"Fight! Fight! Fight!"

When we say "conflict", the first thing that probably comes to mind is a fight, like this scene in which a group of teenagers ambush a sentry who is part of an invading army:

I rabbit-chopped his arm as hard as I could hit, then grabbed the gun and swung it upwards. I’d been hoping he’d drop the gun with the shock of my hit; he didn’t, but he lost his grip on it and had to snatch at it to try to get it back. At that moment, Lee knocked the man’s cap off and dropped the belt over his head. Now, fighting two battles at once, the man got confused; he tried to push me away and at the same time turned to attack Lee. Then Homer arrived with a rush and, between us, we prised the gun out of the man’s grasping fingers. He knew he was in trouble then.

The Third Day, The Frost(1995)

Conflict comes from opposing forces struggling for dominance.

In this snippet, the conflict is "local teenagers vs soldier from invading army in struggle of life and death".

In this lesson we're going to look at several types of conflict, but we're going to use the same highlighters each time.

Protagonist vs antagonist represent opposing forces in the scene.

Protagonist means, roughly, whoever or whatever we identify with in the scene—the primary point of view.
Antagonist means whoever or whatever opposes that point of view.

The protagonist and antagonist, and the nature of their conflict, will change from snippet to snippet, but you'll see that what is consistent is this toggling dynamic, flipping back and forth between them as they struggle.

Note: We're not using these terms in the conventional way

Conventionally, 'protagonist' and 'antagonist' refer to specific characters in a story. Since not every conflict is between characters, we are going to be apply these labels more loosely.

This also means that at certain points the highlighting will be very subjective and hand-wavey, so treat it as approximate rather than precise.

One of the challenges when writing a fight scene is keeping the action organised in time and space, particularly when multiple characters are involved.

Notice how many sentences in the snippet begin with an adverbial or prepositional phrase (and how the verb group in "I'd been hoping" sets up parallel timing):

I rabbit-chopped his arm as hard as I could hit, then grabbed the gun and swung it upwards. I'd been hoping he'd drop the gun with the shock of my hit; he didn't, but he lost his grip on it and had to snatch at it to try to get it back. At that moment, Lee knocked the man's cap off and dropped the belt over his head. Now, fighting two battles at once, the man got confused; he tried to push me away and at the same time turned to attack Lee. Then Homer arrived with a rush and, between us, we prised the gun out of the man's grasping fingers. He knew he was in trouble then.

When you write your own variation, make a deliberate effort to use these types of words and phrases to clarify the timing and sequencing of your action.

Let's take a look at how physical fights like this might happen in the worlds of our two worked examples.

First one's easy: zombie brawl!

Amos rammed the zombie with the trolley and pinned it against the window, then Expert ran in and cracked it in the face with the folded chair. The zombie's skull thunked against the glass and then rebounded, leaving behind a gooey patch of skin and blood and hair. The zombie struggled against the trolley, hissing and clawing. Amos moaned; Vincent could see him wondering how long he could keep the zombie pinned before it snatched his face. Meanwhile Cindy, over by the doors, was screaming for everyone to leave it and run, but nobody wanted to abandon the food, so Vincent tried jabbing the zombie in the neck with the broom while Expert turned the chair on its side and swung again, aiming to hit it with the edge instead of the flat. This time he somehow caught the zombie's arm, which gave the zombie a chance to grab the chair, rip it out of Expert's hands, and throw it across the floor.

Alternatively, here's a fight in the taxidermy store:

The intruder spun around and got me straight in the face with a blast of spray paint. I went blind and fell backwards, face wet, and a bitter, waxy taste on my tongue. As I knocked over pots of glue and paint on the workbench behind me, I felt the intruder turn and run. I lunged at the space where I thought they'd be, snagged the edge of their hoodie, but they knocked my arms aside and pulled something down on top of me. From the sharp prongs that bit my shoulder, cheek, and scalp, I guessed it was a deer. As the deer head bounced off me, I stumbled after them, shouting and trying to wipe the paint from my eyes, bumbling through the workshop until the intruder hit me with what felt like a Himalayan tahr—a pillow of long, coarse hair softening the blow from a central knob of bone and horn—knocking me flat. Then, while I was getting up, I heard the front door clatter open, the bell ring, and the intruder's sneakered footsteps faded into the night.

Notice how in the snippet and the zombie example, whoever loses the conflict dies.

Meanwhile, in the taxidermy example, if the intruder loses they maybe have to pay a fine or go to jail (and feel angry), while if the narrator loses they have to spend money cleaning up (and feel angry).

These are examples of different stakes—meaning the consquences of winning or losing the conflict.

We'll talk more about stakes later, but for now think about what each side wants to win, and what they stand to lose.

Bigger is not always better! Any stakes will be interesting and compelling if the characters care about them.

Think of a physical fight that could take place in your world.
- Who's the protagonist? What do they want? What do they stand to lose?
- Who's the antagonist? Same questions!
Describe the fight, alternating between the two sides.
Note that either side could be an individual or a group.
Pay attention to phrases (adverbial and prepositional) that help you communicate timing and order of action.

Write a fight scene.

That was a fist fight.

What about a more social and emotional fight?

Conflict & resolution

"Fight! Fight! Fight!"