Building Tension: How to Integrate External Conflicts into Your Story
Why External Conflict Matters in Storytelling
External conflicts drive the plot forward and raise the stakes, adding tension that keeps readers engaged. When done well, external conflict acts as a catalyst for character development, pushing characters to face their limits and overcome obstacles. But how can you integrate these conflicts without them feeling forced or disconnected from the main story?
In this guide, we’ll explore practical ways to integrate external conflict effectively, from small obstacles to life-altering challenges, so you can create compelling stories full of suspense and emotion.
Types of External Conflict
Before we dive into the tips, let’s look at some common types of external conflicts. Knowing the types can help you choose conflicts that naturally fit your story:
Person vs. Person: The character’s conflict is with another character, often the antagonist.
Person vs. Nature: The character faces natural forces beyond their control, like storms, deserts, or wild animals.
Person vs. Society: The character is in conflict with societal norms, laws, or cultural expectations.
Person vs. Technology: The character faces issues arising from technology or artificial intelligence.
Person vs. Supernatural: The character encounters forces beyond natural laws, like ghosts, monsters, or curses.
Understanding these types will help you tailor conflicts to your character’s world, adding depth and variety to the tension.
Step 1: Tie External Conflict to the Character’s Goal
The best external conflicts are those that directly interfere with the character’s goal. This connection ensures the conflict feels natural rather than random.
Imagine your character, Mia, has a goal to open her dream bakery. An external conflict, like a competitive rival opening a bakery across the street, directly threatens her dream. This creates a clear obstacle that’s relevant to her goal, adding immediate tension.
Try It: Identify your character’s main goal and think about what would realistically threaten that goal. Write out a few possibilities, then pick one that feels high-stakes.
(Pro Tip: Add layers by choosing an external conflict that also brings out an internal struggle for your character, like insecurity or a fear of failure.)
Step 2: Introduce Conflicts Early and Escalate Them
Introduce external conflict early on to establish the stakes from the beginning. Start with smaller challenges, then build up to larger ones. Escalating the intensity makes the journey more dynamic and keeps readers invested.
Let’s say your story is about a group of friends on a cross-country road trip. Early conflicts, like a flat tire or getting lost, can add tension without derailing the story. Later, they encounter a storm that forces them to seek shelter in a small town, only to find that their vehicle is severely damaged, and they’re stuck. The escalating challenges raise the stakes and intensify the tension.
Try It: Plan a sequence of three to four escalating external conflicts that increase in intensity. Think of them as rungs on a ladder, each one more difficult than the last.
Step 3: Use the Setting to Enhance External Conflict
Your setting can be a powerful tool for building tension. Dangerous landscapes, claustrophobic rooms, or bustling cities can serve as more than just backdrops—they can create unique challenges.
If your character is a detective in a crowded city, the bustling environment can hinder their search for a suspect. Or if your protagonist is trying to survive on a mountain, the freezing temperatures, thin air, and wildlife add to the external challenges, forcing them to make difficult decisions.
Try It: List out aspects of your setting that could work against your character’s goals. Consider environmental factors like weather, terrain, or other people in the area who might interfere with the character’s progress.
(Expert Advice: Describe the setting as a threat. Instead of saying, “It was raining,” you could say, “Rain slashed against the windows, drumming a frantic rhythm that matched her heartbeat.”)
Step 4: Create Conflict Through Relationships
Relationships can be a strong source of external conflict, especially if people in the character’s life have opposing goals or beliefs. Friends, family, or coworkers with conflicting interests create personal stakes and tension.
Imagine a character named Alex, who is a firefighter dedicated to saving lives. His father, a wealthy businessman, wants Alex to join the family business and frowns upon Alex’s career choice, considering it dangerous and low-paying. This difference creates an external conflict as Alex faces pressure from his father, who even goes as far as making life difficult for Alex by refusing financial support.
