Villains, opposing forces, obstacles, conflict and drama — and why good stories use all of them
An important post for writers of all kinds
This week, I am breaking from my usual political and social commentary to write about writing. I am sure the next five weeks will offer plenty of fodder for commentary as we head into the midterms. For today, let’s talk about stories.
I love writing. I teach writing. I spend hours and hours every day writing screenplays, stories, and essays. I’m working on a book ; it’s almost done. I just finished an animated screenplay. All of which is to say that this post is for the writers from a writer — sent with love. Not only is writing a muscle (old news), but it is a constant learning journey. And the biggest lessons on my desk lately are the fine distinctions between villains, opposing forces, obstacles, conflict, and drama.
In Writing 101, it’s all kind of the same thing. Your hero wants something. Something else — an obstacle — is standing in their way. The general rule of thumb for a good story is that you want to throw every obstacle you can at your hero. Make them truly defend themselves, their world view, and show us — the audience, the reader — the true lengths they will go to, externally and internally, to get what it is that they want. As we all know…
