Focus, Direction and OS Characters

I hear you!

I suspect some of this thread has got into that territory too – the theory is neat but I’m guessing @Lakis that once you can see things like Goal and Consequence and MC Domain more clearly, the other parts of the storyform including Focus and Direction will “yield” (to use Mike’s term).

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Another thing that I have learned for sure: thinking about the theory is great, but I have more breakthroughs when I’m actually writing.

Maybe this is what Jim means when he says iron sharpens iron.

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Even better is writing about thinking about the theory :laughing:

EVERY quad is KTAD which means every quad has static (KT) and process (AD). Which is which is completely contextual (and ultimately not helpful when it comes to writing a story).

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I had a similar problem. I ended up having the OS goal be the anti-goal for the MC antagonist. We have two opposite currents, the OS issue (Interdiction in the trilogy) is both sides righting the wrongs of the past using their Skills. “Skilling their way to the solution/Proof of Skill is the change required of everyone” The problem is ultimately Trust (they don’t realize it, I do). Going both ways up and against Trust. The whole problem in society is an issue of Trust.

Throughline: PHYSICS
Concern: DOING
Issue: SKILL
Problem: TRUST
Solution: TEST
Focus: EFFECT
Direction: CAUSE

But mine is a failure/good. The method of doing fails for both sides, which in my bittersweet end, neither side gets to the Cause, though the MC has a path out.

I had to really push to understand WHAT was going to fail, HOW would that fail endgood with an antagonist MC?

Every character is focused on the Effect they are having, doing what they’re supposed to to enact that --doing their skill-part in bringing about the repair of society.

So from both perspectives, the anarchists and the status-quo, my OS characters are pushing for that.

Each side is trying to push society in the direction of exposing the Cause of problem, their definition of Cause is the source of society’s woes.

The PRO say this way <–EFFECT–> ANT say this way.

So they’re pulling society, like a tug-of-war.

Another way of seeing it, too, is the winning side of the tug-of-war becomes by definition the Winning Cause of world peace their way. This problem will be resolved, they say, when one of those prove to be the Cause.

Another way of seeing it, is the antagonists are also AGAINST the status-quo’s EFFECT leading to their bringing about that type of repair. They win (OS fail) because they stop that EFFECT from becoming Cause of repair. Since it’s the first of a trilogy, there’s a carry-over to the fail/good where the bittersweet failure has hope in it.

I need to make sure to finalize this failure as good, in spite of the dual-direction EFFECT goal of DOING this thing that fixes society.

As far as everyone else knows, they just want to be seen for their skillful participation bringing about change. Focus Effect.

The author knows differently, if I could rap them on the head I’d tell them they don’t trust each other. Forget the tug-of-war.

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Would you mind sharing your whole storyform? I’m sure we are writing very different stories but there are several elements that seem to jibe with a story i’ve been struggling with.