There is always more to learn. Recently I’ve learned some new things that I’d like to add to 101-02 Conflicts & Climaxes.

For those who are interested, here is the new excerpt:

Conflicts & Scenes
Most stories feature a main, overarching conflict, which unites the story, sub-conflicts in the form of steps that characters take towards resolving the overarching conflict, and minor/relationship based conflicts that focus on the characters. Most scenes have small conflicts in the foreground, while larger ones continue to slowly advance in the background. One way of recognizing where a scene is in the overall story is to see how many conflicts are established or resolved. Pivotal scenes are the key moments when a major conflict is either resolved or introduced.

For example, in the first Harry Potter book, the pivotal scenes include:

1. Harry meeting Hagrid.
   Resolves Harry’s unpleasant status quo.
2. Harry being sorted into a house.
   Resolves Harry’s doubts about his place in the magical world.
3. Harry learns that someone is trying to get past a dangerous guardian.
   Establishes the main conflict of the story.
4. Harry learns that the villain has learned how to get past the guardian(s).
   Escalates the main conflict towards a final confrontation.
5. Harry confronts and rejects the villain.
   Resolves the final confrontation.

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