A conflict is the reason the story is being told. The protagonist has a goal, but something prevents them from reaching it, and they must overcome that obstacle to achieve it.
There are many different types of conflicts, but a story mainly consists of internal and external conflicts.
In this post, you’ll learn what internal and external conflicts are, an example of internal and external conflict, how you can create a story using internal and external conflict, and lastly, a small exercise to put what you learn into practice.
What Is Internal Conflict in a Story?
Internal conflict is the psychological struggle a character faces. It can be a conflict concerning desires, goals, or beliefs. It’s the conflict the character faces in their mind. That’s why sometimes people refer to themselves as their worst enemy. Essentially, internal conflict refers to any struggle the character faces within themselves.
Although internal conflict occurs within a character’s mind, it ultimately affects them externally too. It affects their worldview, their behaviour, and how they’ll resolve the central conflict.
Internal conflict is what makes characters human, relatable, and easier to sympathise with. The character stops being just a name on a page and becomes a multi-dimensional being, making the story feel more alive.
Internal conflict is crucial to a story’s success. You can write a whole story based on the internal turmoil a character feels. Think of it like this: would you read a story where the protagonist knew what to do all the time? For me, that’s a hard pass. I want the character to question themself and their world. I want to know what makes them worthy of reading about.
Here’s how internal conflict can look:
- Constantly doubting yourself.
- Facing ethical dilemmas.
- Who they are, and who they want to be, don’t align.
- Having two contradicting beliefs.
- Wanting two things you can’t have at the same time.
What Is External Conflict in a Story?
External conflicts are the tension that happens between the character and the outside world. It involves outside forces such as an antagonist, society, or a situation challenging the protagonist. External conflicts are what move the story. They make the protagonist take action.
External conflict forces the character to grow by overcoming challenges. They face a problem, they have to find a way to solve it, and they have to deal with the consequences. It puts the protagonist in uncomfortable situations. Furthermore, the external conflict can be described as the plot in many cases.
External conflict can appear as:
- Another character is preventing the protagonist from reaching their goal.
- Laws or rules restricting the protagonist’s choices.
- A circumstance hindering the protagonist from reaching their goal.
- A physical obstacle prevents the protagonist from moving forward.
Why Internal and External Conflicts Matter
Conflict is a central part of any story. Whether it is a small obstacle or the main struggle, every conflict contributes to the story as a whole. It drives the plot forward, develops the characters, and helps explore the story’s themes. Most importantly, conflict engages the reader. When characters face internal and external struggles, readers want to see how those struggles will be resolved. They are not just looking for an entertaining journey, but for a satisfying resolution.
Readers get engaged because they see the protagonist face challenges and struggle. Without conflict, the story stays static, and readers don’t bond with the character because they don’t see them being vulnerable. Furthermore, since there isn’t anything forcing the protagonist to go on a journey, they will never grow. Therefore, there won’t be a story to tell.
Exploring Internal and External Conflicts in Black Swan
The film Black Swan illustrates this nicely with the protagonist Nina Sayer. Let’s take a closer look at ourselves to see how internal and external conflict can look.
Internal conflict: Nina struggles between her need for perfection and control and her need to let go to perform the Black Swan.
External conflict: Nina must compete with Lily for the lead role and satisfy her director’s intense demands to secure and perform the role in Swan Lake.
Nina’s internal conflict exists because her desires can’t coexist. She wants to remain disciplined, flawless, and in control. At the same time, the role requires her to be expressive and emotional. To succeed externally, she must embrace something that threatens her sense of control.
Her external conflict shows the obstacles she faces in the outside world. She is tested, pressured, compared to others, and pushed beyond her comfort zone. These challenges force her to confront her internal struggle.
The internal and external conflicts are directly connected. Nina’s desire to secure the leading role influences her choices and behavior. The more pressure she faces externally, the more intense her internal struggle becomes. At the same time, her internal conflict affects how she responds to external challenges. The two conflicts don’t exist separately; they drive and intensify each other throughout the story.
How to Combine Internal and External Conflicts
To write a good story, you need both internal and external conflict. As you’ve probably noticed, the best stories have a mix of both.
The combination of internal and external conflict creates depth and tension. It makes readers invested in both what’s happening inside the character and their world. Internal and external conflict take them on an adventure worth being on.
- Motivation. You know your character’s internal and external conflict, but what makes them act? Give them a reason to act on their conflicts.
- Your protagonist’s external conflict should force them to confront their internal conflict.
- Allow internal conflict to complicate external conflict.
- Resolve both conflicts together. The internal and external determine together if they fail or succeed.
Put It Into Practice
The most effective way to learn something is by doing it yourself. Knowledge can only take you so far, but you have to practice to build the skill. Therefore, try this quick writing exercise to learn how to use internal and external conflict in your writing.
Internal conflict: Write one thing your protagonist struggles with (fear, doubt, ethical dilemma, identity, etc.)
External conflict: Write one external force preventing them from reaching their goal (obstacle, situation, etc.)
Combine them: Write a short scene where the external conflict intensifies the internal conflict.
Mastering the Conflicts in Your Story
A story consists of many different types of conflicts, mainly internal and external conflicts. Internal conflict is the struggle a character faces in their mind. External conflict, on the other hand, is the struggle that comes from outside sources.
Internal and external conflict are crucial for a good story to exist. It creates depth and complexity in a story. It drives the plot forward. Without internal or external conflict, a story will end up static.
A well-written internal and external conflict makes the difference. You can use the writing exercise above to practice, or you can begin writing in your own story. Either way, the most important part is that you apply what you learned today in your writing.
