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The Conflict Box
Continuing on with the theme of conflict (because I’ve been having so much trouble resolving the conflict in the book I’m writing and because the book I’m editing doesn’t have nearly enough), I was recently reminded of the conflict box.
I’m not entirely sure who came up with this idea, but I know that Jennifer Crusie and Bob Mayer discussed it when they were co-writing Don’t Look Down, the first of many collaborative works (and a fantastic book, but how could it not be with two such incredible authors writing it?). More recently, I was reminded of the conflict box by my good friend Pru Warren (whose romcoms are so good!) when I was complaining to her about my problem with my hero.
Basically, there are two different types of conflict box: one generally for fiction, and another specifically for romance (because, yes, authors of romance are special).
What this means is the protagonist’s goal should create the antagonist’s conflict and vice-versa.
For example, here’s the conflict box for the novel I’m struggling with:
If the heroine achieves her goal of finding her father she’ll also discover the secret the antagonist has been hiding for 30 years…