Try It: Write down people in your character’s life who might have conflicting goals. Imagine how their relationship would evolve if they acted against the character’s wishes.
Step 5: Set a Deadline to Increase Urgency
Deadlines naturally increase tension by putting pressure on the character to resolve the conflict quickly. If they don’t succeed within a given timeframe, they face consequences.
In a romantic suspense story, Sarah, a journalist, is on the trail of a major story that could expose corporate corruption. She only has two days before the company launches a PR campaign to cover it up. With the clock ticking, Sarah’s time constraints raise the stakes, creating urgency and tension as she fights obstacles to reveal the truth.
Try It: Consider adding a deadline to your external conflict. It could be a literal countdown, a looming event, or an upcoming confrontation. This will keep readers hooked and add a sense of urgency.
(Common Mistake: Avoid making deadlines feel artificial. Instead, tie them to something relevant to the story, like a scheduled event, upcoming holiday, or time-sensitive opportunity.)
Step 6: Show the Consequences of Failure
For external conflict to feel meaningful, readers need to understand what’s at stake. Showing the possible consequences of failure makes the conflict feel more real and the stakes higher.
Let’s say your character, Zoe, is competing in a major dance competition to win a scholarship. The external conflict could be an injury that threatens her ability to perform. If she doesn’t dance, she loses the scholarship and her dreams of studying at a prestigious dance academy are dashed. By showing this consequence, you build tension as readers understand what’s at risk.
Try It: Write out the potential consequences if your character fails to overcome the conflict. What’s at risk—financial security, reputation, happiness, or safety? Show these consequences clearly to emphasize the stakes.
Step 7: Add an Antagonist with Conflicting Goals
An antagonist with a clear, opposing goal can create significant external tension. A well-motivated antagonist is often just as compelling as the protagonist and can drive the plot forward by creating obstacles.
In a fantasy series, your protagonist, Elara, is seeking a magical artifact that can save her kingdom. Her antagonist, a rival sorcerer, wants the artifact’s power for himself to rule the land. Elara’s pursuit of the artifact puts her in direct conflict with the sorcerer, creating an ongoing external conflict that adds danger and urgency to her journey.
Try It: Identify someone whose goals conflict directly with your character’s. Brainstorm ways this antagonist might act to prevent the protagonist from achieving their goal.
(Pro Tip: Make your antagonist’s motivations clear and realistic. Readers will be more engaged if they understand why the antagonist opposes the protagonist.)
Step 8: Use False Wins and Setbacks
Building tension doesn’t mean that characters should only experience failure. False wins—moments when they think they’ve overcome the conflict, only for it to reappear—are powerful tension-builders. They keep readers guessing and heighten emotional investment.
Imagine a character named Jake trying to get a loan approved to save his family’s business. After weeks of effort, he finally gets a call saying his application looks promising. He feels relief, thinking he’s won. But then he finds out a last-minute policy change will increase his interest rate dramatically, throwing him back into conflict.
Try It: Plan two false wins for your character. Each time they think they’re closer to success, throw in an unexpected twist that sends them back to square one.
Recap of Key Steps
Here’s a quick summary to keep your external conflicts sharp and tension-filled:
Tie conflict to the character’s goal for a natural connection.
Introduce and escalate conflict gradually to build intensity.
Use the setting as a source of conflict to add immersion.
Add conflict through relationships for personal stakes.
Set a deadline to create urgency.
Show the consequences of failure to highlight stakes.
Create an antagonist with opposing goals for ongoing tension.
Use false wins and setbacks to keep readers on their toes.
Start Building External Conflict Today!
Now that you have these tips, start adding external conflict to your story to boost tension and keep readers on the edge of their seats. Remember, external conflict is not just about obstacles; it’s a chance to deepen character growth and make the journey more compelling.
Found this guide helpful? Check out our Conflict and Tension for more tips and examples on creating gripping plots! And feel free to share your favorite ways to add tension in the comments below. Let’s make your stories unforgettable!
