STORY STRUCTURE part 3: theme + conflict
Back on the STORY STRUCTURE series! I hope this series could help you understand more about how to outline and plan your story. You can find part one here and part two here.
As is customary, I remind you these are my own ways of thinking of these things! I am not yet an author, but I feel that understanding these things is helping me on my way to becoming a successful author. So, don't mistake me more qualified than I am! These are simply the things I know about story structure.
We're getting to the more interesting parts today! In this post we are going to cover conflict and theme.
You might be thinking, gee, Campbell, those don't sound interesting at all. I hope you're not thinking that! They mostly interest me because of how much they shape your story--these things, in essence, are your story.
Because these are such crucial elements, I'm going to explain what I know, using some examples from literature through the years! Be wary of spoilers below!
Conflict
A story wouldn't be a story without conflict! So, what exactly is it? I mean, we all know what conflict is essentially, but what's the best way to write it in a story? How can I properly understand conflict?
Well, as I learned, there are multiple types of conflict. Let's take a look!
1. Man vs Man
Man vs Man is your most basic type of conflict. This is exactly how it sounds--when one character (your protagonist) opposes another (your antagonist). An example of this can be found in Richard Connell's short story "The Most Dangerous Game." (If you haven't read the story and don't want it spoiled, I suggest you go read it now. If you have read it, or don't mind if I spoil it for you, continue reading!) In this story, the protagonist is Sanger Rainsford, while the antagonist is the evil General Zaroff. Zaroff hunts and kills men for fun, and Rainsford has just become Zaroff's next target.
This is Man vs Man--Rainsford vs Zaroff.
2. Man vs Himself
Ah, man's worst enemy--himself. This is when the character is emotionally or mentally battling himself throughout the story. A classic example of this is in Edgar Allan Poe's "The Tell-Tale Heart." In this story, we see a man driving himself crazy after killing someone. He battles himself through this story as he hears the man's heart beating in the floorboards. He proves himself to be his downfall, as he confesses to the murder in the end. This is Man vs Himself, since he is opposed by no one but his own mind and soul. (A truly frightening story, by the way.)
3. Man vs Society
Man vs Society is if your protagonist is not opposed by a single person, but rather by a regime or system. While I could use The Hunger Games or The Selection for this one, I'm going to roll with short stories and use Shirley Jackson's "The Lottery." If you don't know what this one is about, it is about a society (key word there!) that has a randomly-selected, community-wide ritual stoning (a truly terrible neighborhood block party). This story is Man vs Society because it is not the protagonist against another person, but against many in a certain system. While there is no explicit protagonist, it is clear that the main issue in this story is society itself.
4. Man vs Nature
Ernest Hemingway's The Old Man and the Sea is technically a book, but since it's tiny, it's basically just a long (and pointless!) short story. In this, Santiago works for a long time to try to catch a fish. (That's basically all it is.) This is Man vs Nature, as Santiago is battling a creature, rather than a person. Santiago is subject to the fickleness of fish in this story, which is nature. Man vs Nature, Santiago vs Fish. (If you couldn't tell, I despise this story. Call me crazy, but I just don't get the meaning behind this man struggling to catch this fish for 127 pages!)
5. Man vs God/Supernatural Forces
Lastly, we have Man vs God/Supernatural Forces! This is exactly what it sounds like. Man is not battling man, nor is he battling a fish. Man's issue in the story is found out of his grasp with supernatural forces. An example that comes to mind is Washington Irving's "Rip van Winkle," in which the titular character finds himself forced magically asleep for many years, in which he wakes up in a completely different world than he remembered. This is Man vs Supernatural, as what happened to him is far from man's control.
Alright, that's a lot. But that's not all, folks! I want to make sure you all know that your conflict is what is resolved in your climax (which we will cover later). So, once you've figured out which type of conflict you want/have, you must make it into a yes or no question.
Clear as mud? Yeah, thought so. Allow me to explain this trick my literature teacher taught our class when analyzing many a-short story or novel: phrase your conflict in the form of a question. So, taking my first example of "The Most Dangerous Game," we can take the Man vs Man, Rainsford vs Zaroff conflict and phrase it in the form of a question: will Rainsford defeat Zaroff?
