How to write a story without conflict, like "My Neighbour Totoro"?
We are used to stories being about conflict. There can be an antagonist, or a hostile environment, or even an internal problem (like depression), but conflict is there. The story arc involves dealing with some problem or other and growing in the process.
But think of My Neighbour Totoro. No conflict. No antagonist. There is the mother's sickness, but that's just a situation, something the girls need to deal with. Her getting better is unrelated to the girls' actions, and only happens in the credits - not in the film proper. The story "arc", if it is an arc, is the girls getting to know their magical neighbour. They do not go on to save the world together with that friend or save the friend from "normal humans" - nothing of that sort. They just make a friend.
How does such a story work? What is it that makes it interesting? What drives the plot? What marks the end, if there is no conflict that could be resolved? How does one write without a conflict to drive things?
1 answer
I personally think that most people give too much importance to the plot than to what the story means, or what the characters have to say. I feel that is because a clever plot is more exciting and engaging, and writers and producers or editors want to appeal to the public (rightly).
A story without conflict can exist, and can be beautiful, if it's beautifully told. You can do so by thinking in terms of micro-units, i.e. scenes. A scene can have a conflict, although small, and you can build around that.
A story like Totoro is full of small conflicts that build up scene after scene. The exploration of the house at the beginning, when the two girls meet the makkurokurosuke is built around the conflict between the characters and the unknown and scary place. The young neighbour Kanta is initially hostile. Etc.
Single units of the story can have great power in the emotions and meanings they convey, and I believe that this is material enough for a great movie or novel.
This post was sourced from https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/37081. It is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.
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