Regardless of what genre you are writing in, one of the most important things to understand is how to create a compelling conflict. Conflict is the glue that holds all the other elements of your novel together.
The first thing to understand is the difference between internal and external conflict.
Internal conflict is the personal dilemma the character faces. Think of it as the psychic wound that must heal at the end of the journey in your story. The action in your novel should be such that it makes your character face that wound so that it can begin to heal and so that we can see the growth of the character at the end of the story.
As a writer, I live to choose conflicts for my characters that are universal and that will elicit strong gut reactions from my readers. For example, a heroine that I have used before is the survivor of both domestic abuse and violent kidnapping. That is why he has a dislike for violent men with whom readers can sympathize and who will elicit emotions from him.
Making the heroine take care of those past hurts and grow will involve forcing the problem of that conflict, usually by putting her alongside someone who is (or appears to be) directly antagonistic to that growth.
External conflict consists of external forces, which make your characters behave in a certain way. For example, the tornado in THE WIZARD OF OZ removes Dorothy from the real world and leaves her on the Wicked Witch forcing her to go on a journey she would not have otherwise taken.
However, it is important to note that you cannot use outside forces to make your character grow or change his mind. For example, the old hero is shot by heroin and realizes that she loves him.
When an external conflict drives your character’s growth, it weakens them by taking decision-making out of their hands.
Consider this other example. Hero has been pushed to the edge of the cliff during a chase scene. She has a choice. Jump off the cliff or let the bad guys catch you.
Using an external conflict, the hero slips on the rocks and falls off the cliff, causing her to escape.
Using internal conflict, the hero realizes that he can die in any way, but chooses to master his own destiny and jumps off the cliff.
In the second, the hero’s actions are determined and of his own making, making him a much more powerful figure in your story.
Do you want to make it even more attractive? What if your hero was afraid of heights?
Think about the above when creating your hero conflict. Ask yourself what is your biggest dilemma. Then push it a little more.
How could you make that dilemma even more difficult for them? Think Indiana Jones and the snakes or the hero of the fear of heights on the cliff.
Then think some more to see if there are any other challenges that will make your hero face that dilemma and find a way to heal that wound that is preventing him from moving forward.
If you take the time to build a strong foundation around that conflict, you will find that as you build your story, it will remain strong and stable. You will also find that the reader will engage in the conflict and support the hero to end his journey happily.