You're probably thinking, well, we could, but why would we? Well, excellent question! Forming your conflict into a question helps to establish what the climax is. By that, I mean that the conflict is answered in the climax. *angel chorus* So, for "The Most Dangerous Game," the answer (climax) could've been "Yes, Rainsford defeats Zaroff," or "No, Rainsford does not defeat Zaroff."
See, told you this would be interesting!
And, it's important to note that many of the best stories don't just have one conflict. Many have one major climax, with smaller ones along the way--answers to different conflicts. Your different conflicts can be easily found with any subplots you create! Many short stories have just one major conflict, so to elaborate, I'll use The Hunger Games, as previously mentioned. THG has many different conflicts in it--first, there's a conflict between Katniss and Society (the whole system--Man vs Society), there's conflict between her and President Snow (Man vs Man), and there's facing the elements (like tracker jackers) in the arena (Man vs Nature).
Alrighty, moving on to theme.
Theme
Theme, simply put, is what you want the reader to get out of your story. What is the moral of the story? What is the message of the story? What statement is this author trying to make?
Some common themes are good vs evil, survival, friendship, prejudice, freedom, time, etc. What do you want your reader to get out of the story? Are they supposed to read your book and see the effects of lost time (hello, The Great Gatsby), or the triumph of good over evil (hello, Harry Potter)? It's entirely likely that a theme will come to your story naturally, depending on which conflict type you choose, the details you add, and how it is resolved. Your theme might be easily written into the plot itself.
For example, it is impossible to separate the theme of 'survival' from "The Most Dangerous Game." It's in the story! It is the story! Since Rainsford and Zaroff are fighting for their lives, the reader is left with a theme of survival.
Your story can have multiple themes, messages, morals, or statements. Take The Great Gatsby, as I mentioned. It has a theme of lost time, but also futility, emptiness of a dream, emptiness of the American dream, and yearning for more.
Themes, messages, morals, and statements. It's important for me to state that these are not all synonymous--morals, statements, and messages attempt to teach readers something, while themes are simply what the story is about.
Okay, that was pretty long! Next time in this series, I'll actually be discussing pieces of the story chart: exposition and inciting incident!
Have you read any of these stories? Which is your favorite? Questions or comments can be commented here or on Instagram @witandlitblog !
As is customary, I remind you these are my own ways of thinking of these things! I am not yet an author, but I feel that understanding these things is helping me on my way to becoming a successful author. So, don't mistake me more qualified than I am! These are simply the things I know about story structure.
We're getting to the more interesting parts today! In this post we are going to cover conflict and theme.
You might be thinking, gee, Campbell, those don't sound interesting at all. I hope you're not thinking that! They mostly interest me because of how much they shape your story--these things, in essence, are your story.
Because these are such crucial elements, I'm going to explain what I know, using some examples from literature through the years! Be wary of spoilers below!
Conflict
A story wouldn't be a story without conflict! So, what exactly is it? I mean, we all know what conflict is essentially, but what's the best way to write it in a story? How can I properly understand conflict?
Well, as I learned, there are multiple types of conflict. Let's take a look!
1. Man vs Man
Man vs Man is your most basic type of conflict. This is exactly how it sounds--when one character (your protagonist) opposes another (your antagonist). An example of this can be found in Richard Connell's short story "The Most Dangerous Game." (If you haven't read the story and don't want it spoiled, I suggest you go read it now. If you have read it, or don't mind if I spoil it for you, continue reading!) In this story, the protagonist is Sanger Rainsford, while the antagonist is the evil General Zaroff. Zaroff hunts and kills men for fun, and Rainsford has just become Zaroff's next target.
This is Man vs Man--Rainsford vs Zaroff.
2. Man vs Himself
Ah, man's worst enemy--himself. This is when the character is emotionally or mentally battling himself throughout the story. A classic example of this is in Edgar Allan Poe's "The Tell-Tale Heart." In this story, we see a man driving himself crazy after killing someone. He battles himself through this story as he hears the man's heart beating in the floorboards. He proves himself to be his downfall, as he confesses to the murder in the end. This is Man vs Himself, since he is opposed by no one but his own mind and soul. (A truly frightening story, by the way.)
