Struggle

Okay, so you’re writing a story. You know who your main character is. You know who the surrounding characters are. You know what your main character wants. You even know how you want your story to end. You’re ready to begin writing … right?

Well, maybe. There is another crucial question to consider. Who—or what—stands in the way of your main character’s getting what he wants? In other words, what will he struggle against?

The word that is often used in any discussion about writing stories is conflict. Conflict is a perfectly good word, but I prefer to talke about struggle. I have seen too many writers attempt to write stories in which the main character sits around all day long and looks at, thinks about, considers the conflict before him without ever doing anything about it.

When we say struggle we think of action, of someone doing something. And that’s the way I think of a story, as someone struggling to do something, change something, be something. It is that struggle that makes your story come alive. It makes it active and interesting.

Here’s an example. In my novel Runt, the main character, the wolf pup Runt, has a problem. He is the smallest of the litter. He has even been given the undignified name Runt by his father, because his father is convinced he will never survive in the wolves’ hard world. What does Runt want? He wants to please his father. He wants to prove himself to his father.

Runt tries various ways to impress his father, following the hunters when he and the other pups are left behind, standing up to a porcupine that leaves him with a muzzle full of quills, being brave enough to accept help from humans, and on and on, but none of his actions bring his father’s approval. In fact, they each make his father less pleased with him.

There is an antagonist in this story, too, someone who makes Runt’s problems harder. The antagonist is Bider, a wolf who is trying to take Runt’s father’s place at the head of the pack.

Many stories, perhaps most, have an antagonist. To have a character who is creating the main character’s problem—or at least making the problem worse—gives the writer opportunities for strong, active scenes and interesting dialogue.

In this story, Runt’s failure to win his father’s approval prompts him, finally, to leave his pack and follow Bider into danger. And that decision leads to the climax—the moment when everything comes very close to tumbling into complete failure—and beyond. Bider, the antagonist, is eliminated, and Runt turns back to his pack. The story ends with his earning a new name from his father. He leaves his old identity and his old failed relationship with his father behind.

So when you think about story problem—when you ask yourself that crucial question, “What does my character want?”—think about struggle. Ask yourself not just what does your character want but what is your character going to do to try to get what he wants. Ask yourself, too, who or what is standing in your character’s way.

Struggle lies at the core of story. Set your main character to struggling, and your story will come to life.

Many stories, perhaps most, have an antagonist. To have a character who is creating the main character’s problem—or at least making the problem worse—gives the writer opportunities for strong, active scenes and interesting dialogue.

In this story, Runt’s failure to win his father’s approval prompts him, finally, to leave his pack and follow Bider into danger. And that decision leads to the climax—the moment when everything comes very close to tumbling into complete failure—and beyond. Bider, the antagonist, is eliminated, and Runt turns back to his pack. The story ends with his earning a new name from his father. He leaves his old identity and his old failed relationship with his father behind.

So when you think about story problem—when you ask yourself that crucial question, “What does my character want?”—think about struggle. Ask yourself not just what does your character want but what is your character going to do to try to get what he wants. Ask yourself, too, who or what is standing in your character’s way.

Struggle lies at the core of story. Set your main character to struggling, and your story will come to life.