Understanding Crisis Vs Conflict

How do we keep the reader on the edge of their seats, turning page after page? We use conflict and crises. A book can have both, and most do. You can have a book without crisis, but you CANNOT have a book without conflict.

“Conflict is what makes a story worth reading. Without a struggle, a moral choice, tension, and opposing forces, a story would be nothing but a boring discussion of facts.” "How to Write Conflict" (link no longer works, sorry)

The difference is that crisis is usually a circumstantial event or action, such as a car accident, a robbery, a break-up in a relationship. Conflict is the choices or struggles the character has to make, sometimes because of crisis. Conflict happens inside the character.

These are the Basic Types of Conflict in a Story:

• Inner Conflict: The character is struggling within themselves, with what they want or what they do
• Relational Conflict: The character is struggling with someone else
• Social Conflict: The character is struggling with a group
• Survival Conflict: The character is struggling with fatality
• Situational Conflict: The character is struggling with a situation -- in this case, the character’s problems involve the interests, problems, ambitions and situations of others and their affect on the character.
• Man vs Nature
• Man vs god or religion

The trick is taking one of those conflicts and making it feel real and unique.

More websites on conflict and tension in fiction:
Fiction Factor—a list of essays on conflict.