: Re: Adding conflict to a persuasion scene POV character, let’s call her Alpha, needs to get a feudal lord to rebel against the Empire. The lord doesn’t know there is support for the rebellion.

@Hamm6328258

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So Alpha lies and manipulates to trick the Lord into thinking one of the neighboring lords is trying to ruin him, and then she asks for his support? Does he know about this? Maybe it can be a possibility for him to figure it out during their conversation (if I am understanding you right).

You could also do the classic thing where everything is going smoothly and then OOPS - a bomb goes off in the distance (not actually a bomb, but you get the idea). Something urgent suddenly cuts off the conversation and Alpha's progress is put in jeopardy. They have to deal with that thing now.

Also, if you make it clear how vitally important it is for Alpha to get this lord's support, it will make the scene more of a nailbiter without adding more conflict. If Alpha fails in getting the lord's support, then _________ will happen, and that's bad because ________. Raising the stakes makes it more interesting to read (It could also be fun to make the lord difficult to convince, drawing out the persuasion to its breaking point. Maybe some character flaw of the lord stunts things - like he's not a trusting person, etc.). But if readers understand that this conversation is a tipping point for your story, the scene will have more value to them and things will seem more important.

[When it comes to getting inspiration, you could read more books, or get in the headspace of your characters, or check out Jenna Moreci on YouTube - I know that last one is random, but she's very helpful and has a variety of content to help writers]

Hope this helps. If not, then good luck!

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