Conflict is very often the magic sauce for generating tension and turning a ho-hum story into one that rivets readers. As such, every scene should contain a struggle of some kind. Maybe it’s an internal tug-of-war having to do with difficult decisions, morals, or temptations. Or it possibly could come from an external source—other characters, unfortunate circumstances, or the force of nature itself.
It’s our hope that this thesaurus will help you come up with meaningful and fitting conflict options for your stories. Think about what your character wants and how best to block them, then choose a source of conflict that will ramp up the tension in each scene. For the full entry of this and 200+ additional conflict scenarios, check into our best-selling resources: The Conflict Thesaurus: A Writer’s Guide to Obstacles, Adversaries, and Inner Struggles, Volumes 1 and 2.
Peer Pressure
Category: Power struggles, failures and mistakes, relationship friction, moral dilemmas and temptation, loss of control, ego
Examples:
Doing something irresponsible or dangerous because others are doing it (using drugs, cliff diving into unknown waters, etc.)
Giving in to a dare (picking a fight with a stranger, vandalizing property, etc.)
Going farther physically than one wants to because they’re pressured to do so…
Minor Complications:
Embarrassment over the foolish decisions one has made
Getting into minor trouble at school or work
One’s reputation being damaged…
Potentially Disastrous Results:
The character losing their sense of personal identity and values
Experiencing physical, mental, or emotional trauma from the fallout (getting pregnant, developing an eating disorder, being abused, getting into a car accident, etc.)
Being guilty by association…
Possible Internal Struggles (Inner Conflict):
Feeling powerless and trapped, like the character isn’t really in charge of their own life
Struggling with feelings of insecurity and self-doubt
Constantly feeling conflicted about what one is doing and what one really wants to do…
People Who Could Be Negatively Affected: friends and family who truly care about the character, anyone who is victimized by the character’s choices (someone who is belittled or bullied, for instance), people who look up to the character and are negatively influenced by their example
Resulting Emotions: Agitation, anxiety, appalled, apprehension, conflicted, confusion, contempt…
Personality Flaws that May Make the Situation Worse: Addictive, callous, catty, childish, cruel, cynical, defensive…
Positive Outcomes:
Recognizing manipulation in others so it can be avoided in the future
Wanting to regain control of one’s life
Seeing how far one has come from their roots, and determining to get back to their true origins…
If you’re interested in other conflict options, you can find them here.
Use Conflict to Transform Your Story
Readers have a lot of choices when it comes to selecting books, so make it easy for them to choose yours. Conflict will help you deliver a fresh story premise every time, drawing readers in through meaningful challenges that reveal a character’s innermost needs, fears, weaknesses, and strengths.
To assist you, we’ve created a two-volume resource with 225 possible conflict events. Each volume contains expert advice on how to use conflict to improve your story along with a plethora of scenarios to challenge your characters.
For more information, read up on these GOLD and SILVER editions. You can also view the books at Goodreads to see what other authors are saying about them.
Becca Puglisi is an international speaker, writing coach, and bestselling author of The Emotion Thesaurus and its sequels. Her books are available in five languages, are sourced by US universities, and are used by novelists, screenwriters, editors, and psychologists around the world. She is passionate about learning and sharing her knowledge with others through her Writers Helping Writers blog and via One Stop For Writers—a powerhouse online library created to help writers elevate their storytelling.