A novel is “an invented prose narrative that is usually long and complex and deals especially with human experience through a usually connected sequence of events,” states the Merriam-Webster Dictionary.
But it is much more than that. Janet Burroway gives us more meat on the bone in Writing Fiction. She writes, “Fortunately, the necessary features of the story form are fewer than those of a face. They are conflict, crises, and resolution. Conflict is the first encountered and the fundamental element of fiction, necessary because in literature, only trouble is interesting.”
I venture to say that without conflicts, a novel would merely be a nice story devoid of emotion and depth; a thriller would be a dud. A threat is usually a high-stakes conflict.
In 2019, Science News reported that the greatest threats are climate change, nuclear war, and pandemics. The World Health Organization (WHO) and the World Economic Forum, list climate change and its effects as the biggest threat. Statista’s top three threats are extreme weather events, AI-generated misinformation and disinformation, and societal and political polarization.
The Cambridge Dictionary defines threat as: “a suggestion that something unpleasant or violent will happen, especially if a particular action or order is not followed.” When a threat raises its ugly head in my upcoming novel, The Ambition, hearts begin to pump faster, blood flows more rapidly, and adrenaline rushes in. Those threatened ask questions. Why is he doing this? What does he want? What if we don’t comply?
In 2023, Grammarly posted an article listing eight literary elements a novelist should know. Conflict was listed as Item 5 and defined as: “Conflict in literature is the central struggle of the main character. Conflict drives a story forward by providing a sense of purpose or motivation.
A conflict in a novel can occur between characters or between a main character and a force of nature or a social structure or even within themself.”
In The Ambition, John, the protagonist, is threatened majorly and must resolve a problem. But he is not the only person threatened, and the threats pump up the tension in the story.
You will want to read the novel to learn about the threats and how they get resolved.
