Contrast what has happened with something unexpected.
- Principle
- Contrast what has happened with something unexpected.
- Type
- Cyclic Principle
- Stage
- Contrast, Mature Adulthood
This principle gives us permission to throw in twists, surprises, coincidences, and unexpected developments. This builds on what we’ve seen so far, purposely reflecting it, twisting it, inverting it, or deconstructing it. It lets us introduce unexpected developments, ideas, and allies that turn the situation on its head, or something previously unaccounted for that makes something else possible.
#Examples
- Introduce a parallel situation, something similar to the original problem, but involving different people or a different context. How does solving this problem shed light on how our characters might solve the original one?
- Introduce some new, unexpected element that breaks the old impasse.
- If your community faces seemingly intractable divisions, for example, perhaps an approaching hurricane will force them to work together and rediscover their forgotten kinship.
- Discover something that shifts our view of the entire problem.
- If you have multiple problems in play, perhaps they relate to one another? Finding the key to solving one could create a cascade, where solving one solves the next.