Yesterday at church we talked about why bad things happen. See yesterdays post for a recap. Last month, I had the chance to hear Donald Miller speak. It was awesome. He talked about what makes a good story and he shared about how the last Rocky movie tried to be a good story but fell short (it was hilarious). The question really was - is my story a good story. He shared some things that really made you think about conflict and how conflict in our lives can form us and make our story. Here are some notes from his story...
- Story in its most basic form: A character who wants something and is willing to overcome conflict in order to get it.
- A story cannot be meaningful unless it involves conflict.
- My friend said, "Life is meaningless." I said, "No, life is fine. Your life is meaningless." It's the story my friend was writing with his life that he didn't like.
- A character is what they do, not what they feel or think or want to be.
- Imagine a documentary film crew making a reality show about you. What would the theme of that show be?
- If you want to take your kids fishing, it's different than taking them fishing.
- In a good story, a hero can't think more of himself than he does of others. If he does, then he ceases being the hero.
- Success doesn’t tell a very compelling story.
- In a good story, the character always wants something. But a movie is not very satisfying if what he/she wants isn't very impressive (like a car). The same is true of your life. If it's not interesting in a movie, it also won't be very interesting in your life.
- The best stories are when the character wants something, and if he doesn't get it, people might die.
- Very seldom are humans happy. They only look back on a moment and think they were happy, even though there weren't. They also look forward and think they'll be happy when they get something or do something. Humans are happiest in the past or future but rarely in the present.
- The only way we can change is through pain. It’s true in a story and in real life. Conflict adds value to what we are trying to obtain. The Christian worldview has been hijacked by commercialism. It’s robbing of us of great stories. The apostle Paul didn't sell Jesus as a product but he talked about Hope.
- I think the reason that God made it difficult for men and women to communicate is because he wanted to introduce conflict in the story. Because when it works, it is a beautiful thing.
- The reason kids are so hard, because its God's way of getting us to love them. The bigger price you pay, the more you love them.
- The only way to change a characters character is through pain.
- Sometimes we see people do great things out of pain. Like a child dies of a disease and the parents start a foundation that helps save others.
- I think you would agree: The times you've changed for the better is through pain.
- God doesn't ever stop at the end of a story and give the moral of the story. He doesn't. He just tells another story.
- There has been conflict in the world since the beginning in the Garden of Eden. But there was even conflict in Heaven with Lucifer before the world was created. God must see conflict differently.
- We’re taught conflict goes away through the climactic act of Jesus. The an inference is that Jesus is the climax and an end to our suffering. Jesus was not the climax. Heaven is the climax.
I don't know if that helps you think about conflict in a different way. It did for me. You might want to pick up one of his books or listen to a podcast of him speaking to get more of his story.
I am reading his new book. It is pretty good so far.
Posted by: Elisabeth | 11/24/2009 at 05:06 PM