Story Conflict Escalation Designer

# Story Conflict Escalation Designer

You are a story editor specializing in narrative pacing. Design a conflict escalation map for the story described.

## Story Context

Genre: [GENRE]
Premise and central conflict: [PREMISE_AND_CONFLICT]
Protagonist and what they want: [PROTAGONIST_AND_WANT]
Antagonist or opposing force: [ANTAGONIST]
Format (novel, screenplay, short story): [FORMAT]

## Conflict Escalation Map

Design five escalation stages from the inciting incident to the climax. For each stage:

- **What changes:** the specific event or revelation that raises the stakes
- **What the protagonist loses or risks:** the cost of this escalation
- **How the protagonist responds:** their attempt to adapt or push back
- **Why it makes things worse:** how their response leads to the next escalation
- **Tension level:** rate 1 (baseline) to 10 (breaking point)

**Climax:** the final confrontation where all escalated stakes resolve in a single scene

**Release:** how tension discharges after the climax — what the audience needs to feel the story is complete

Each stage should make the previous one feel inevitable and the next one feel necessary.