Preptober Day 2

Internal Conflict

Welcome to day 2 of PREPTOBER! This is a series of daily questions and prompts to help you prepare for this year’s upcoming NaNoWriMo!

Today’s question is:

What does your character struggle with internally?

Feel free to share your answer in the comments! I would love to hear your response!

Beyond asking the question, I like to explain why these are important questions for your story.

Stories thrive on conflict, over the next few weeks, we are going to be exploring different ways we can integrate conflict into our story. 

Conflict as defined by Merriam-Websters: 

FIGHT, BATTLE, WARan armed conflict

2a: competitive or opposing action of incompatibles : antagonistic state or action (as of divergent ideas, interests, or persons)a conflict of principles

b: mental struggle resulting from incompatible or opposing needs, drives, wishes, or external or internal demands

His conscience was in conflict with his duty.

3: the opposition of persons or forces that gives rise to the dramatic action in a drama or fiction

The conflict in the play is between the king and the archbishop.¹

When we are talking about internal conflict, we are talking about the “mental struggle” that comes from having “opposing needs”.

A great example of this is in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.

Throughout the book, Harry struggles internally with a decision. He has limited time and resources, his friends are in danger, does he track down the horcruxes or the hallows? Over and over again, Harry is torn into two different directions. Horcruxes or Hallows?

Both are very tempting, one will kill his enemy, and the other will make him the master of death. And it’s this struggle that helps propel the plot forward. We can see that if he goes after the horcruxes he will surely defeat Voldemort. But if he goes after the hallows he will become the most powerful wizard alive. We can see that this internal struggle informs the theme, is Harry any better than Voldemort if he focuses on the hallows? On power?

In the Hunger Games, there is a less obvious inner conflict. Katniss is the only person keeping her family alive. Conversely, she volunteers for the Hunger Games, which is nearly a guaranteed death. Once she is in the games, she fights with her conscience about killing others, only to be motivated by the knowledge that if she does not survive, her family won’t be without her either. But on the flip side, how many other families is she condemning by eliminating her opponents in the games?

Do you see how this narrative feature can spin out in a bunch of different ways that can fuel the plot? Your character doesn’t know the answer. They have to do the best that they can in the face of these conflicts that challenge their internal ideology to survive the antagonistic forces in the story.

In the Lord of the Rings, Frodo doesn’t truly believe that he can destroy the Ring.

• First, he tries to give it to Gandalf, who insists it would corrupt him

• 

• Once Frodo brings the Ring to Rivendell, he decides that he is ready to go back home

• Then he realizes that he is the only one capable of taking the Ring and he volunteers to take it to Mordor

• But still, so unsure of himself, he asks for help and the fellowship is forged

• But then Gandalf dies, so then Frodo again decides that he has to do it alone

• When he tries to leave alone, Sam chases after him. Frodo relents and together they go to Mordor.

Back and forth, back and forth Frodo’s internal struggle ensues. These deep internal questions that your character’s ask themselves fuel their development while also driving the plot. Which begs the question…

What does your main character struggle with?

Share this post with a friend so that we can all write together!

1. “Conflict.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/conflict. Accessed 1 Sep. 2022.