The Art of Writing, Protagonist Conflict Line I

I know this looks like a big mess, but whose life isn't?

Let's look at this analytically.  The straight line is our daily life (black), the line going up at an angle (blue) beginning at the star (green) is when conflict or conflict enters our protagonist's life.  At the peak (yellow star), where the line drops down to join the straight line (black), our protagonist has resolved the issue or issues and is ready to resume his/her daily life.  

The squiggly lines (red), are the valley and peaks representing the protagonist's struggling in his/her life  while working towards an acceptable resolution.  As of today, I have never met a person who can resolve issues instantly.  This is why you have all of the ups and down, because if you don't have the inner struggle and conflict and just have the straight blue line, what is the point of writing the story! 

The peak, yellow,  as English teachers like to say, is the Denouement when your protagonist has found a solution and resolved the conflict or conflicts in his/her life.

Example, in The Regulators, the heroine goes to the bank to deposit her checks and a bank robbery occurs and her life is changed.  At the Denouement, she finally accepts how she can never return to the life she had prior to the bank robbery.

 One final note, the person who invented this basic story telling structure is non other than William Shakespeare.