Conflict Vs. Confrontation ©
By Leslie King

In the course of our chosen craft, we have all heard time and again how very important it is that our stories have enough conflict to carry them. If our poor characters are not sufficiently tortured by internal and external demons, then how on earth are they going to be interesting enough to not only capture, but also hold the reader's attention throughout the entire book? Unfortunately, many times we assume that if we can just put enough confrontation in, our readers will be tricked into thinking we have accomplished our goal. Alas, this is not the case.

We all know that there are two main types of conflict: internal and external, and while there is often plenty of ensuing confrontation delivered along with the conflict, confrontation itself is not conflict. To better explain my point, let us take a closer look at the actual meaning of these two words.

Conflict: Mental struggle resulting from incompatible or opposing needs, drives, wishes, or external and internal demands.

Confrontation: A face-to-face meeting over the clashing of forces or ideas, especially with defiance or hostility.

In short, confrontation is simply the result of conflict. For example, I might have some conflict over the fact that my size 12 rear-end won't fit into a pair of size 8 pants. Does this cause a confrontation? Perhaps. I might very well rant and rave at said pants, and afore mentioned rear-end, but this confrontation is actually caused by my conflict.

So how can we use these two helpful writing tools, yet still keep them separate? Simple -- through cause and effect. Throw all of the confrontation you wish into your story. It is an easy means to show the character's conflict. Just be sure that you let your readers see your character's internal motivating factors. That way, readers will better understand what drives the character to act as they do, and see the reason behind it.

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