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Q&A What is the difference between a complication/twist and a situation?

I think the confusion around this example is because the problem is going to happen no matter what Ralph does, so his actions won't change anything. He will have to face living alone whether he wri...

posted 10y ago by Lauren Ipsum‭  ·  last activity 5y ago by System‭

Answer
#4: Attribution notice removed by user avatar System‭ · 2019-12-13T12:00:24Z (about 5 years ago)
Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/12660
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/
#3: Attribution notice added by user avatar System‭ · 2019-12-08T03:41:31Z (about 5 years ago)
Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/12660
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/
#2: Initial revision by (deleted user) · 2019-12-08T03:41:31Z (about 5 years ago)
I think the confusion around this example is because the problem is going to happen no matter what Ralph does, so his actions won't change anything. He will have to face living alone whether he writes the will or not.

Having not read the book, I can only guess that the author is trying to draw a line between things which can be changed and things which can't.

What if instead it read "Ralph's blind wife has fallen in love with another man. The [complication/twist] is that she wants him to write a love letter to her new boyfriend."

_The thing being thwarted_ is "Ralph's love for his wife/Ralph's marriage." The _complication_ is "the love letter." What Ralph could do here is write a bad letter, not write the letter, or write it and then try to win his wife back.

In the example given, Ralph's wife will die no matter what he does. That's why there's no "point of departure."

#1: Imported from external source by user avatar System‭ · 2014-08-19T10:26:39Z (over 10 years ago)
Original score: 4