Expert-Secrets full book

In pursuing the goal, there must be seemingly insurmountable obstacles. If
it doesn’t seem impossible for the hero to get what they want, people won’t care
as much. Our primary goal as storytellers is to elicit emotion, and you can’t do
that without conflict.
Michael Hauge showed me the patterns of conflict that are consistent with
almost all Hollywood movies. There are five turning points that create the
emotion in almost all films. As you review each one, think about every movie
you’ve seen and how they fit into these five turning points of conflict.
1. The New Opportunity After you share the character’s
backstory, some event causes the character to physically leave
where they are and start the journey. This new opportunity is what
sets them off to achieve their desires. This leads our hero into a
new situation that seems good at first, until they move into
turning point #2.
2. Change of Plans At some point, the original desire will
transform into a very specific, visible goal with a clearly defined
end point. This is where the hero’s outer motivation is revealed.
From here, they will start to make progress toward that goal, until
they hit turning point #3.
3. Point of No Return At this point, the hero must fully commit
to reaching the goal. Up to this point, they’ve had opportunities to
turn back. But something happens here that makes this a do-or-die