Let's take a look at the engine of every great story…conflict. Without it, your story just won't work.

If you’re new to my conversational storytelling series, check out the first two posts here:
How to Become a Great Conversational Storyteller
How to improve your conversational storytelling

Conflict and Resolution

Every story needs conflict because conflict drives the characters.

Wikipedia defines conflict as "an inherent incompatibility between the objectives of two or more characters or forces." The tension created because of the incompatibility gives energy to your story. When you hear a story that doesn't have conflict it's usually forgettable. There are no emotional spikes to keep you interested.

In conversation, even if I’m talking about something as simple as a preference, I want to include conflict. If you search hard enough, you can find it in every story and preference you have. It may not be a life or death situation, but it's there.

Story can have many sources of conflict, but when it comes to conversational storytelling, I suggest sticking to one source per story, unless the story requires multiple. This helps me keep the stories short and memorable.

Here are two examples of very basic conversational stories that include conflict and resolution:

• “My favorite band is Black Sabbath. When I was an angry teenager, and for a long time, I had trouble dealing with it. One day, my friend gave me a Black Sabbath album, the music took me so far outside my world that it became an escape. Whenever I was angry I could go to my room, throw on their music and chill out. It changed my life, and that’s why Black Sabbath is my favorite band.”

• “Miya is my favorite sushi place in town. The first time I had great sushi was in Los Angeles. It was so fresh and well-prepared, that when the waiter put the plate down, I could actually feel my mouth water. All I spoke about for the rest of vacation was the sushi. When I returned home, I was desperate to have it again, but no sushi place could compare. I spent months in an insane sushi withdrawal. When Miya’s opened and I saw the sushi they’d prepared, I was almost in tears. That was incredible. My wallet took a serious punch to the stomach from three sushi meals a day, but it was worth it. That’s why I think Miya’s is the best sushi in town.”

As you can see in both stories: If there was a problem, it was eventually resolved. It doesn’t mean there’s a happy ending, just a resolution. When you're examining your stories, think about the resolution. How does your story end?

The 5 Types of Conflict

If you have trouble finding the conflict in a story check this out — there are five types of conflict:

• Person vs. Person
• Person vs. Nature
• Person vs. Society
• Person vs. Self
• Person vs. Technology

In a previous post, I explained that you should write down the stories you tell word-for-word and examine them.

• Upon examination, ask yourself, what kind of conflict am I dealing with?
• After you find the conflict, ask yourself, what can I do to build more tension?
• After adding significant tension, think about the resolution. What happened and is there more to the story, like a lesson learned, or a perspective shifted?

Examples of the 5 types of Conflict

I was going to write out examples for all these, but then I found this amazing set of storyboards from storyboards.com that explain them - They’re awesome.

Use the following storyboards to help you find conflict in your personal stories. Once you know what kind of conflict you're dealing with it's much easier to sit down and work out the details of the story.

Person vs. Person

Person vs. Nature

Person vs. Society

Person vs. Self

Person vs. Technology

Thanks for reading!

Source: Sculpture, Gladiator, Fallen Knight, 5 Types of Conflict

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I'm Decimus	I'm Verified

I write, I teach, I tell stories. Read my intro post.