Conflict. Sometimes when someone reads a script of mine, they say “it needs more conflict.” It’s a lazy note. The popcorn needs more butter, too. It always needs more butter. The perfect butter to popcorn ratio is complicated. At least it is for me.
So is conflict. Because you cannot write a script that is entirely conflict, of course. Neither can you write a script without conflict– unless it’s an episode of Star Trek, but that’s for another day.
Fortunately, our musical is about war and you cannot have more conflict than that.
Another buzzword you hear from readers is “stakes,” also known as “risk.” And, frankly, that’s what you really want. You want your characters up against something or someone and the consequences for failing are high. Death is a good idea for risk. That’s another Star Trek fundamental for another day.
Actually, maybe we should discuss this now. Because Star Trek is such a great example and you can easily find an episode and see this for yourself. If you’re a fan, maybe you already know this.
The idea on that show was that the main characters cannot have conflict with each other. In the future where everyone are life long friends, the most conflict they have is deciding what’s for dinner. Those are pretty low stakes.
The way that they got around this was to generate conflict from outside. The Romulans or some other bad guys. Sometimes, the bad guys took over a crew member and then they could be in conflict because they weren’t themselves.
Then the other thing is risk. On Star Trek, the risk on every single show (for the “Next Generation” anyway) is DEATH. Every single show. Watch it and you’ll see. Death of a guy, death of the ship, death of the universe. Every show.
So, for the aspiring writer, there you go. Make the conflict death and you will never get a “needs more conflict” note from anyone. If only it were that simple.
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A theme is the purpose for telling this story in the first place. You want the future world to have no conflict for your characters, but conflict comes anyway. There’s a theme: Doing what’s right! The reason these characters face death is because they are doing what’s right!
You start out your story, introduce the conflict, escalate it the right amounts, and the good guys win and that’s your script, right? Eh, not so fast.
Because it turns out if you want a really successful story, what you need to show is the characters sharing their success. In her eighteen minute TED Talk, “Saving the World Vs Kissing the Girl,” movie executive Lindsay Doran explains that relationships are the most important things. Relationships are more important even than the good guys winning. (See Lindsay’s talk on YouTube). She points out that in the original “Rocky,” widely considered, she says, to be one of the best movies of all time, Rocky doesn’t win the fight! Huh? It’s a split decision. It’s over when he kisses the girl (or in this case, when she kisses him).
Conflict, risk, theme and relationships. The keys to a great story,
We have been working on those relationships between our characters. Diving deeply into their story through our themes and helping them explore what it means to be human and in the midst of war. And what a truce means. And what’s for dinner.
We can’t wait to share it with you.