Ask The Writer

Does a character have to fail for a story or novel to have enough conflict?

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By Brandi Reissenweber

Published: December 15, 2011

Brandi Reissenweber

Interesting question! And it’s a sticky one, too, as the idea of “failure” isn’t always clear-cut. If your character sets out to win his beloved’s hand, but ends up realizing something else is more important, has he succeeded or failed? Additionally, a character who always succeeds may, in fact, find his conflict in that success when his wife becomes envious and angry.

While a character may or may not fail, he should be human and, as a result, flawed. Like humans, characters succumb to their weaknesses, get in their own way, and misunderstand. They want something they cannot have, flash anger when they should embrace, carry guilt when they should forgive themselves. This quality creates authenticity and conflict.

Consider Jay Gatsby in F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel The Great Gatsby. He throws lavish parties. People admire him and find his mystery exciting. His library is well stocked and his closet is filled with expensive clothing. But Gatsby isn’t all that he seems. He throws these parties only to cross paths with his long-lost love, Daisy. Many of the books in his library are unread, the pages still uncut. When his car strikes and kills a woman while Daisy is at the wheel, he takes the blame for it. These complexities heighten the conflict. Who is Gatsby? Will the façades he’s created remain intact? What will happen if they don’t?

Or consider Shukumar in Jhumpa Lahiri’s short story “A Temporary Matter.” His relationship with his wife, Shoba has been strained since the loss of their baby. Shukumar is saddened by the distance between them, yet he contributes to it. He sets up his office in the room that was to be the baby’s nursery. He stays there to work during dinner, avoiding Shoba. When the power company turns off the lights and they are forced dine together several evenings in a row, they begin to reveal secrets they’ve kept from one another over the years. Shukumar is both excited by this time together and put off by it, frustrated that he cannot retreat to his home office. The inner push and pull that Shukumar experiences gives these truth-telling sessions tension.

A character’s failure can certainly be an important part of a fiction’s conflict. But compelling conflict is often found in the nuances of characterization, which aren’t always so straightforward and easy to label.

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Brandi Reissenweber teaches fiction writing and reading fiction at Gotham Writers' Workshop and authored the chapter on characterization in Gotham's Writing Fiction: The Practical Guide. Her work has been published in numerous journals, including Phoebe, North Dakota Quarterly and Rattapallax. She was a James C. McCreight Fiction Fellow at the Wisconsin Institute for Creative Writing and has taught fiction at New York University, University of Wisconsin and University of Chicago. Currently, she is a visiting professor at Illinois Wesleyan University.
Send your questions on the craft of creative writing to writingquestions@writermag.com. All of Brandi's other Ask The Writer columns are available to registered users.

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Failure can take many forms. For instance, if a character acquires great wealth, he might feel anxious about losing it. Perhaps all the pleasures wealth has afforded him are unfulfilling and his compulsive search for more pleasures leaves him frustrated. His generosity to friends and family cause them to be jealous or resentful of him, and their lack of love and loyalty toward him cause him grief. He might feel people seek his friendship because he is wealthy, and he might feel parnoid about his business associates attempting to undermine his position in business, society, etc. This barely touches the surface of all the possibilities, but it is a start.

Submitted: 12/28/2011 7:37:12 PM (CST)

I agree with you this question is very hard to answer, but I think the hero needs to fail first in order to create the novel series into a saga. It makes great drama and the other part that he or she accepts guilt is making the novel crafty. The main character has bigger conflicts along through sequel novels and at the end of the last novel he or she, and their friends win. For me it works if the main character tries to save the world or place, for then the story continues, and fans will be interested in reading the whole saga whatever it's called. But, some writers write only one novel and that chracter sadly fails, which isn't a very happy ending. Your advice will help me throughout my future novels which I haven't wrote yet, but still learning.

Submitted: 12/26/2011 6:52:10 PM (CST)

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