Conflict is essential to capturing and holding attention in a story. It is the struggle between what a character wants and what prevents them from achieving it. There are many types of conflict, internal and external, writers and storytellers may use to move their stories forward, raise the stakes, and define their characters’ choices.
Use these prompts to make notes about possible types of conflicts you can include in your next story. Download the worksheet to share the tool with your students.
Character versus…
Nature
Issues with forces of nature, natural disasters, climate change
Society
Issues with the laws, norms, beliefs of the broader society or government
Technology
Issues with technology, systems, AI, the “new”
Character
Issues with another character in the story
Self
Internal issues about decisions, relationships, morality

