forum I need help coming up with an intriguing conflict. Please help!

Started January 16, 2018 by Echo

tune

I have a basic plot but its pretty boring and cliche. The story is about this girl who has powers and goes on a quest to beat the bad guy but I need to know why the bad guy is so bad and why he must be stopped. please help if you can, thanks.

hmm…I actually have this problem a lot. It really depends on whether you want the conflict to be personal between the protagonist and antagonist or the conflict to be on a general scale. For example, the bad guy killed the good guy's parents or the bad guy just ransacks through towns.

Okay. I'd start with what threat the bad guy poses and what his motivations are. What kind of person is he? Why is he doing this? What is his backstory? Is your bad guy going to be a major character or a you-see-him-once-at-the-end-then-he's-dead kind of character? If you're planning to make him a major character than I'd advise giving him as much detail as you would your main character(s). Really flesh him out as a person. Make him human. That's another thing—do you want your readers to hate the protagonist or feel sympathetic towards him? Or a mixture of both? You can use his backstory to mould how readers see him—it can kindle sympathy for him, or it can cement how much of an awful and dislikable person he is. As a reader, I get really irritated with books where the antagonist is basically a cardboard cut-out. I strongly advise that you develop his character as well as that of your protagonist(s).

In any case, good luck with your story!