Writing A Story Scene With Internal And External Conflict
A scene is a sustained attempt by a character to get what they want. Scenes are followed by other scenes that are decided in part by what happens in the previous scene. So any one scene is affected by what happened before and affects what happens next. In the mind of a character there are internal processes that precede and immediately follow dramatic scenes. This is where a conflict of ideas happens that affects what they do next.
Internal parts of scenes leads to the external, dramatic parts and that external part then leads to another internal part that will then lead to the next scene. Furthermore, internal processes often precede and follow every action that makes up the progression of a scene.
Prompt
Every scene needs a start but it's not going to be purely external. The beginning of a scene is when a character conceives they need to do something. Nobody will do anything to get something unless they actually realize that something is missing. It could be a kick in the head from a bully that makes you think about it, but the scene really starts (from your point of view) when you make a first decision that you need to do something. If you think you don't need to do anything then there will be no scene.
Desire
Once a character has come to the conclusion that they need to do something they then have to decide what it is they lack or want to gain. When you feel the pain from the bully it will prompt the thought that you need to do something, but you have to be clear on what you want to help you decide what to do now. Do you want to avoid pain or do you want to gain your dignity back? No two characters will decide the same thing and though it's not something that you can see on-screen it's still an interesting peak into their personality. Once they know what they want they choose a way to get it.
Conflict
Once a character decides what he or she wants and how to get it, then comes the physical actions needed to achieve this goal. If you decide you want to gain back your dignity you will probably decide to hit the bully back. You will punch, kick or slap this bully in an attempt to prove to him and others that what he did to you was a freak occurrence and you aren't the type to be pushed around. When you do take this step to get your dignity back it may do the trick and the scene is over, but more likely it's not enough to get what you want.
Outcome
What happened when you tried what you tried? Did the bully fall over or did it make him that much more angry? If you got what you want, the scene is over. If your action doesn't get you what you want, then comes another important mental thought process: do I quit or do I continue. If you quit then the scene is also over. If you continue, the scene goes on and you have to decide what to do next.
It should be clear there are lots of action here that aren't something you could see in a movie or TV show. There are important things a character has to wrestle with that are in their minds and only some type of prose work can properly portray it. Some of these scenes may have very subtle external conflicts preceded by massive mental anguish, these might be better in a novel. If the thought process is simple and the external conflict pronounced, that might be a better screenplay. Consider the whole of the scenes before you shove it into a medium that it may not belong in.
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