In this quick tip, I break down the four essential conflicts that form the heart of every compelling narrative. These aren’t just obstacles. They’re the warring goals that make readers turn pages. Understanding conflict isn’t just about knowing the types—it’s about knowing when and how to weave them into your story. Learn why there’s no single “right” moment to introduce any conflict type, and how to layer them throughout your story for maximum impact.
Jane Cleland here. The question is whether the page number count on Jane’s Plotting Roadmap which of course I discuss in some depth in Mastering Suspense, Structure & Plot, Mastering Plot Twists, and Beat the Bots: A Writer’s Guide to Surviving and Thriving in the Age of AI. Those are my three books on the craft of writing. The question is whether those page numbers refer to the manuscript pages or the published book pages.
And the answer is the manuscript pages, because that’s when I’m using Jane’s Plotting Roadmap is while I’m writing. You will notice that I recommend in a traditional mystery that your first plot twist, it could be unexpected, but not the opposite, unexpected, and the opposite, or it could be a moment of heightened danger. Plot twist, plot reversal, moment of heightened danger. I abbreviate that to a TRD.
And danger of course could be physical, emotional, mental, or spiritual. I recommend that in a traditional mystery, you have a TRD every 70 to 90 pages. So that, let’s just call it 80 for the sake of argument. That’s 80, 160, 240, 310.
So you’re going to have four, and then you’ll finish it up with the final twist that goes beyond what the reader thought was the final twist. I welcome your questions and thank you for that one. I look forward to seeing how you handle it. Remember that if you’re writing a thriller, you’re going to have a TRD much more often.
If you’re writing literary fiction, it might take a much more leisurely pace. And TRDs are how you control pacing, but there’s no one right frequency. It is based on genre and reader expectations. I know you’ll make the right decision and I look forward to hearing what that decision is.
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