Everyone says you need conflict in your story, internal or external.
But what about threats? Are they the same thing?
Is the evil overlord presiding from the mountain of doom who wants to rule the world the conflict in the story, or some sort of threat?
Think of it this way: the threat’s coming from the evil overlord. If not stopped, the threat will realised.
A threat is the potential for all sorts of nasty things, but of itself isn’t conflict.
Losing the world, in this case, is the threat.
So what’s the conflict?
Conflict is immediate. It’s happening.
It comes from the minions trying to kill the good guys, the ally who says ‘I’m not helping you today, I’ve got a High Tea to attend’, from the evil overlord (when they finally get face-to-face), and even the self doubts and fears your characters carry. It’s the characters disagreeing, the assassin trying to murder the hero, the lovers fighting.
Conflicts are immediate – they’re in the reader’s face. Threats are nothing but potential consequences your heros aren’t going to like.
That’s the difference.