 For the Daydreamers:
Nested Conflicts In Your Story
While traveling across Poland, I got to discussing my research days with some people who now work in wildlife science. It was fun to think about the good ol' days, and rehashing it all of COURSE made me start to consider the various parallels between writing and science...
You see, I used to work in what's called ecological modeling. Specifically, I worked with what are called hierarchical models -- also known as nested models.
Yes, yes, I can already see your eyes glazing over. I swear this will be brief and not too math-y.
In a hierarchical modeling, the variables used to predict an outcome are not independent. They are "nested" within each other.
So the classic example is student exam scores. You could use GPA, gender, school enrollment, etc. to predict exam scores. Those variables are all connected, though -- plus, the student is actually a part of the school (i.e. nested within!). Hierarchical modeling takes all of this into account to predict outcomes, and I'm sure you can see why that would be helpful when working in ecosystems.
OKAY, so how does this apply to writing? Well, duh: everything is connected! And nested!
How many times have I harped at y'all that plot is inseparable from character or that character is inseparable from world? If your character can be plunked into any world or any plot, then you have a problem. If your plot can happen to anyone on any world...then you have a problem.
You get the idea. Story is connected. Story is nested.
But I started to think about all of this from a purely conflict standpoint -- in other words, how do the conflicts the protagonist face all fit within each other? And how can I make sure that my own do?
The reason I started focusing on conflict was because I faced this issue in my own writing. I was hacking away at a proposal for a new project, and as I was planning future installments in the story, it occurred to me that I was going about this all wrong. I lacked a big, cohesive BOSS.
Yeah, I'm using game terms because honestly? Games are a perfect example of nested conflicts. You have to face gradually more difficult bosses -- often henchmen to the final Big Bad. Once you're leveled up enough, then you face the Big Bad...and the game ends.
So like in Breath of the Wild, the latest Zelda installment, you have to work through the Divine Beasts...but to even get to them, you must first work through all sorts of increasingly difficult challenges (e.g., clearing shrines or activating towers). Then, once you HAVE dealt with the Diving Beasts, you can finally face off to Calamity Ganon -- the actual Big Bad.
Notice how you can't beat the Ganon without first addressing the Divine Beasts? And you can't deal with them until you've handled a lot of other quests. There is a clear hierarchy. The conflicts are NESTED within each other.
Your story should be the same.
Now, I'm not saying you need to make your conflicts super formulaic and mimic video games exactly. But they're such an easy-to-follow example of nested conflict, I do urge you to analyze your favorites!
And let's look at a book, too. In the Harry Potter series, Harry faces increasingly difficult bad guys until eventually he is strong enough to face Voldemort.
In The Hunger Games, Katniss must first survive the Hunger Games...then she can join the rebellion and topple the government and society that created the Hunger Games.
What about a movie? In the original Star Wars trilogy, Luke works his way up the hierarchy of Death Star to Darth Vader to Emperor (with lots of little challenges and steps along the way).
In my own proposal, I realized that while I knew who the Big Bad was...and also a lot of littler bads, I had no sinew that bound them together. I wasn't viewing it in a step-by-step fashion.
So I took my Big Bad, and I worked backward from there. I was very scientific about it. I grouped my bad guys by their "difficulty" and by how much my heroine would need to learn (level up!) to face off to each. Then I arranged them in a logical order and started to evaluate what choices she would have to make to move from one bad guy to the next...
In other words, I built my plot from there. Suddenly the story and order of events were very clear!
My heroine couldn't face the evil oligarchs until she'd first faced the vampire queen, and she couldn't face the vampire queen until she'd first faced the vigilante murderer. But to face that murderer, she needed to get comfortable speaking up...and after him, she needed to learn how to control her new powers. And after the queen, she needed to learn how to balance the dark and light within her.
(Side note: I am being SO vague and intentionally trope-y here because this idea is still a total work-in-progress, and I don't want to give away too much too soon.)
Now I had my heroine's character arc(s) as well as the broad plot events. All from thinking about nested conflict and how the bad guys connected!
But, Sooz, why should I care? Why do we want nested conflict in our story at all? Why do all the "levels" need to be connected?
Because it adds resonance to your story. The more everything relates, the more cohesive the world, character, and plot feel -- and trust me, the more your readers will connect to it all!
I'm sure you've watched a show or seen a movie that felt so random, you couldn't get into the story. I felt this way watching Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets. There was SO MUCH potential in that film, and it was visually very cool...
But wow, none of the conflict felt connected! You could tell it was a serialized comic, and rather than find a way to unify all the subplots, they left them separated. You don't want your story to leave readers that way, right? So don't.
Make sure everything is connected, and when you're mapping out your conflict, evaluate how hierarchical it truly is, how nested each boss is within the Big Bad. I bet you'll have some aha! moments like I just did.
You tell me: what are some of your favorite nested conflicts in story? I personally love the way The Expanse has set up rich conflict that's all interconnected and that progresses with each season.
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