Writers have much to learn from actors. Actors are trained to take action in every scene. They have a main objective–win a first date, force the bad guy to show his hand, sweet-talk the doorman, seduce a rival’s hubby–and they pull out all the stops to achieve it. The objectives in each scene build toward the big story objective. If the big story has the requisite conflict, you’ll find conflict in every scene–in the form of obstacles that stand in the way of the actor achieving her goal. Obstacles may be environmental, intrapersonal, and/or interpersonal. For now, let’s focus on the interpersonal–the other guy.
If there is more than one actor in a scene then, you guessed it, that other actor has his own objective. When scenes are doing what they should, both actors’ objectives stand (at least in part) in opposition to each other. Simply put, if he wants a kiss, she wants his roommate.
Characters on the page, in scenes and stories, need objectives, too, and they must pursue them against the odds. Note: That does not mean you, as author, need to add car chases, fisticuffs, or exploding high-rises to your story. It means you need characters who are pursing meaningful goals. As Janet Burroway puts it in WRITING FICTION: A Guide to Narrative Craft, “…it is the intensity of the wanting that counts…She may want, like the heroine of Margaret Atwood’s Bodily Harm, only to get away from it all for a rest, but if so she must need rest for her survival…”
