Intention and Obstacle
The first time I heard this phrase was in the TV writing Masterclass by Aaron Sorkin; a brilliant man who might be remembered as a legend when it comes to writing for TV. Intention and Obstacle. It was the first time a writing rule I had subconsciously been following had been given a name.
Good stories can be simply broken down in two parts. Somebody wants something. Someone or something is standing in their way of getting it. That’s drama: Intention. Obstacle. Intention. Obstacle. Intention and Obstacle.
“Just the basics of somebody wants something, something is standing in their way of getting it. Make sure you have that cemented in place. — Aaron Sorkin
When you come up with a story, you need to hold them up to the light of these two things — Intention. Obstacle.
Intentions can be external — what your character sees on the outside that is blocking their path to what they want, or internal — what your character is yet to acknowledge that is battling on the inside of them and they need to overcome it so that they can get what they want.
Your story is not complete if your characters do not have intention(s).
A goal. A reason for being. A journey to go on. An adventure. A reason for existing.
It seems simple.
Jack and Jill go up this hill to fetch one pail of water, but alas, Jack falls down and breaks his crown and Jill comes tumbling after.
Intention? Fetch a pail of water
Obstacle? Whatever made Jack Fall. Jill too.
In my writing classes, I love listening to theories of brilliant writers when I ask them to tell me what they think made Jack fall off the hill. I have had many amazing responses — from Ogres, to Witches, to Trolls to Sea Monsters (on a hill) — and then brilliant and simple ones like his leg got caught on a tree branch, village people were following him, he used his leg to knack stone and others.
Quietly, on your own, go through every good story you remember, the greatest ones ever told, the ones that blew your mind. See if you can divide them into these two parts — someone, or a group of people (or things) trying to achieve something and someone or a group of people (or things) — standing in their way of achieving it.
External intentions are tangible, physical, what our eyes can see — Win a fight, defeat a bully, travel round the world in 80 days, get your boyfriend back, graduate from school, make more money and blow, etc.
Internal intentions are non tangible — things we cannot see — Love, Redemption, Justice, Atonement, Forgiveness.
Every story that ever existed has these two elements. Intention. Obstacle.
For every action in your story, there is an opposite reaction. It might not be equal, but it is opposite. Someone or something standing in the way. A Force. A Person. Witchcraft. Village People. A (wicked) Mother In Law. A (wicked) Step Mother. A Horrible Boss. Someone. Something. Standing in the way.
Your story has not started till you introduce your obstacle.
Let’s use an example.
In Hush (2016), Arinola Cardoso is trying to be Governor. Intention.
A group of powerful men called Populus have their own candidate who is not Arinola— and so, Arinola Cardoso can “never” be governor — Obstacle.
Hush is still showing on Africa Magic (Yoruba) and all the episodes are on Showmax just in case you have been living under a rock and haven’t seen it yet.
For Arinola Cardoso, the story is simple — a woman is trying to beat the men at their own game, but these men are Populus, a secret society who have the power to do and undo, to make an unmake — simple.
Those were her external intentions.
Her internal intentions are where we (the culprits, the storytellers, the writers’ room) started straying to her story with RMD’s character — Bem Tsenogu.
Arinola has been hurt by love and is not going down that path again. Intention.
But this very handsome man is throwing all his cards in the game and pursuing her like a hunter pursues his prey. Obstacle.
The thing about TV writing is that we sometimes have multiple people existing with multiple intentions and multiple obstacles — how that works will be another post entirely but if you take anything away today — let it be Intention. Obstacle.
Drama is intention and obstacles, somebody wants something, something is standing in their way of getting it.” — Aaron Sorkin
It’s that simple.
See You Next Friday.
