And not every story centers on characters anyway, as some focus more on themes, morals, journeys, etc. In fact, if we stop and think about other types or mediums of storytelling, everything from comics to video games, we might realize that the types of stories that readers find enjoyable is far broader than we often see in our fiction-writing genres.
So not every story fits with the usual advice about conflict. How do the exceptions get away with a different approach? No Story Conflict? Explore Your Options. Can you think of stories with low or no conflict? How did the story keep the audience invested? Do you struggle with adding conflict to any of your stories? Do you think they might fit in an alternate structure and if so, why?
Do you have any insights or questions about using alternate approaches to conflict in our stories? I can see where this would work for short — possibly VERY short stories — but a novel-length book? Then I read the WHW post, and it made more sense.
I seriously think too many new writers get bogged down with all the technical stuff. Relax and just tell me a story. Miyazaki only adapted her novel into a movie.
In fact, I feel like some have the misconception that this is a critique on Western narratives, but really, this post was just to point out the alternative narrative structures. Neither narrative style is superior to the other. Haha np. However, when it comes to the big, over-arching plot, the change is more of a twist than a conflict. Kiki used to have this life, and suddenly something happens to her, and now she lives a very different life.
The protagonists in My Neighbor Totoro also have a dramatic life change after certain things happen to them. Considering how popular these two films are, Miyazaki definitely managed to engage the attention of many viewers. My Neighbor Totoro is my favorite Miyazaki film.
Aside from the appeal of this dramatic life change, both films also have a before-and-after contrast when it comes to an interpersonal relationship. Before the events, the heroine looked down on this guy. But after the events, she grew to like him and they became lovers. I would still say that this slight enemies-to-lovers plot, is a small part of the story, since the dramatic life change takes up much more screen time.
Yet, I feel like the interpersonal relationship change, stirs up the curiosity and interest of some viewers. Are they lovers, friends, siblings, … — Read More ». I was so happy to see these two examples listed, especially as I had never thought of them as having an alternative narrative structure before.
Now their life has changed. Now her life has changed. This before-and-after contrast, is probably one reason why the story is so attention-grabbing.
Contrast is riveting. Oh yes! Contrast is huge, and another way of looking at the change our story needs as well. We dealt with that question pretty quickly. Not much. Le Guin is right, both in terms of the myriad drives we can draw on for art and in terms of how choosing the most aggressive option both expresses and contributes to a mindset that too readily embraces the worst parts of the human condition.
I consider it to mean a conflict within the reader or even just the struggle of moving from one state to another. In fact, as a mental exercise, take a moment to try removing the Wolf from the narrative while still telling a compelling story. Imagine a story that describes a couple breaking up when they both know the relationship has runs its course.
The drama comes from them being conflicted in both their feelings and their actions, even if they never so much as argue with each other. Now imagine a story about a rock being slowly eroded over the years. Here, the conflict is in the reader. So, is Le Guin is wrong in her assertion? Again, we can do all kinds of things that technically fulfill these requirements, but narrative worth comes from finding some significance in them, and that significance emerges from change.
Bearing something becomes narratively interesting when it alters who you are or how you understand the world, even in small ways, and the same for relating. Change involves moving from one state to another and, at least in narrative terms, that means conflict. In fact, conflict between allies can make a difficult situation a thousand times more interesting.
Whether they deal with their situation in a poor or healthy way is up to you, the writer, but nevertheless, it reveals a truth about your characters and feeds the fire of your plot. This is quite possibly my favorite type of conflict, mostly because it can be the most frustrating for your characters. When there are problems your characters have no power over, they can place their anger on an outside person or object.
But when the problems your characters face come from themselves, they can only turn their anger inward. Stories can have any one of these possible types of conflict, or they can have all of them. What matters most is that there is plenty of it and that it is carried out in the most interesting way possible.
Let us know in the comments. Take fifteen minutes to write a scene that starts with your character in the heart of some kind of conflict. Start with a conflict from one of these three categories, but feel free to include two or all three, if you wish. See where the story takes you.
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