CONFLICT THESAURUS

LEAVING SOMEONE TO THE CONSEQUENCES OF THEIR ACTIONS



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HELPFUL TIP:

Conflict is your story’s secret sauce, supplying tension, relationship friction, and complications to a character’s journey. It comes in a million different forms, so identify the obstacles and problems that will hit your character the hardest by using the Character Builder to uncover their primary insecurities, fears , and desires. Don’t forget to include everyday conflict scenarios that will frustrate them and keep the pressure high.
CATEGORY:
Moral dilemmas and temptations, relationship friction, duty and responsibility, power struggles, losing an advantage

EXAMPLES:
The character letting their unmotivated or irresponsible teenager fail at school
Not loaning money to someone whose poor decisions keep them in constant financial distress
Leaving a failing company after one's advice on how to turn things around was repeatedly refused or scorned
Not posting bail for a son or daughter who has been arrested
Allowing the justice system to decide a guilty loved one's fate
No longer paying for rehab or staging interventions for an addicted loved one
Letting a loved one who refuses to acknowledge or treat a mental health diagnosis make their own choices
Not giving in to a loved one's request to lie for them, cover for them, or provide an alibi

MINOR COMPLICATIONS:
The character having to explain their actions to loved ones who disagree or don't understand
Confrontations with the other person
The person trying to manipulate the character for "abandoning" them
Being saddened by reports the person is not doing well
Other people taking the character's place in enabling the person to continue making the same choices

POTENTIALLY DISASTROUS RESULTS:
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RESULTING EMOTIONS:
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POSSIBLE INTERNAL STRUGGLES:
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PEOPLE WHO COULD BE NEGATIVELY AFFECTED:
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NEGATIVE TRAITS THAT COULD MAKE THE SITUATION WORSE:
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IMPACT ON BASIC NEEDS:
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WOUNDS THIS COULD LEAD TO:
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POSITIVE TRAITS TO HELP THE CHARACTER COPE:
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POSITIVE OUTCOMES:
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