Conflict · Understanding story
How do I choose a Domain when my story contains all four kinds of things?
The short answer
Look for what creates conflict in that Throughline, rather than everything that happens to appear in it.
A story can contain activities, situations, fixed attitudes, and ways of thinking everywhere. Their presence alone does not establish a Domain. Ask what would have to change for this particular conflict to go away. Treat that as a diagnostic aid, then check the other Storypoints implied by your choice. If they describe a different story from the one you mean to tell, revisit the choice.
An imagined example
Fighting, or the reason for fighting?
A family argues over a house. The arguments are activities, but their conflict might come from being trapped in an inheritance arrangement, an unshakable prejudice, or a pattern of manipulating one another. Identify the source in the Throughline you are examining, then test the connected choices.
Try it in your story
What would have to change for this Throughline’s conflict to go away? Use the answer as a clue, then check the rest of the Storyform.
Where this answer comes from
An editorial synthesis of these discussions. The example above was written for this answer.
- Classifying Overall Story Throughline
Jim Hull, October 10, 2014, posts 4 and 9.
- Newbie: have a plot and character arc, struggling with throughlines
Jim Hull, July 8–9, 2015.
- The Domains of The Sixth Sense
Jim Hull, October 2017.
A note on older terminology
Older discussions may say Overall Story for Objective Story, Obstacle or Impact Character for Influence Character, and Subjective Story for Relationship Story. Source titles retain their original wording. Historical software instructions describe the tools of their time.