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Conflict, Tension, and Resolution

You stare at the potential masterpiece on your screen. It’s complete with a beginning, middle and end, but your muse clucks its tongue quietly and tells you that it can be better. You agree; something is lacking. What do you do when inspiration strikes, pen meets paper and the story doesn’t engage on an emotional level? What good is a story if it doesn’t make us care or demand our attention? Better yet, what does it take to engage readers on an emotional level? You need to make them wonder what happens next. How? Make sure to include conflict in your storyline.

Conflict
What is conflict? It’s an essential element when writing fiction, the opposition between two simultaneous but incompatible feelings. I’ve actually read guidelines reminding writers that conflict does not equal a fight scene. Approach the concept by considering your character’s weaknesses. For the sake of this article, I’ll choose a lonely divorcee. Her vulnerable spots include loneliness, a desperate desire to find Mister Right, poor self-image, and lack of self-confidence. When the divorcee meets someone in an online chat who wants to meet her face-to-face, her loneliness drives her to accept the invitation, but her lack of self-confidence and poor self-image are in conflict with her decision. (As a side note let me say from the start that resolution to conflict is equally important and necessary. If you introduce conflict without resolution, it leaves the reader unfulfilled.)

Tension
Conflict engages readers and tension keeps them involved. Tension is a balance between interaction of opposing elements or tendencies. The use of tension connects readers to agree or disagree with the character's decisions; it draws them in because they care.

Real life delivers different circumstances every day even amid a life of routine. Stress is a real part of life. When the stressful ordeal is over it makes interesting telling. It’s no different when writing. Without tension the story reads flat and less interesting like a list of facts. Readers learn information but aren't emotionally engaged.

Strive for balance in your writing because constant tension is no better than no tension. Readers need a break, a time to relax and absorb the details. Constant tension dulls readers' perceptions as they become desensitized to the emotional and physical strain endured by your characters. It becomes mundane and loses the desired impact.

Although the element of tension propels the story forward, it’s much like riding a wave carrying readers to the top and gently dropping them on the other side ready to pick up a new wave. One scene should flow into the next as you travel to meet the big wave—the climax.

Circumstances intrude on well-laid plans even in fiction because it mimics real life. Character reaction to these circumstances builds tension as they work to solve problems either mental or physical. For example, let’s go back to our divorcee protagonist. She meets a potential date on line and he asks her to consider meeting him face-to-face. Her internal conflict deals with the issue of honesty or her lack of self-confidence. Tension mounts as she works through the decision process. Should she send her suitor an up-to-date photo? Will he mind that she is twenty pounds heavier than the photo she originally sent? Will she be rejected? What kind of guy wants to meet at a truck stop diner? Is it safe? These questions reflect internal conflict and build tension.

External problems include things like getting a flat tire on the way to meet her date making her late, or even getting greasy with dirty smudges across her red dress and a big hole in her nylons. Conflict and tension go hand in hand and neither is effective without resolution.

Resolution
Imagine the overweight, middle-aged divorcee trudging up the ramp to the truck stop diner in her dirty red dress. Headlights spotlight her as a black pickup truck comes to a halt behind her. She turns and squints into the headlights. The driver of the truck rolls down his window and stokes his full tobacco-stained beard like a pet. He says, “Hey little lady, looks like you could use a helping hand.”

She nods without a word and breaks into tears. He throws open the passenger door and tells her to climb in. She slides into the big cab and hides the unattractive hole in her nylons with her palm. A smile spreads across her face. After all that trouble it worked out, she had herself a man.

How many times have you been disappointed with a book or movie asking yourself, “That’s the end?”

The above example leaves many unanswered questions. How did the protagonist know that was the man she was supposed to meet? Was it the man or someone else? What about her apprehensions? Based on her internal conflict, there’s no way she’d get in the vehicle with a stranger. Questions like this result from unresolved conflict.

Conflict should interlace throughout a story, with tension ebbing and flowing as characters strive toward a goal of some sort. In this instance, the woman’s goal is to meet the man from the chat room in hopes that he is Mr. Right. Ultimate resolution (finding a solution to the problem) will be nestled near the end of the story where it brings all the loose threads of the plot together and ties them in a tidy knot. Minor aspects of resolution should be sprinkled throughout the story to lessen tension at the points where you offer readers time to breathe, absorb and ponder the possibilities.

Mingling inner and outer conflict builds tension until it culminates at the climax. The trick is to bring readers from the climax toward the conclusion in the same way—a wave at a time. Even as you head toward the end of the story, tension is a necessary ingredient. It’s the bait that keeps readers wanting to know what happens next. On the way to the conclusion, check to see if you have resolved each conflict woven into the storyline. Dangling details or unanswered questions leave readers wondering if they missed something.

Write everything for a reason. If it doesn’t move the story along, eliminate it. Don’t get sidetracked by unimportant details, which water down the tension. Expand pertinent information to keep the pace moving. Reach for the goal, an entertaining story complete with conflict, tension and resolution.


About the Author
Author and freelance writer, Donna Sundblad, resides in Georgia with her husband, Rick. Her creative writing book, Pumping Your Muse, is available in paper or ebook format. Check her website for more information at www.theinkslinger.net. Donna also edits for and co-owns Team Spirit Critique and Editing, LLC.