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K.M.Weiland and Jurassic Park



I read a post today by K.M.Weiland about compounding conflict in your story, and it was brilliant.  (If you want to read it yourself, check out this link: http://www.helpingwritersbecomeauthors.com/compounding-conflict/ ).  She used the Jurassic Park movie to illustrate her point.

     As a disclaimer, you should know that I have not seen this movie myself.  As a warning, you should know there are semi-spoilers written below.

     We have all probably guessed that at some point in this movie, dinasaurs are on the loose trying to eat people.  But you probably also know that at the beginning of the movie, the dinasaurs are safely contained.  And we can surmise that something happens to set the dinos free.

     The point that K.M.Weiland made in her post is that it is not ONE thing that sets the ball in motion.  There are multiple conflicts that coincide to make a big impact.  And we can create that in our own stories to add complexity.

     For example, in Jurassic Park: Our main characters are on an island with dangerous dinosaurs.  There is a massive storm approaching the island.  A disgruntled employee makes a move to shut down the control center and fences so he can steal something and escape.

     Do you see how that makes the story so much bigger?  And more real?  And you can build these layers of conflict as a foreshadowing of what is about to happen.

      I can't even tell you how my mind is blowing.  It's like KABOOOOOM!  And I'm so excited by this.  It's perfect and it all fits together and things happen and...ahhh!  I just love it.  This is one of my favorite things about story telling -- when you have multiple layers and tastes of foreshadowing that all come together in a big way that surprises the reader and yet feels so RIGHT at the same time.  Squeal!  I love it.

      Okay, I'm done raving now.  Go check out K.M.Weiland's post.  Have a great Thursday!

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