A friend asked me to do a write up about a retreat I attended so that she could print it in her publication. Not a big ask. I sent her a clutch of paragraphs, open to any suggestions or edits she might have. 

"Thank you, it is just right. I just wondered though. Often in your writing there is a conflict. Was there one that precipitated the event? That was resolved by going?"

I thought about it. Not really. 

But ever since then I have been rehashing her words. Where is the conflict? 

It suggests to me that any story worth reading swirls around a clash. Struggle is not the occasional add on to an otherwise perfect story. It is the nugget. 

John recently plopped me in front of a movie called The Holiday Calendar. 

"It's predictable, but it's sweet. I think you will like it."

He knows me well, and I did. In three sentences the plot is that the girl doesn't recognize her best friend as her future husband, and is instead swept off her feet by a handsome, yet shallow, doctor. But in thinking she lost her long time friend, she realizes what he means to her. He gives her what she really wants for Christmas. 

If the writers had just skipped the conflict, and gone from besties to in love, there may not have been enough grit to float a script. 

I guess the imaginary arc of my life that skipped all the heartache would have been too boring even for me.