Q: Would anyone watch The Odyssey if Odysseus caught an easy flight home?
A: No. The struggle is the story.
This summer, a nearly 3,000-year-old story about a man trying to get home made over a billion dollars.
Odysseus spends ten years on the trip. A Cyclops, the Sirens, shipwrecks, and a house full of suitors waiting at the end. Put him on a nonstop flight from Troy and there’s no movie. Just a man who got home on time.
We all know that conflict is what makes a good story; and yet we forget it when it’s our own story.
Nobody remembers the easy flight.
Everybody remembers the storm.
Actionable Question: What struggle am I resenting that’s actually the best part of my story?
Sail on,
Andrew Nemeth
P.S. H/T to Garrett Brown of BiggerPockets for the riff on Nolan’s Odyssey that sparked this Answer.