Trying to be in my story

I have to blog this right now: All Saints Day at 8:27 EDT in Cincinnati, OH before it's all gone in the mix and mess and measure of my brain and the upcoming day of activities and conference activity. Topic: Story.

Donald Miller (@donaldmilleris to his Twitter faithful) spoke during the main session today. It's the only official session yesterday that I went to at the National Youth Workers Convention. It was probably the only one I needed to go to. I walked into the open space room and I didn't want to just sit around and chat in a circle. I needed to be out and about networking on my on initiative and learning from people who are there to share their talent, passion, and joy with me. I was exhibit hall barfly if you will.

The elements of a story are very clear: Character, Conflict, Climax. It's something you learn in early grade school when you first have to write paragraphs about what you did over summer vacation or a dream you had or a pet you with you had or an invention you created. You did it without thinking about it when you learned how to speak and started lying. Even if you weren't lying, you were still telling stories about imaginary people or imaginary events or the world you wished for some day. Don's point was that our lives are also made up of these elements. You are the character; you are living in a constant state of conflict; and the climax hasn't been reached yet.

Let's begin with a look at these elements and move on from there.
Character: The person about whom the story is told. The person wants something--they have a mission. The character must be someone with whom you sympathize and want to achieve their mission. That means that they have to be someone who isn't a jerk. They've got to be broken (they can't be perfect or we won't care), but we want to see them overcome their weakness because we see that they are this sympathetic, lovable, courageous person. Question: If you are the character of your story, how are you doing?
Conflict: The character has been thwarted by something. Sin, weakness, failures, fears, etc. In the case of Adam, he is presented with a desire for something that doesn't even exist and God gives him the task of naming the animals! Talk about conflict! Wow. You cannot grow or develop your character without conflict. If you try to avoid conflict and avoid pain or unpleasentness, you stay stagnant. You're Rocky and you stay in the Italian restaurant forever and that's it. Close the story.
Climax: The point in the story when the conflict is all over. It's the point when "Frodo drops the ring in the Temple of Doom so that Darth Vader can't get it and blow up the Death Star." It's the moment that we've been waiting for all of our lives! From day 1 we want the quest to end and the conflict to be over and for peace and happiness to reign. We don't get the climax until the Wedding Feast of the Lamb.

I don't have time to really develop this thought here and now. I'd much rather be talking about it with you. Because, as Don said, we don't encounter story by watching movies or TV or reading. We encounter story most by encountering others. Who are the characters, what is their conflict, and how are they living in it before the Act 3 Climax?

More to follow