Character Development: First Conflict Event
Hey Story Crafters,
Conflict is important in any story. It has to happen, and gradually intensify (i.e. raise the stakes), or there isn’t a story for your reader to become invested in. The first conflict event is important because it sets the foundation for later conflict events, so you need to make sure it works on multiple levels.
This first conflict event should happen early on in the story—close in time to the inciting incident. At this point, you’re still introducing your major characters to the reader, and your major characters are still learning about each other, and how to work with one another.
When writing the first conflict event:
Consider what you know about each character.
Consider what you want or need your readers to know and/or appreciate about your characters based on the plot.
Consider the traits and/or abilities your characters should know about or would appreciate about each other at this point in the story.
Based on these factors, you can choose a first conflict event that can best showcase the traits and/or abilities you want your characters to develop throughout the rest of your story.
For example, the first conflict event in movie adaptation of The Hobbit—the case of the missing ponies—happens shortly after the inciting incident. (Regardless of whether or not you like the differences between the book or the movie, this conflict event is important for the story told in the movie. It’s been a while since I read the book, so I went with the movie version of the troll conflict.)
After Bilbo decides to join the Company’s quest to reclaim Erebor (the inciting incident), the ponies go missing. Bilbo discovers they’ve been captured by three trolls. He reports back to the dwarves, and they decide to charge into battle and end up captured. Bilbo tries to rescue the dwarves before the trolls can eat them, but the trolls notice him sneaking around. Though he’s just as helpless as the dwarves, Bilbo stalls the trolls from eating them. He manages to hold out until dawn, when Gandalf rescues them all by exposing the trolls to sunlight.
This conflict event does three things:
It establishes one of Bilbo’s important character traits—his cleverness.
Over the course of the Erebor quest, Bilbo faces challenges where he uses his cleverness to come out victorious (e.g. stealing the Ring and escaping from Golem), honing it for later use (his confrontation with Smaug).
Builds a sense of camaraderie between major characters.
In the movie adaptation, a few of the dwarves are noticeably warmer to Bilbo after this incident. They have more respect for Bilbo, and treat him more like a comrade.
Parallels a later conflict event.
While the Company is traveling through Mirkwood, the dwarves stray from the path and get captured by giant spiders. Bilbo rescues them again, though this time he uses his sword and the Ring.
As you work through the first draft of your story, think about how the first conflict event establishes character and plot development. It can help you decide on the direction you want to go with your story, and on the events that must happen later on. If you’re revising your first draft, evaluate whether or not the first conflict event influences character and plot development. If it does, see if there are ways to tighten up your story further; if it doesn’t, try to find places to make character and plot development smoother from beginning to end.
Happy writing!
Best,
Leah