Without tension or conflict, a story will not only be boring, but absent of meaning.
At the heart of every story lies a dilemma for the protagonist. A dilemma is a problem that can’t be solved without creating a new problem. By exploring your protagonist’s attempts to resolve their dilemma, you will naturally be led to creating conflict through characters and scenarios that dramatize this experience.
In this article, I will define external conflict, explore its purpose, and reveal the various types with examples. Lastly, I will give you a Story Weapon to help you write dynamic external conflict for your story.
External conflict is the struggle between a protagonist and an outside force, such as another character, society, nature, technology, or the supernatural. It drives plot, raises stakes, and reveals character by forcing protagonists to confront obstacles tied to their deepest desires and false beliefs. Strong external conflict works best when it is deeply personal to the character’s inner dilemma.
What is external conflict?
There are two main types of conflict: external and internal.
External conflict takes place between a character and an external force. It differs from internal conflict in that it is a struggle that comes from someone or something outside your protagonist.
Internal conflict is a struggle within the character’s heart and mind, something we cannot see.
External conflict creates obstacles for the protagonist that drive the plot forward, which thereby dramatizes their inner conflict. While internal conflict may connect the reader to the character’s core desire, a story that only explores internal conflict can sometimes be too introspective and dry. Adding external conflict to the plot keeps the reader engaged and makes the conflict palpable. It can come from another character, their environment, the society they live in, and more.
Types of external conflict
Character vs. Character
This is one of the most classic external conflicts. It sets characters against each other as both aim to achieve their specific goal. This is usually what we think of in terms of protagonists vs. antagonists.
When written well, the characters emphasize each other’s strengths and weaknesses. As they challenge each other, you begin to see how they are actually very similar in some ways, revealing that, on a primal level, they actually want the same thing.
Character vs. Nature
This conflict takes place when a character goes up against some form of nature — weather, animals, or surviving in the wilderness. This is seen in stories like Jurassic Park or Into the Wild where the primary adversary for the main character involves the natural elements.
“Life, uh, finds a way.”
– Dr. Ian Malcolm, Jurassic Park
Character vs. Society
When conflict comes from a broader social group, it forces your character to question their beliefs on cultural norms and expectations. They are facing a greater social standard, such as the law itself or unspoken expectations of social constructs.
Here the action is usually driven by injustice or belief systems that are suppressing an individual or minority group in the story. This can be anything from racial injustice as in To Kill a Mockingbird to the social expectations in Mean Girls.
Character vs. Supernatural
This conflict comes from forces beyond our natural world. It’s a fictional or hypothetical antagonist beyond human understanding.
This is Stephen King’s favorite form of external conflict. Think ghosts, zombies, magic, or demons. The possibilities are as endless as your imagination will take you.
Character vs. Tech
This is largely the realm of science fiction, though it plays into realistic fiction and non-fiction stories as well. Here your character goes up against technology: tools, machines, AI, robots, or futuristic technology that does not yet exist.
This external conflict often focuses on our over-reliance on technology, the loss of what makes us human, or ethical questions and consequences resulting from scientific advancements. Frankenstein, Wall-E, and The Terminator all fall into this category.
Purpose of external conflict
External conflict is the embodiment of a pivotal struggle, but it cannot carry the story on its own. Seasoned writers understand that internal and external conflict are not mutually exclusive, but rather, should work together to help dramatize the story’s dilemma.
Dilemma often begins with external conflict to introduce the conflict to the readers in a tangible way.
Building a story’s plot
Story structure is built around the conflict a character experiences, both external and internal.
This begins with a desire. The protagonist’s exploration of their want and the chase to achieve it is what moves a story forward. Conflict is introduced as the obstacles put in the characters’ way of obtaining their desire. The question of if and how they achieve it is what builds tension. Without tension, there is no plot development.
External conflict is what brings this story building to life. Your character’s desire is primal, such as belonging, connection, meaning, purpose, survival, success, justice or peace. But it’s not until you introduce the external force at play that the audience begins to see this desire play out. External conflict is the embodiment of the conflict that will develop throughout the story.
Character development
External conflict is also essential in revealing a character’s transformation. While the primary desire is internal or an abstract want, external conflict is the tool you use to display their struggle to the audience.
Your character’s internal journey must be reflected through trials and challenges presented by the external world in order for them to work through their transformation. It lays out the character’s journey with real world, relatable experiences.
Your character might believe something like “When I get a promotion, I will be validated.” Their desire is validation, yet it is dramatized through the obstacle of receiving a promotion. However, only one of two things can happen: they either don’t get the promotion or they do, but the result is not what they expected, thus discovering that true validation can only come from within otherwise their search for approval will never end.
Audience engagement
External conflict’s final main purpose is to create audience engagement.
Internal conflict alone is not enough to keep a reader engaged. Without the reflection of conflict in a character’s actions or circumstances, there is no drive to keep the audience reading. Real-world stakes are what brings a character and their story’s plot to life.
Your story weapon: How to make external conflict personal
The writers who struggle most with external conflict are usually the ones who design it from the outside in. They build an impressive antagonist, a formidable obstacle, a society worth fighting, and then they wonder why the story feels mechanical. The reason is almost always the same. The external conflict has not been rooted in the specific, personal dilemma of the protagonist. It is dramatic, but not inevitable.
Before you build the obstacles, go back to the character. What does your protagonist believe at the start of the story that is going to be proved wrong?
Now ask yourself: What external force would most directly threaten that belief? What would apply the most pressure?
Force it into the open. Make it impossible for your character to keep living inside their false belief without confronting what it is actually costing them. It’s not merely a situation you have placed your character in, but a pressure system designed specifically for this person, at this moment in their life, with this particular wound. That is your external conflict.
FREE STORY DILEMMA GUIDE: Every great story begins with a dilemma. If your plot feels unfocused or your tension falls flat, this FREE Dilemma Guide will help you identify, explore, and sharpen your protagonist’s central dilemma to reveal the most dynamic version of your story.
