This week: Conflict Edited by: Jeff  
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"What is drama but life with the dull bits cut out."
-- Alfred Hitchcock
Trivia of the Week: While the most common classifications of narrative conflict break it down into three main types (man vs. man, man vs. nature, man vs. himself), there are also a variety of others, depending on who you ask. Other frequently-cited types of "man vs." conflicts include man vs. machine, man vs. society, man vs. fate, and man vs. the supernatural.
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CONFLICT
There are so many important elements of telling a good story: an interesting premise, compelling characters, good pacing, and other things like that. And almost all of them would be nothing, or at least drastically reduced by, a lack of conflict. Regardless of the kind of conflict is present, it's the most fundamental building block of a good narrative. Without conflict, your characters wouldn't be as compelling, your narrative wouldn't have any rising action, and setups wouldn't have effective payoffs.
In Greek literature, the central act of conflict in a tragedy was known as agon, and the easier it is for the protagonist to triumph over the agon, the less value there is to the drama. There are, of course, all kinds of conventions that build off that basic building block, such as the the idea that the antagonist must at first seem to overmatch the protagonist, or that the outcome of the agon can't be known in advance, or that the protagonist's struggle against the agon should be somehow be ennobling. But regardless of the specifics that you may or may not choose to follow, the fundamental concept that an easy conflict is an unsatisfying conflict is an important one to keep in mind.
A common mistake among many writers is making the conflict too easy for the protagonist to overcome. Two of the most frequent causes of that mistake are lack of adequate plotting (i.e., the writer just goes with the easiest/first idea for a conflict), and wanting to be too kind to your protagonist (i.e., the writer likes their protagonist and doesn't want to make them suffer too much). Both result in unsatisfying conflicts (and unsatisfying stories as a result) because the conflict doesn't truly challenge the protagonist.
When plotting out conflicts, consider at least one twist or reversal of fortune that allows you to continue to build the conflict in a new direction. Some screenwriting books call this the "midpoint twist" (or something similar) and highlight the fact that, in a story with a traditional three-act structure, somewhere near the middle of the story, something unexpected should happen that spins the story in an entirely new direction.
If your protagonist is trying to find a hidden treasure, maybe they realize the treasure isn't where they initially thought.
If your protagonist is solving a whodunit, maybe the person they assumed was guilty turns out to be innocent.
If your protagonist is trying to stop an alien invasion, maybe they learn something new about the aliens that shoots a hole right into the middle of the plan they currently have.
The more difficult and seemingly insurmountable you can make your conflict, the more satisfying it will be when the protagonist finally overcomes it. And while there are certainly many other elements that are important to telling a good story, they won't amount to much if the central conflict, the agon, of the story isn't sufficiently interesting and compelling.
Until next time,
Jeff
If you're interested in checking out my work:
"Blogocentric Formulations"
"New & Noteworthy Things"
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EXCERPT: At the center of an old New England, mill town sits a restaurant/convenience store called Smith's store or just "Smitty's". There its owners, Bob and Frieda, held court creating a “third” place not home nor work but a kind of community home with a large extended “family”.
EXCERPT: It was a beautiful summers day. We had been at the stables since five in the morning. Starting in the dark, feeding the horses breakfast and letting them run in their paddocks for an hour. Then we began training the young horses and easy gallops.
EXCERPT: There are people who dwell among us in this world who have a unique story to tell. They number into the millions and they are found in all nations of the earth. They frequent all occupations from the lowly to the educated. They come from all races, tribes, languages, cultures and backgrounds yet they are the most inconspicuous, discreet people in the world. They are model citizens, law-abiding neighbours and they speak and seek truth and peace.
EXCERPT: The bus ride had been long and bumpy. Occasional stops added passengers. I struck up a whispered conversation with my seatmate. Boarding at the last stop, he took the last empty seat, the one next to me. John was his name. We exchanged only a few sentences when the driver announced that we had reached our destination.
EXCERPT: The stillness was starkly depressing in a room that was never quiet. Opening the door onto silence brought back flashes of memories in a kaleidoscope of changing images. The silence needed to be awoken from the forced slumber the room had endured.
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Feedback from "Drama Newsletter (May 13, 2020)" about protagonists:
SB Musing  writes: "The information for protaginsts is helpful about how we can shake things up with the usual and making it more original. Say, with the save the world being with an every man instead of a chosen one. All good things to know, how and what makes your character unique and what qualities do they have. "
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Drama: June 10, 2020 Issue [#10220]
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