3. Man vs Society
Man vs Society is if your protagonist is not opposed by a single person, but rather by a regime or system. While I could use The Hunger Games or The Selection for this one, I'm going to roll with short stories and use Shirley Jackson's "The Lottery." If you don't know what this one is about, it is about a society (key word there!) that has a randomly-selected, community-wide ritual stoning (a truly terrible neighborhood block party). This story is Man vs Society because it is not the protagonist against another person, but against many in a certain system. While there is no explicit protagonist, it is clear that the main issue in this story is society itself.
4. Man vs Nature
Ernest Hemingway's The Old Man and the Sea is technically a book, but since it's tiny, it's basically just a long (and pointless!) short story. In this, Santiago works for a long time to try to catch a fish. (That's basically all it is.) This is Man vs Nature, as Santiago is battling a creature, rather than a person. Santiago is subject to the fickleness of fish in this story, which is nature. Man vs Nature, Santiago vs Fish. (If you couldn't tell, I despise this story. Call me crazy, but I just don't get the meaning behind this man struggling to catch this fish for 127 pages!)
5. Man vs God/Supernatural Forces
Lastly, we have Man vs God/Supernatural Forces! This is exactly what it sounds like. Man is not battling man, nor is he battling a fish. Man's issue in the story is found out of his grasp with supernatural forces. An example that comes to mind is Washington Irving's "Rip van Winkle," in which the titular character finds himself forced magically asleep for many years, in which he wakes up in a completely different world than he remembered. This is Man vs Supernatural, as what happened to him is far from man's control.
Alright, that's a lot. But that's not all, folks! I want to make sure you all know that your conflict is what is resolved in your climax (which we will cover later). So, once you've figured out which type of conflict you want/have, you must make it into a yes or no question.
Clear as mud? Yeah, thought so. Allow me to explain this trick my literature teacher taught our class when analyzing many a-short story or novel: phrase your conflict in the form of a question. So, taking my first example of "The Most Dangerous Game," we can take the Man vs Man, Rainsford vs Zaroff conflict and phrase it in the form of a question: will Rainsford defeat Zaroff?
You're probably thinking, well, we could, but why would we? Well, excellent question! Forming your conflict into a question helps to establish what the climax is. By that, I mean that the conflict is answered in the climax. *angel chorus* So, for "The Most Dangerous Game," the answer (climax) could've been "Yes, Rainsford defeats Zaroff," or "No, Rainsford does not defeat Zaroff."
See, told you this would be interesting!
And, it's important to note that many of the best stories don't just have one conflict. Many have one major climax, with smaller ones along the way--answers to different conflicts. Your different conflicts can be easily found with any subplots you create! Many short stories have just one major conflict, so to elaborate, I'll use The Hunger Games, as previously mentioned. THG has many different conflicts in it--first, there's a conflict between Katniss and Society (the whole system--Man vs Society), there's conflict between her and President Snow (Man vs Man), and there's facing the elements (like tracker jackers) in the arena (Man vs Nature).
Alrighty, moving on to theme.
Theme
Theme, simply put, is what you want the reader to get out of your story. What is the moral of the story? What is the message of the story? What statement is this author trying to make?
Some common themes are good vs evil, survival, friendship, prejudice, freedom, time, etc. What do you want your reader to get out of the story? Are they supposed to read your book and see the effects of lost time (hello, The Great Gatsby), or the triumph of good over evil (hello, Harry Potter)? It's entirely likely that a theme will come to your story naturally, depending on which conflict type you choose, the details you add, and how it is resolved. Your theme might be easily written into the plot itself.
For example, it is impossible to separate the theme of 'survival' from "The Most Dangerous Game." It's in the story! It is the story! Since Rainsford and Zaroff are fighting for their lives, the reader is left with a theme of survival.
Your story can have multiple themes, messages, morals, or statements. Take The Great Gatsby, as I mentioned. It has a theme of lost time, but also futility, emptiness of a dream, emptiness of the American dream, and yearning for more.
Themes, messages, morals, and statements. It's important for me to state that these are not all synonymous--morals, statements, and messages attempt to teach readers something, while themes are simply what the story is about.
Okay, that was pretty long! Next time in this series, I'll actually be discussing pieces of the story chart: exposition and inciting incident!
Have you read any of these stories? Which is your favorite? Questions or comments can be commented here or on Instagram @witandlitblog !
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