I continue my studies, learnings, and relearnings.
It’s a life.
Speaking of life…
The setbacks in your life when you’re going after something? Those are power struggles.
(don’t you just love my segways? I can write segways like that because I’m an author)
Setbacks and power struggles are interesting, how you and others respond to them is the stuff of good storytelling. Something stops you from achieving your goal. How do you respond? Do you
- nod calmly, pull back, decide if the goal is worth achieving, plan alternate strategies for success?
- nod calmly and seethe inside and plot the downfall of the person or thing which got in your way?
- rage violently and destructively at whatever’s handy, person, place or thing?
- express your disappointment, recognize disappointments are part of life, and move on?
- et drunk? Drug? Go to the gym? Get laid?
- find someone sympathetic to talk about it with?
- find someone older and wiser, a mentor or teacher, and ask for help achieving your goal?
Such things are important because they demonstrate your character, what kind of person you are.
How characters respond to the setbacks in a story, in a plotline, are power struggles which reveal who your characters are to your readers and viewers.
The struggle for power may be Man v God, Man v Man, Man v Nature, Man v … doesn’t matter, whenever someone’s wanting something and someone or something stops them from getting it, there’s a power struggle.
Interesting power struggles will always be between people of pretty much equal if opposite abilities. If not, you don’t have a story, you have a massacre, you have the Mongol Hordes sweeping through Asia and Europe, you have the DeathStar blowing up planets because they cast shadows on the planets further from their suns, you have…(I was going to rail against the Trump administration, decided it wasn’t worth it, then listened to David Streever’s story on NPR and decided what the hell (and if you’re paying attention, I’ve just told you a lot about myself))…the current (July 2026) US administration deciding law doesn’t matter, you have…
Setbacks are the shifts back and forth between protagonist and antagonist in power struggles, and you’ll find them in stories in every culture going back to the first gatherings around tribal fires. The pyramidal and ratcheting story structures (mentioned in previous Experiments are graphic demonstrations of setbacks and power struggles.
But up the ante; the power struggle needs to shift back and forth between protagonist and antagonist because a “one and done” doesn’t make for good storytelling because you’re back to massacre.
This is why Superman needed Kryptonite and Batman needed The Joker. Super heroes must have super villians. Such struggles are odeled after the gods of Greece, Norway, China, Japan, Eqypt, the Americas, Africa, didn’t matter where, the gods always battled each other for control, for power, children killing parents, parents eating children. FWIW, one of the fundamental flaws in judeo-christian doctrine is the concept of the benevolent god who allows evil into the world and then blames us for it (“You did what I told you not to do so I’m going to punish you and your descendents forever!” Great parenting model, don’t you think?).
These were our role models for good and bad behavior and that’s what’s coming down in the literature.
Enjoy
Plotlines, Timeslines, Throughlines
More on Plotlines, Timelines, and Throughlines
Leiningen Versus the Ants
Think I’m onto something? Take a class with me, schedule a critique of your work, or buy me a coffee.
Think I’m an idiot? Let me know in a comment.
Either way, we’ll both learn something.
Get copies of my books because it’s a nice thing to do, you care, you can follow along, and I need the money. My latest is my trauma recovery fantasy Chrysalis.
Wilderness House Literary Review EIC Steve Glines and I (Senior Fiction Editor) hold monthly open chats with authors interested in a) writing for us, b) improving their craft in general, and/or c) increasing their chances of being accepted by other markets.
Meetings are held via Zoom on the last Friday of each month from 9-10amET.
So, want to know how to write for us? Want to know what gets our attention? Want to know how to write better for whatever market you’re interested in? Join us for our next “Meet the Editors” Zoom session. Seats limited! Sign up and talk with us. We’re relatively easy going and fun to be with.
Last item, finding these experiments useful? Strengthen my ego and link/friend/follow me.
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