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Q&A How to think of a plot in 5 minutes

You're being given a prompt, so that will do half the work for you. I think it was J. Michael Straczynski, writer of Bablyon 5, who wrote that one could sum up "conflict" in three questions: Wh...

posted 8y ago by Lauren Ipsum‭  ·  last activity 4y ago by System‭

Answer
#4: Attribution notice removed by user avatar System‭ · 2019-12-13T12:00:35Z (over 4 years ago)
Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/21882
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 · 2019-12-08T05:14:06Z (over 4 years ago)
Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/21882
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/
#2: Initial revision by (deleted user) · 2019-12-08T05:14:06Z (over 4 years ago)
You're being given a prompt, so that will do half the work for you.

I think it was J. Michael Straczynski, writer of _Bablyon 5,_ who wrote that one could sum up "conflict" in three questions:

- What does the character want?
- What will the character do to get it?
- What will someone do to stop the character?

So you take your prompt _(John needs to find a flat in an expensive area of London. Describe your favorite childhood memory. There's a hungry cat on your porch.)_ and apply the three questions to it.

- John needs a flat. [Want] He'll look online and through newspaper ads. [Do] But his current flatmate doesn't want him to move out, so he'll delete voicemails from prospective landlords and otherwise sabotage his efforts.[Thwart]
- My favorite childhood memory was getting ice cream at the fair. [Want] I had to share it with my sister, [Do] and she wanted to hog the whole thing, [Thwart] but my mom stopped her.
- The cat sat on my porch, meowing occasionally and looking hopeful. My mom said "No more cats!" [Thwart] but really, was I going to let a cat starve to death on my porch? [Want: to feed the cat] Of course not. [Do: feed the cat]
#1: Imported from external source by user avatar System‭ · 2016-04-28T14:28:14Z (almost 8 years ago)
Original score: 6