Humanities

Is conflict ever a "good" thing?
Yes, because building believable characters has everything to do with necessary conflict.
When I'm sitting down to write about my characters I know that just as there is no perfect person in the world there is no perfect character. Every person is born with light and darkness, both equally, and it is the product of their influences; parents, choices, friends, and relatives that form whether they fall to one category. But one is never fully on either side there is no perfectly peaceful character just as there is no completely evil character. When I'm writing an evil character like a murderer or just a despicable one like Nettles mother in the narrative I'm composing they all have something they hold dear to them whether its an animal or a photograph or a memory. But this has nothing to do with necessary conflict, this is more of necessary peace.
A perfect example of necessary conflict is the main character in my narrative. Right now Nettle has many points of conflict; mainly her addiction to methamphetamine. But there are others; her mothers murder, her painful childhood, her dwindling money, and her waning physical condition. but besides all that she is a very charming person that you feel sympathy- no more than that you feel horribly gut-wrenchingly sorry that she is in this predicament. As a writer that is the best you can hope for. But she can't be that alien from the reader otherwise the reader won' t be able to empathize not even a bit, and therefore you have a dull story. Of course some of you can relate to some of the things Nettle is going through but not all of it and hopefully for you not the meth addiction, but she also strives for physical perfection; perfect hair, perfect teeth, no zits. Which I bet that ALL of my readers can relate to and if not yet you will soon. These small actions of internal conflict make your character believable and therefore your story believable. So yes, conflict is sometimes a good thing.