# Conflict: Definition and Fiction Example | NovelOS Studio

> Conflict is the sustained opposition between incompatible goals, needs, values, duties, or forces. See an original fiction example, why writers use it, commo...

## Conflict in a story

Conflict gives action direction. It may occur between people, within a character, against an institution, or through the physical conditions of the story world.

## Original fiction example

> A surgeon wants to disclose an error while her hospital pressures her to protect a program that serves thousands of patients.

This example is original to the NovelOS glossary. It illustrates the term without borrowing a passage from a published novel.

## Why writers use it

Use conflict to force choices that cannot satisfy every important demand.

**A useful revision question:** Where does this device change what the reader understands, expects, or feels? If removing it leaves the passage unchanged, it may need a clearer function.

## A common mistake

Arguments alone do not create strong conflict if nothing meaningful can be gained or lost.

## Use conflict in NovelOS Studio

Develop character psychology, goals, contradictions, relationships, and change. [The Oracle](/features/the-oracle/) sits inside the same NovelOS Studio project as your characters, world, timeline, manuscript, goals, tracker, revision tools, and publishing exports.

Record the idea where it affects the book, test it in scenes, and revise it beside the surrounding prose. NovelOS Studio keeps the craft decision attached to the novel instead of leaving it in a separate worksheet.

Category

Character and Conflict

Related terms

* [Internal Conflict](/glossary/internal-conflict/)
* [External Conflict](/glossary/external-conflict/)
* [Stakes](/glossary/stakes/)

[Browse the full glossary](/glossary/)