Whenever I try to create a new novel, I can never find a good conflict. All of my ideas have failed because of it. If it helps I write realistic fiction and sometimes some fantasy! Do you have any ways to help with this part? Also, any advice for new writes starting out?
Conflict comes from character. Throw out everything you know or heard about plot. Conflict begins and ends with character. What they want, what they need, and how they canāt get it. From their best friendās boyfriend, to the magical McGuffin that will solve their secret desire, to the terrible situation they have to escape.
Always start out your story (at least in outlining) with the following questions:
What does your character want? Your character will start the story both lacking something and on the verge of their entire life being thrown upside down because they donāt have it. All characters should have a goal, even if they donāt know how to achieve it.
What does your character need? This isnāt necessarily what they want, and youāll derive more conflict over these two things being different. Obviously your character doesnāt need to steal her best friendās boyfriend, she needs to deal with the childhood trauma she carries around that lead to this conclusion.
How are you going to prevent them from getting this? The first half of your book and the driving conflict is going to be your character trying to get what they want or need the wrong way, and failing. Bad decisions are made, antagonists pop up, and what starts out dire just gets worse.
What do they have to change about themselves to obtain what they need? All characters need to change over the course of the story, for better or for worse. If your character doesnāt change, itās hard to convince your readers to care about what happens to them.Ā
Now, this advice is all very generic, but hopefully itāll give you a starting point. Just remember, character-driven plots will help your story gain the momentum it needs.
(Note: There are exceptions to this rule - there are always exceptions to EVERY rule - but if this is your main struggle, than this should be your main focus. You can always break rules as long as you first know how to break them.)