“The story must be a conflict”

“The story… must be a conflict, and specifically, a conflict between the forces of good and evil within a single person.”

This from novelist Maxwell Anderson. The necessity of conflict in story is so fundamental, we may well overlook it.

Conflict is dynamic. Conflict is evocative. Conflict is compelling.

Like moths to candles, human beings are drawn to conflict in stories… even as we try our best to avoid it in real life.

When I work with my college students, I tell them to bring to mind in each scene they write what I call a Conflict-O-Meter. The best image I have for this is the applause gauge from the old TV series “Queen For A Day”:

See how Contestant #3 pegged the needle all the way to the right? That’s pretty much what we should be targeting as writers in our stories. Hot conflict. Sharp conflict. Real conflict. All the way to the right conflict.

Don’t just lay it on artificially, but rather dig into your story’s characters and surface the conflict naturally, arising from characters. For the best conflict is that which derives from characters with conflicting goals.

So remember:

“The story must be a conflict.”

The Quest” has entered Week 18! And so did Go On Your Own Quest, an opportunity for anyone to follow the structure of “The Quest” to dig into screenwriting theory [Core — 8 weeks], figure out your story [Prep — 6 weeks], and write a first draft [Pages — 10 weeks]. It’s a 24-week immersion in the screenwriting process and you can do it here — for free!

Today and every Monday through Friday for 10 weeks, I’ll use this slot to post something inspirational as GOYOQ participants pound out their first drafts.

Why not use the structure of this 24-week workshop to Go On Your Own Quest? That was an idea that gathered energy among many members of the GITS community which I described here.

For more information on Go On Your Own Quest, go here.