Conflict with cliches?
Conflict is the lifeblood of any story. Without it, the story meanders, the characters lack depth, leaving the reader to wonder why they picked up the book in the first place. But in genres like romance and cozy mystery—where tone, character, and charm matter as much as plot—it’s easy to slip into tired tropes and overused devices in an attempt to generate drama. So how do you create compelling, fresh conflict that feels real without relying on clichés like “it was all a misunderstanding” or “the villain twirled his moustache”?
I am sure I am going to continue to talk about the chicken and egg situation yet again. What comes first the Characters or the Plot. Character for me is so important but sometimes the idea that comes first is the plot. Whatever else the characters need to overcome we generally expect there is a “good” reason why the couple can’t just be together from that very first meet cute.
Conflict becomes truly engaging when it grows from the characters’ values, wounds, and wants—not just from plot mechanics. In other words, the internal conflicts based of the characters core beliefs rather the external conflict that comes from the situation they find themselves in. Of course, there is great mileage in having both internal and external factors as to why your heroes aren’t ready to ride off into the sunset.
Part of developing my characters for me involves digging beyond the job they do and how much money they have. I want to know what scars they have and who caused them. I wanted to understand what limiting beliefs they hold and where those ideas came from.
Conflict shouldn’t just fill pages—it should change the characters; it can help them overcome limiting belief systems. Such strong ideal can lead to a restricted view of life, and I would like to hope that a good story can helps us to understand ourselves and others too. In both romance and mystery, conflict is the forge where deeper understanding is born. A good romantic arc doesn’t end with a kiss because everything’s perfect—it ends with a kiss because they’ve earned it.
Thinking about this topic today, can I suggest that the plot offers use the external conflict whilst the character adds more edge when the inner conflict gets added to the barriers to resolution.
Sticky point now. The miscommunication issue. Often hated as cliché but is that because in real life so much conflict arrives from miscommunication. When people lash out at others because they have misunderstood. How many people have withdrawn hurt by someone else’s reaction to their words? How many of us have been in a relationship where the big issues get avoided when each person is waiting for the other to say something first?
Maybe instead of hating this dreaded situation in stories we stop to consider that it’s just what happens in our lives in all kinds of relationships not just romantic ones. More than once, I have been the passive observer in real events that caused a break -up, and I could see both sides being valid.
Is it’s a device that is used often in romance because it allows both our heroes to remain just that.
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My friends in the round robin group have joined me on this topic.
It would be lovely if you considered their perspective on this same topic.
Bob Rich https://wp.me/p3Xihq-3sY
Helena Fairfax http://www.helenafairfax.com/blog
Connie Vines http://mizging.blogspot.com/
Sally Odgers https://behindsallysbooksmark2.blogspot.com
AJ Maguire http://ajmaguire.wordpress.com/
Skye Taylor http://www.skye-writer.com/blogging_by_the_sea
Chips at Hornsea
Beverley Station
Model for the train station
Yorkshire farm
Really interesting to read what makes an author tick and the creative process!
To quote 10cc
Communication is the problem to the answer.
The things we do for love….
We have been using the same language for years, and yet we still fail to understand each other.
I think communication is a major problem.
And not just verbal communication.
I completely agree with you. Everything stems from character.
I heard a trick one romance author uses is to ask the following questions for the two main protagonists: Why would falling in love be bad? AND Why would falling in love be good?
I’ve used this a couple times and it’s been very helpful.
Asking questions is brilliant. I keep saying WHY, and when you get an answer asking WHY again.
If you can’t care about the characters, you won’t care about the plot no matter how well written. Even a spy or an assassin has a back story that drives who they are and no matter how twisted the plot, if you couldn’t care less about the character achieving his or her goal, there’s not much point in spending time in their world.
Ironically, the topic for my writer’s chapter today was creating characters who drive your plot. It was all about each important character in the story having a detailed backstory -only a fraction of the backstory will appear in the book, but it’s there to inform the author – how will your character respond when the heat is on?
Hi Belinda,
I totally agree that the conflict has to cause a change for the characters. I heard one author once say that if the character can’t change, then the novel is a tragedy. I loved that way of describing it. I generally think of the characters first rather than the plot, as I find it harder to fit the characters in to the plot idea than to build a plot around my characters.
Thanks for the great post. I’ve enjoyed this month’s topic!