Wherein Elizabeth Discovers She Doesn't Understand Conflict

I've realized something interesting: While my time at SUU has helped me become a much better writer, it has not done a lot to teach me the mechanics of storytelling itself. Like, I haven't even been taught about climaxes outside of a Young Adult Literature class where I was taught about the archetypes generally seen in, well, in young adult literature. I learned a lot in there, and my writing really has improved from the instruction of my wonderful professors.

My good friend T.S.   I use this name for her because it is the name she writes under   is knowledgeable in this area. Actually, we balance each other out quite well. T.S. has skill in looking at a story as a whole, and she is a discovery writer (she does not know the story line ahead of time). I have good focus when it comes to word choice and detail, and I am a writer who has to think first, then write. So when we look at one another's work, it is almost always a good thing. T.S. is also a lot faster at writing than I am, and therefore writes more. I can spend at least a year thinking before I start working on a story. By "thinking," I mean research and reflection. For instance, today, I spent some time looking up heart extraction online. I was doing this research not so I can get the concrete details, but so I can properly form my ideas. I don't know whether or not I will need to include heart extraction in the story I'm working on, but I am putting together a culture, and heart extraction is incidental to that culture I am creating. Hypothetically, I will tell you about it later. A lot later. So don't hold your breath.

T.S. was reading through the script I wrote for 24-Hour Theatre, and she told me something she has told me again and again: the story lacked conflict. Here's a snippet of that conversation (we were Google chatting, or hanging out on Google, or whatever it's called):

Me - And if I don't want my characters arguing?
T.S. - No, no, no, conflict isn't just arguing. Conflict is a difference of goals.
Me - Which would mean they would argue, yes?
T.S. - Say there's a boy who is in love with a girl, but the girl has no interest whatsoever. Do they argue? No, but it's conflict. The prissy cheerleader ignores or insults the nerdy boy, or she's nice to him, but doesn't agree to go on a date. Or she friendzones him. Conflict between the scientists could be the serious one is trying to keep the silly one safe or in check without him noticing, and that's why he brings the gardener in   to help him, for whatever reason, because the serious one's goal is to keep the silly one safe, but the silly one's goal interferes with that.
Me - Couldn't I write that in as a character thing and tell the actors to act that way?I'm not trying to do less work, it just makes sense that way to me.
T.S. - No, because the dialogue is the story. If there is no conflict, there is not much of a story.

Not included here, because it was something I already knew, but I might as well mention that at the end of the story, the conflict needs some sort of resolution.

I thought I would pass on the wisdom, and maybe by putting it in here, I can find it later for a reminder, too. I'm still learning. Lucky for me, I have friends who know things I don't!

That's it for tonight. I'm going to the gymnastics meet with my roommates. Go T-Birds!