Conventions and Obligatory Moments

By: Kimberly Kessler, Leslie Watts

Conventions and Obligatory Moments is one of the Story Grid Beats. I recommend reading them all.

Get all the Story Grid Beats. Read all the Story Grid Beats.

If you want to level up your craft as a writer, this is the way to go.

Also, these then become a great source of reference when you are stuck with your writing (or doing your weekly Story Grid Guild worksheet).

I’d recommend bookmarking the pages that have concepts, or tools that you’d likely revisit to make it easier to consult these books.

Flow: 5/5
Actionability: 5/5
Mindset: 5/5

Some of My Highlights:

“Because a story… is experienced by the reader on the level of the soul. And the soul has a universal structure of narrative receptors.”

“But in order for the reader’s ‘narrative receptors’ to connect with yours, you must include and arrange the components so others can recognize them as a story.”

“Even if you nail basic story structure, unless you include the macro and micro components of your genre, the reader won’t recognize it.”

“But in order to make that soul-to-soul connection with your reader, you have to look outside yourself to universal principles of Story, including conventions and obligatory moments.”

“We follow one or more characters on a journey to deal with external change in their lives and as they themselves change.”

“In fact, conflicts within the protagonist may also get in the way of what they want.”

“If they want to solve their external problem, they will have to give up what keeps them entrenched in old ways of seeing and behaving.”

“We often say conventions set up a story’s changes while obligatory moments pay off the changes.”

“You’re looking for a context where the specific conflict is brewing just beneath the surface.”

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