TL;DR: I’m personally aware of “story gurus” that think there’re only three levels of narrative conflict—or, perhaps, to be more kind, think writers can’t handle more complexity. Regardless of who thinks lowly of whom elsewhere, I think YOU can handle more.
Pardon me while I think out loud for a bit about the levels of conflict that you (and I) write in our novels. I always borrow heavily from Aristotle and McKee, but I’m reading Swain and Forster right now, so who knows what all is going to get tangled up in here… Let’s find out!
⚠️ I am separating values at stake from level of conflict, because I think other “story gurus” have unconsciously or unintentionally linked the two. I’ll post about Maslow’s Hierarchy and values at stake some other day.
Unconscious
This is a level of conflict that is difficult to get on the page overtly. McKee’s talked about it in lectures and I think we have a brewski or two, we can all opine about what “really makes someone do that” in our favorite novels. I’d be happy to make the case that it’s present in Oedipus Rex, The Odyssey, and Hamlet, just for starters.
🤜 The unconscious conflict is between a driving force the character is unaware of and their conscious desires.
⚠️ I’m sure someone has tried to write two or more different unconscious desires fighting with each other like a secret, hidden game of Everyone Is John, but I don’t recommend it…at all. That would just confuse the shit out of everyone, including the author. You have been warned.
This level of conflict is often ignored (in my opinion) by story gurus because novices will use it to justify all kinds of random wacky decisions by characters. Don’t be that writer. Take the time to plant the seeds, the intrusive thoughts, and the reflexive actions that the character has to apologize for but can’t explain.
This level of conflict is dramatized best in between Reactions and Responses. It is nuanced, but I think you can handle it! Here’s how:
Personal
This is the place where many aspiring novelists (like me!) get in trouble: the vast and treacherous realm of internality. At this level, the character is well aware of the conflict and is of (at least) two minds about the problem, whatever it is.
🤜 The personal conflict is between the protagonist and themself.
Despite what some “story gurus” may tell you, you absolutely MUST deal with this level. Full stop. Internality is the superpower of the novel. It is the one thing that novels can do that no other medium can. But you have to be careful.
⚠️ This is the easiest level of conflict to “overdo,” which is why those “story gurus” slap your hand if you try to write internality. It’s good practice to draft without internality, but before you publish please put just enough of the internality back in. Your readers (and I) will thank you.
⭐️ Heather Davis is teaching Master the Art of Writing Interiority & Emotionality in less than two weeks. You want to be there. I will be.
Relational
The “interpersonal” sounded too much like personal, so I opted for relational here because this is the conflict between individuals who relate to one another in some difficult manner or fraught fashion.
🤜 Relational conflict is one-on-one, mano-a-mano, sort of sexual, if you will—in the enneagramatic sense, not the messy literal sense. Get your mind out of the gutter! 😏
Yes, you have a relationship with the sheriff, whether you like it or not. And the principal. And your mom. Get over it. You have relationships with everyone…even the bully who takes your lunch money at recess.
Relational conflict can be violent, but doesn’t have to be. The minimum requirement is two active characters who want different things. It can be a multi-party conflict, like a three-way Mexican standoff, as long as each participant has distinct objects of desire from one another. If two or more characters want the same thing, it’s probably become the next level of conflict.
Here’s a couple refreshers about objects of desire:
If I were an evil capitalist scoundrel, this is where the paywall would be. All Book Shaman posts will always be free. Share this post with a novelist or writer of any kind whom you love or hate. I play for both teams. 😇 😈
Tribal
This level of conflict is where you’ll spend a lot of time in your novel, whether you like it or not. This is the level of group expectations and shame. This is the level where, love it or hate it, group identity and group membership is at stake.
🤜 Tribal conflicts can be your sports ball team, your chess club, or your cult against another individual or group.
Don’t get too tangled up between Tribal and Societal if the distinction irks you. My inner political scientist can’t help but be pedantic.
I distinguish Tribal conflict is with rules that can be explained (even if they don’t make sense) and discretion that members can extend one another. Societal conflicts are with nebulous forces that impose Brownian pressure on individuals they themselves don’t really understand and likely can’t explain.
Usually one character is the face of the tribe, the entire weight of the organization comes to bear (usually) on the protagonist in the form of rules, expectations, and other demands of the individual.
Societal
This level of conflict is not the most abstract, but it is abstract compared with personal and tribal. I put laws and courts and massive cultural forces (like our current puritanical dystopia) at this level.
🤜 This level is likely to be felt by a protagonist in the stakes of the conflict as something to avoid that nobody has to explain. Breaking these arbitrary norms and values is something that “most people” won’t do, but often wish they could.
Don’t get too tangled up between Tribal and Societal if the distinction irks you. My inner political scientist can’t help but be pedantic.
I distinguish Tribal conflict is with rules that can be explained (even if they don’t make sense) and discretion that members can extend one another. Societal conflicts are with nebulous forces that impose Brownian pressure on individuals they themselves don’t really understand and likely can’t explain.
Such as “Don’t exceed the speed limit when driving your car or you’ll get a ticket.” There doesn’t have to be a police officer present and watching with a radar gun in order for society to exert pressure.
I’ll drop my favorite society conflict post here to explain further.
⚠️ It’s not a fiction writing post, though. It’s a sociology stack.
Mythic
This is another level where “story gurus” will slap you hand for trying to write into your story. I’m not entirely opposed to slapping hands here, but I think it’s useful for you to be aware of and to consider in constructing your stories…for the sake of completeness…and because once in a while, you may actually need to engage in authorial action and do this to make your story work. You’re smart. You do you.
🤜 This conflict happens at the archetype level. I personally believe it’s a parallel conflict that is happening above, around, or through your characters at every other level all the time in your story.
⚠️ The problem with writing explicit mythic conflict is that it often comes off as a parable, preaching, or tautology to the reader.
There’s nothing wrong with you knowing that your Hero is fighting the Threshold Guardian in this Breaking Into Two scene or that your Villain is suffering the less-than-tender ministrations of the Antihero in the Villain at the Mercy of the Hero scene. Just don’t put those literal words on the page, mmm-kay?
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