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Q&A Hang on - where's the main conflict?

As others have said, the main conflict is what the main character wants and can't get. But I think the point that needs making here is about what plot is. I think it is all to easy to get into th...

posted 8y ago by Mark Baker‭  ·  last activity 5y ago by System‭

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#4: Attribution notice removed by user avatar System‭ · 2020-01-03T20:41:50Z (almost 5 years ago)
Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/23554
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/
#3: Attribution notice added by user avatar System‭ · 2019-12-08T05:22:30Z (almost 5 years ago)
Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/23554
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/
#2: Initial revision by user avatar System‭ · 2019-12-08T05:22:30Z (almost 5 years ago)
As others have said, the main conflict is what the main character wants and can't get.

But I think the point that needs making here is about what plot is. I think it is all to easy to get into the habit of thinking of plot as a kind of history. You can meticulously develop an imaginary history and write it down, including lots of conflicts, without actually creating the kind of conflict that drives a story arc.

So I would suggest looking at plot this way: Plot is what stops the main character from getting what they want, and eventually, grants it to them or permanently denies it to them. The function of plot is to first frustrate and then reward or punish the protagonist. Nothing else.

By this reasoning, any part of the imaginary history that you have created that does not serve to frustrate and then either reward or punish the protagonist is not plot. If you can't find the main conflict in your plot, therefore, it may be that it is an imaginary history rather than a plot.

#1: Imported from external source by user avatar System‭ · 2016-06-25T04:44:07Z (over 8 years ago)
Original score: 2