Chapter 24
The Essential Obstacle
There has to be an obstacle to love. An opposing force. Something that is trying to keep these two apart. Something for them to overcome or escape or endure. Without that obstacle, your love story is not going to work. I teach my basic screenwriting class that if you don’t have a problem, you don’t have a story. The story is the problem in the most basic sense. It is the plot. Stephen King says, “A novel without a plot is like a Cadillac without an engine. It might look good, but it won’t take you anywhere.” This is equally true for movies.
A love story without an obstacle is like seeing young lovers cooing baby talk to each other in the next booth at the coffee shop. Not something we want to listen to or watch. ...
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