Learn How to Write Internal and External Conflict in Romance Novels from Bridgerton Season 3

Oof, do I love Bridgerton Season 3. For so many reasons, but among them, it is a great way of learning how to write an essential element of romance novels: conflict.

Specifically, internal and external conflict. Even the lowest angst romances with no third act break-up and seemingly nothing but sunshine and roses have a little bit of conflict; it might come in the form of a thunderstorm that forces the characters to confess their fears of the dark and, by association, the unknown, but it's there, because it's as important as the happily ever after. 

But what exactly are internal and external conflict, you ask?

Internal Conflict in Romance Novels

Internal conflict is basically what it sounds like—an internal struggle. In romance, this struggle often relates to a character's goal, motivation, or emotional wound, with an emotional wound being the soul-deep cut resulting from a past trauma, break-up, or other difficult experience that makes a character hesitant to fall in love and/or establish close connections with people. 

Internal Conflict in Bridgerton Season 3

If you're speeding through Bridgerton Season 3—which, why? There are £50,000 worth of wigs in that season alone, and they deserve their moments in the sun—you might be tricked into thinking that it's only Penelope with the internal conflict. 

After all, she's got emotional wounds out the wazoo! She's:

-the black sheep of the ton and her family

-a debutante three seasons in with no prospects

-newly friendless after her row with Eloise

She's been knocked down more than once and made to feel small, and it's why she struggles with her attraction to Colin, because he represents those wounds.

He's essentially a walking, talking reminder of the society that scorned her.

But Colin isn't as at ease with society as he seems. He's spent the summer becoming who he thinks society wants him to be: a charming rake (with very loud hair). And it isn't a comfortable role. He struggles with being a rake, because he knows it isn't really him and isn't making him happy. And in struggling against himself, he's dealing with internal conflict!

Now, let's move on to external conflict.

External Conflict in Romance Novels

There are 3 types of external conflict:

-character vs. character

-character vs. nature/force/event/fate

-character vs. society

Two of these types are represented in Bridgerton Season 3, but thankfully, I have a totally fictional but nonetheless explanatory example for the third type.

Character vs. Character External Conflict in Bridgerton Season 3

We see this type of conflict with Colin and Lord Debling duking it out (pun intended) for Penelope's affections. Seeing Penelope with Lord Debling makes Colin super jealous, and this jealousy, along with the kiss he and Penelope share, makes him realize he wants her as more than a friend. Without that external conflict, that fourth episode wouldn't end with the most casual proposal of all time. 

Character vs. Society External Conflict in Bridgerton Season 3

We see this type of conflict with Penelope's desire to get married and get away from her mother, and her desire to have a voice as Lady Whistledown. Society is against her with those goals, because it looks down on women like her who've been out for multiple seasons and prefer walls to waltzes, and women who—gasp—have opinions (Lady Danforth is the exception to this, but as she is a widow and friend to the queens, she's afforded some leeway that Penelope isn't). To achieve her goal of getting married, she chooses to change her whole wardrobe, which gives her the confidence to ask for flirting lessons from Colin, which brings them closer and eventually nets her the husband she wanted all along, except instead of some man she only has passing feelings for, she's found her one true love. 

And Colin is struggling with external conflict, too. Yes, he's warring with himself over his recent glow-up, but part of why he had the glow-up in the first place was because society made him feel like being a sensitive soul wasn't acceptable. And all the positive reinforcement of a summer sleeping his way through Europe made him think that a rakish life would be a happier one, which he quickly realizes isn't the case upon his return home.

Character vs. Nature/Force/Event/Fate External Conflict in Bridgerton Season 3

We don't have character vs. nature/force/event/fate in Bridgerton Season 3, at least not yet, but dream with me for a moment here—just imagine Colin's hairpiece, which is very much a character with its own personality, attacking them in a carriage and threatening their lives unless they let him finally crawl off Colin's head and be set free. They freak out, cede its demands, and grow closer because of the scare. Please, someone turn this into a fan fiction story! I sign away my creative rights! (Something I'm very used to, as a former romance manuscript and current romance plot ghostwriter).

Now, for the writing advice.

How to Write Internal and External Conflict in Romance Novels

In romance, internal conflict and external conflict often go hand in hand, and the best romance novels combine them so skillfully and yet so subtly that unless you're studying the story with real focus and attention, you might miss the mastery. 

To do this in your own romance novel, before you start writing, figure out what level of angst you want to write.

If you're going for a cozy, no third act break-up, no drama vibe, you're aiming for low angst, which means that most of your conflict will either be external, or internal but possible to overcome with open communication and support from all main characters.

If, however, you want to really put your characters through the wringer and have them exorcise their demons, heal their emotional wounds, and end up truly changed for the better and each other in the end, then you're aiming for high angst, which means a lot of internal conflict and optional external conflict to add extra drama.

If neither of these sounds right, then the "classic" level of angst will do: where each character has an emotional wound to overcome and there's some character development and a third act break-up, with optional external conflict. Gwen Hayes' Romancing the Beat is an excellent guidebook for outlining this type of romance.

Once you've got your angst level down, think about which tropes appeal to you based on your story idea, and how they could contribute to the internal or external conflict necessary for your book's angst level. And remember: only pick tropes you can explore fully in the storyline. When readers pick up a book with a particular trope, they want to see it really embedded into the romance and/or sub-plot.

An example: the bodyguard trope could create internal conflict for the heroine, who knows it's wrong to fall for the man protecting her, especially because she's just broken up with her co-star and isn't ready for a new relationship.

The bodyguard trope could create external conflict, in the form of character vs. character, if the bodyguard in question is a former secret agent, and the drug lord he was chasing decides to get revenge for putting all his cronies in jail.

So there you have it. Internal and external conflict, taught to you and brought to you by Bridgerton Season 3. If you like this blog's concept, of teaching foundational romance writing concepts through romance TV shows, let me know in the comments, and I'll do more!

Until next time, happy reading and writing!