What is internal conflict in writing?

Hi friends! A lot of times when we’re discussing a book proposal at work, we’ll ask, “What’s the conflict?” or say, “This could use some internal conflict.” What we’re talking about, of course, is the conflict getting in the way of a character’s goal—or, in the case of a romance novel, getting in the way of love and a happy ever after. I hope this list of internal conflict story examples gets your creativity flowing, and you can bookmark it or save it to Pinterest so it’s always handy!

But before I get to the list, let’s talk about..

Internal Conflict Vs. External Conflict

External conflict has to do with real-world circumstances. You want to go to college, but you don’t have enough money. You’ve fallen in love on your semester abroad, but he lives in Barcelona and you live in Idaho. You want to get home to your loved ones after a visit in Barcelona, but due to an alien invasion, all flights are grounded.

Internal conflict has to do with psychological barriers to a decision or a goal. If a struggle takes place in the character’s mind…or heart…then by definition, that’s an internal conflict. It may include wrestling with a moral quandary, pondering a difficult decision, or coming to terms with one’s sense of self.

Even stories with clear external conflict are stronger when they have internal conflict as well.  All of us deal with inner conflict in our own lives every day, so it’s easy for us as readers to relate to characters who deal with it, too! I’ve tried to include several types of internal conflict in this list. Obviously, you can change the pronouns as you like.

25 Examples of Internal Character Conflict

1. She’s not sure whether she and her team should continue on their mission, or stop everything to attempt a rescue of one of their own.

2. He’s not sure whether he should get back together with his ex. It seems like she’s changed, and he still has feelings for her, but they had so many struggles before.

3. He wants to ask someone out—but since it’s someone he sees every day, he fears it’ll be excruciatingly awkward if they say no.

4. She wants to reveal the truth about herself or about a situation, but fears her family or friends will abandon her…or fears she’ll be harassed, fired, or publicly excoriated.

5. They think their partner, friend, or family member is guilty of a crime…but they keep telling themselves it can’t be possible, since they love this person and have always trusted them.

6. His partner, parent, or employer is engaging in shady dealings. He knows he should put a stop to it…but he benefits greatly from it.

7. She wants to quit her job, but her family is relying on her.

8. He wants to end her marriage, but worries about the impact it would have on the children.

9. She’s been told divorce is a sin, but her marriage is making her life miserable.

10. He’s torn between a safe, lucrative path and taking a chance on something he’d rather do—like start a new business, go on a quest, or pursue a creative career.

11. She wants to take a dangerous job, but worries about what would happen to her children if she died.

12. If he takes the action he wants to take, his mother or father will disown him.

13. She wants to marry for love, but feels she owes it to her family to marry for money…or to marry a foreign member of the nobility, for diplomatic reasons.

14. He hates his field of study or his career, but he thinks everyone will look down on him if he switches to a less prestigious course of study or occupation that he would like better.

15. She’s doing something that she feels is necessary for the common good, but she hates it that it forces her to lie to family, her partner, or her best friend.

16. Their fear of failure is keeping them from going after what they really want.

17. Common sense (or his skeptical peers) tell him that it’s time to give up on his dream, since he’s had no success so far…but he doesn’t want to give up now.

18. The promise of an exciting new relationship conflicts with her image of herself or the kind of person she thinks she “should” be.

19. She doesn’t believe she has the skills, competence, or knowledge to succeed in a role or do what needs to be done.

20. Because of a past mistake, she thinks she doesn’t deserve to be happy.

21. Because of a past mistake, he’s lost faith in his own judgement or abilities. (This is the inner conflict for one of my characters in the novel I’m writing now!)

22. She’s isolated and lonely, but because of a past trauma, she doesn’t trust others. (This is the conflict for my other character!)

23. To save his community, his country, or the world, he has to give up on his own dreams. (I got this idea from It’s a Wonderful Life.)

24. Being in a particular relationship will mean giving up on one or more of the things he was hoping for in his ideal relationship.

25. She wants to be successful, but she also believes it’s selfish to want that.

26. He’s starting to suspect that things his community or society taught him are very wrong.

Oops, I threw in an extra one! No extra charge. 🙂

In general, if you think about situations where society, logic, family, or friends are telling a person one thing, but their heart is telling them another, you’ll discover compelling inner conflict.

If you love writing inspiration, I hope you’ll check out my book Master Lists for Writers. Lots of authors use it to find their inspiration for stories!

And whether you’re writing a short story, a script, or a novel, I hope these examples were helpful!  If you don’t want to miss future posts about writing, be sure to follow the blog—there’s a place you can sign up at the left. Thanks for dropping in, and happy writing!

What is internal conflict and examples?

What do you mean by internal conflict?

What is internal and external conflict?

What is the main internal conflict in the story?