Why The Change From Impact To Obstacle Character

Melanie explains her preference for the newer terminology.

Found the post where Melanie discusses her disagreement with the term Impact Character and why she prefers Obstacle Character. Thought it would be appropriate, especially after seeing the old terminology used in a recent post elsewhere.

It was the following post that prompted me to ask Chris if we could change it, I think he and Melanie were already in the process of doing it. It rang more true to me, and I hope others will start using it in their conversations.

I don’t use the term Impact Character at all, because this character does not necessarily have any physical impact on anything. In fact, even the old term “Obstacle Character” also seemed to me to give a wrong impression. Chris changed it from Obstacle to Impact to improve it, but in my writings on Dramatica I use the term “Obstacle Character” because that (to me) more clearly indicates its role as the most influential character over the Main Character in regard to his or her central, personal drive or issue.

NOTE that Narrative First and Subtxt uses the original terminology Obstacle Character, as that point-of-view presents an obstacle to the Main Character in regards to continuing their subjective justifications (and blind spots).