4 ms·
It's different because there is no apparent obstacle that blocks the protagonist (the girl) from achieving their goal. In traditional western plots, this confli
by jamesjyu 9y ago
It's different because there is no apparent obstacle that blocks the protagonist (the girl) from achieving their goal. In traditional western plots, this conflict is the main focus, and is usually between the protagonist and an antagonist who has their own (usually opposite) goals.
This conflict underlies almost all the narrative structure. For example, the reader should be obsessing about the stakes as they read: what happens if the girl doesn't get what she wants? Who else loses? Does anyone die? This is what drives people to read on. Without conflict, this structure falls apart.
World and character building can occur in either of these cases. But in the classic conflict case, the world and characters are usually designed to heighten conflict (ie. the character has a flaw that leads to them to more direct conflict).
- r00fus 9y agoI viscerally hated kids shows (e.g.: Little Einsteins) that had conflict-driven plots, and avoided those for my kids (except in small overall % - where for some reason my kid really wanted to watch). At a point it felt like a conspiracy. You don't need an antagonist to make an interesting story.
- deleted 9y ago[deleted]
- jamesjyu 9y agoI agree that interesting stories don't have to adhere to this structure (and by all means, stories should break the rules!). But, the western market generally demands it for salable material, especially novels. Even in this conflict structure, the best antagonists are the ones that believe they are doing good. It's not a trite good vs. evil construct. They have their own desires and a philosophy that can be a logical way to solve a problem (but in conflict with how the hero wants to solve it). Ghibli films do this best. For example, in Princess Mononoke, the antagonist (Lady Eboshi) is initially presented as the evil forest destroyer, chopping down trees to make villages and industry. But then, you find out she does this to provide shelter and work for social outcasts. It's a moral dilemma with no clear right answer.