pt. 59: Overly Complex Plots
Complex plots? Good. Overly complex plots? Not so good. Complex plots are the stuff of literary mastery. They can take a story beyond a single dimension into an intricate exploration of life. Dickens, Mann, Eliot, and so many more literary luminaries show us how to do it right. But do it wrong, and what we […]
