Can't seem to think of a conflict for a character driven story

A few days ago, I started outlining a teen drama story. It's set in a Victorian fantasy world and revolves around a bunch of teenagers going through their daily lives. I've already got a handful of characters and a few introductory chapters (mostly just the gang going through classes) outlined along with some major mid-story events, but I can't think of a (major) conflict to introduce.

If it helps, here's the cast of major characters so far:

• The main protagonist Aleph (not related to the other one from an earlier post of mine), a Deadpan Snarker with No Sympathy. I'm currently planning for the story to revolve around his transition to not-Jerkass.

• Qoa, Aleph's closest and one of his only friends so far. He's an elvish All-Loving Hero.

• Matz, a Lovable Jock/Academic Athlete suffering from parental pressure to be perfect. Aleph loathes him for being perfect. He's also on the student council.

• Eri, an outgoing elf girl who Aleph befriended by proxy. In reality, she's an empty Stepford Smiler putting up a facade. She later suffers from Break the Cutie (not that she was already broken) and offs herself, which ends up being a catalyst to Aleph's character development. (wondering if I could get some feedback on this, on the side)

• Flora, a Cool Big Sis vampire girl that lives in an abandoned building downtown. Aleph befriends her after Eri forces him into her domain in an act of teen stupidity. I'm currently working on giving her a bigger role as she doesn't appear at school.

• Mari, a bookish Shrinking Violet who has an unrequited crush on Aleph. Part of her character arc revolves around figuring out just why she likes Aleph.

• Kaine, Eri's Lad-ette best friend. She plays a similar role for Eri like Qoa does for Aleph. It's shown that she shares a similar outlook to Aleph, albeit slightly more positive.

Any help is appreciated, and thanks in advance!

edited 20th May '17 3:21:10 PM by 404waffles

I'd say to examine their dynamics/issues like why/how are Qoa and Aleph friends given such a contrast?

Does Matz know about Aleph's dislike and how would Matz react to such a revelation such as a "Where do you get off/You don't know me!"-type speech?

What's Eri's damage and why's she putting on a facade?

What's Aleph and Flora's friendship/dynamic like?

What would Aleph/others think about Mari's inexplicable crush on him? Does Kaine and Aleph being similar make them realize they're Not So Different or is it a case of Too Much Alike akin to Eren Yeager and Jean Kirstein?

It may also help if they're all searching for/trying to win something to give them a shared motivation to not just sit around on their asses even if it's for something trivial like an expensive pair of steampunk goggles or something. Whatever it is to give them a goal.

If you want the story to be character driver, I would suggest giving each major character an arc that does not involve the protag but is related to the events of the story.

That's what makes a story character driven. It means that the actions and development of each character has weight comparable to the protagonist. Does some girl having a crush on the protag have any real bearing on the overall conflict? What if the girl is on the opposing side and is sent to assassinate him? It's cliche but the reader is going to be more interested in characters with both goals and wants, especially if the two do not align.

Close relations and unhealthy obsessions aside, the amount of time people actually spend thinking about one particular person in their life is so minute compared to everything else. So if every character exists simply to have some relationship to the main character with some small bit of backstory hinted at then pushed aside, it feels almost as if we, the readers, are following someone we may not particularly like through something like the Pirates of the Caribbean ride with bag puppets instead of animatronics.

At the same time, the amount of characterization required is proportional to their role in the plot. Plot-driven stories are not necessarily a bad thing. Ender's Game is a largely plot driven novel. None of the characters, save for Ender's siblings and few battle school kids, really receive any fleshing out beyond a few sentences. And the ones that get some if at all either end up dying or just flat out disappearing from the book halfway through. It's still a solid, fun book and the reason I started writing SF as a teenager. On the other hand, it's sequels Speaker for the Dead, Xenocide, and Children of the Mind get increasingly character driven to point where Card writes five fucking pages of some bitch tracing grooves in wood flooring.

So basically, a character driven story is more likely to keep a reader interested if each character's perspective is a different experience relevant to the plot. In stories with a limited perspective, the characters should still be treated this way, and act like they're living out their lives. But it's possible to go overboard and have so much unnecessary backstory and flashbacks and introspection that the plot slows to a crawl (think Naruto) and if the reader feels like too much of the story is like this, they'll usually give up.

I think the major issue on this is that none of them (barring Matz and Mari) WANT anything. Aleph is, as it stands, just a personality; if you want to give him depth, make him strive for something. Motivation is probably, IMO, the single most important aspect of writing a good character.

The motivation doesn't have to be realistic, or possible, or even the same thing throughout the story, it just matters that they're actively seeking something. Otherwise, they have no real agency of their own, and it's ultimately not really even their story.

I mean, here's what I can infer about Matz, just based off what you've told me: He has a strong desire to be perfect, so he's probably desperate for the approval of others, which points to the fact he's extremely insecure, so his public persona is most likely a mask to hide said insecurities. And that's relatable because virtually everybody has felt insecure at one point.

And Aleph: Uh... he's a Deadpan Snarker with No Sympathy. That's it. And that is, to put in the bluntest way possible, not interesting or relatable in the slightest.

Of course, giving your characters motivation will not only make them far more interesting and relatable, but it'll also give you a basic skeleton for a plot; Aleph's obviously going to spend his time trying to achieve whatever goal or motivation you give him. Does he decide to get revenge on someone for a slight? Run for student council against Matz solely to further his own agenda? Try to end discrimination against vampires or something? I dunno, I'm sure you can come up with something more interesting than that given some time.