Conflict

What is the audience rooting for?

"Someone wants something badly, but they have trouble getting it." - Frank Daniel

Protagonist	Which character is the audience rooting for?
Objective	What is the protagonist trying to achieve?
Motivation	Why does the protag want to achieve their objective so badly?
Antagonism	What causes trouble for the protag, when they try to achieve their objective?

Plotline

What happens in the story

Conflict	Someone wants something badly, but they have trouble getting it.
Exposition	What context does the audience need to know, in order to understand the conflict?
Culmination	What happens when the protagonist collides with their antagonism?
Resolution	Does the protagonist achieve (all / some / none) of their objective? What happens, and how does it affect them?

Arc

How the story changes the protagonist

Inner Conflict	The protag is psychologically motivated to pursue their objective, but they antagonize themself.
Before	The protag (feels / thinks / behaves / believes) in a way that stops them from achieving the objective.
Change	The story forces the protag to adapt, in order to achieve the objective.
After	The protag (feels / thinks / behaves / believes) in a meaningfully different way than they did, Before.

Theme

How to add authenticity to the arc

Before & After	The storyteller adapts their own (experiences / observations / beliefs) into the subtext.
Change	Imagine if the protag's arc happened to you, in real life… and you went from Before to After. What would be the most (challenging / meaningful / interesting) milestones?
The Thesis	Now turn to the audience & say, "And if y'all are anything like me, then here's what you can take from this arc:"
Subplots	Riff on the theme! How else do you feel about your thesis? Find a good spinoff idea & adapt it into a new plotline.