When it comes to role playing games and fiction, there’s a particular thing I look for that really underlines an experience for me.
There’s the common stuff that is important. Even I regularly invoke the adage ‘conflict is story.’ And it is, but it’s really a bare minimum for me.
Another common concept we look to is ‘Characters make plot.’ Also true, and in a more specific wording, character goals create plot. Again, great, necessary, but you can get that in any competently written tale.
So what do I look for? I like seeing the line a person has drawn that they won’t cross. Seeing what they do with their self imposed limits are tested. It’s interesting, and creates immediate drama, especially if the limits are known ahead of time. In a way, The Joker had it right:
Part of what made The Dark Knight interesting is Joker’s insistence on testing people’s limits. He understood that no one really knew which way they’d go when the chips were finally down. He had a theory, and he pushed it right to its limit, and luckily for Gotham, he got it wrong.
Do like character’s moral foundations shaken, or do you prefer other kinds of conflict? Let me know in the comments!
Now that’s an interesting idea…amping up the conflict by forcing the character to break their last rule…
And I REALLY have to see that movie!
You really do. It has some weak points, but the great scenes make up for all of it.
I also don’t think they have to break their last rule, but they have to definitely grapple with the question of breaking it.
Good point. In fact, you’ve given me a way of framing the fight scene I tried (and failed) to write last night. Thought I was getting tangled in the choreography, but I think really if I play up the fact that by defeating the bad guy (which she MUST do) the MC will have crossed a line, and now will have to redefine herself. I think if I focus on the internal struggle, the ‘who shoots what when’ will take care of itself. Well-timed post. Thanks!
Your post reminds me of something Lisa Cron (author of Wired for Story) said in her workshop this summer: “The story begins when the protagonist’s life has forced them to take the risks they’ve been avoiding.” Not quite the same as where is the character’s moral line but related because the thing the protag is avoiding might push them to go right up to that line – or over it, as the case may be.
I also need to see this movie.
YES! In a similar vein, I like it when a character’s paradigm is threatened by new information, such as, their parent works for the antagonist. At the very least, their view of their relationships needs to change. Possibly, the character might also decide/discover that the supposed antagonists are actually the good guys.
Definitely in the same vein, and just as fun!