CONFLICT THESAURUS

A CHILD WANTING TO LIVE WITH ONE'S EX



Never struggle with Show-and-Tell again. Activate your free trial or subscribe to view the Conflict Thesaurus in its entirety, or visit the Table of Contents to explore unlocked entries.

CHOOSE MY PLAN

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:
Relationship friction, duty and responsibility, loss of control, power struggles, ego-related conflict

EXAMPLES:
A teenage child choosing to live with the character's ex after a divorce
A child taking every opportunity to tell the character how much better life would be if they lived with their other parent
A child admitting in a custody hearing that they'd prefer to live with the character's ex
Siblings choosing to live with different parents and being split up into two households

MINOR COMPLICATIONS:
Struggling with the "empty nest" situation on days when the child is with the other parent
Having to pack up a child's things and relocate everything to their new home
Not being with the child for holidays or important events
Siblings growing apart or experiencing unequal treatment because they live in different households 
Complications arising from blended and extended families 
Being manipulated by a child playing their parents against each other to get what they want
The character feeling like an outsider while spending time with the ex and their child at Christmas concerts, graduations, or other important events 
Having to accommodate the ex's schedule
Dealing with a reluctant child every time the character picks them up from the ex's
Having to explain the custody situation to other people

POTENTIALLY DISASTROUS RESULTS:
...

RESULTING EMOTIONS:
...

POSSIBLE INTERNAL STRUGGLES:
...

PEOPLE WHO COULD BE NEGATIVELY AFFECTED:
...

NEGATIVE TRAITS THAT COULD MAKE THE SITUATION WORSE:
...

IMPACT ON BASIC NEEDS:
...

WOUNDS THIS COULD LEAD TO:
...

POSITIVE TRAITS TO HELP THE CHARACTER COPE:
...

POSITIVE OUTCOMES:
...