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3 Act Structure (no witty titles for this one, sorry)

The 3 act structure is the most basic storytelling structure. Remember how we talked about story being structure, structure being character, and character being story? This is the structure part of that equation. Well, sort of. In this case what I’m talking about with structure is the basic framework for how a story progresses. A lot of people argue that the 3 act structure is antiquated, over used, or too restrictive. We can debate those things in the comments section. That would be fun. Instead I’m just going to discuss the simplest concept of the 3 act structure and how I‘m using it at this stage of the writing process. We can discuss the more granular aspects of the structure in the comments or you can learn a lot more with just a little research on the net.

I believe that all stories are told in the 3 act structure. Even though plays and TV shows are done in more acts I would argue that those stories are still told using the basic 3 act structure. That structure is just divided into smaller segments that allow set changes or commercial breaks. Books also follow the 3 act structure. Books are just broken up into chapters in the same way that TV shows and plays are broken into acts. So you could say that TV and plays mislabel them as acts when really they’re chapters. So this is my argumentative statement about the 3 Act structure: Every story is told in 3 acts. The end.

Put the pieces on the board

As simple as the 3 act structure is there are still a few pieces that we should discuss. Here’s a breakdown of the parts of the 3 act structure and the things they should accomplished. I think we’ll use Star Wars for examples since that’s a movie that’s well known, easily accessible, and follows the 3 act structure with precision. (Star Wars: A New Hope for those who need the clarification)

Act 1 is the setup. The main character is introduced. We should see who they are, what they do, and how they do it. The most important yet easily overlooked aspect of introducing the main character is to show the audience their decision making process. This is done by introducing a problem or set of problems that the character will attempt to solve. These don’t have to be the big problem they face in the story but it’s good if they’re related. By seeing how the character works at solving small problems we get to see their decision making process in action and that leads us to a better understanding of who they are. It’s always best for the character’s solutions to fail. False solutions are an invaluable tool especially in the first 90% of the script. If each solution leads to more trouble and propels us further into the story this is a good thing. If the character solves the problem effectively there’s nowhere else to go.

Act 1 of Star Wars. We’re introduced to Luke. He’s faced with a few problems. He wants to pick up power converters but has to stay and clean droids. His decision is to be responsible. He doesn’t sneak off so we’ve learned that he’s responsible. He whines about it though so we see that he’s still immature. His next problem is that R2 has run away. He doesn’t go running off at night to find R2 so we know he’s not a risk taker. When he does go after R2 he gets in trouble with the sand people. We see that he’s not a great fighter but he will fight if he has to. All this character stuff is communicated through his actions not people talking about them. We see him confronted with a problem and we see how he attempts to solve the problem. Note that every solution further involves Luke in the plot. All the problems further the plot as well. No scene should ever exist for a single purpose. Every scene in your story should further the plot, reveal new information about the character, and set up questions for later. We’ll talk more about this another time but it’s good to have in mind.

Between act 1 and act 2 there’s a turning point. This is that crucial moment where the big problem of the story is introduced and the character makes a decision to take action. This turning point can be almost anything as long as it's a change in direction for the character. Act 1 set up the day to day life of the character, act 2 will be the character dealing with new challenges. The turning point is where you set those new challenges in motion. It’s best when the turning point comes about due to a choice the character has made. John Mclaine chooses to fight the bandits in the Nakatomi building rather than hide in the bathroom. Scrooge chooses to go with the spirit of Christmas Past.

Luke makes the choice to go with Obi Wan to Mos Eisley and make the trip to Alderaan. This is the point where the story is no longer about a farm boy on a moisture farm. It’s now a story about a boy leaving home to deliver the crucial information to the rebellion. (Remember that they were just going to Alderaan to deliver the droid at first, they didn’t know Leia was on the Death Star or that she needed saving yet.) Luke refused to go along with Obi Wan at first. Actually he refused what is referred to as “the call to action” a few times before choosing to go along. He was called to action in Obi Wan’s shack but he‘s got to get home to do chores. Then after seeing the destroyed jawa sand crawler he refuses again because he‘s got to go protect his family. Finally, after seeing that his home is destroyed and his aunt and uncle are dead, he decides to heed the call. He could have chosen to stay and rebuild. He could have chosen to run and hide. He could have chosen to go on a quest for revenge. He could have chosen a lot of other things but instead he chooses to heed the call to adventure and go off with Obi Wan. His choice puts him on the course to destroying the Death Star (spoiler!). We like it when our heroes refuse the call to action. Not only is it satisfying when they finally choose to take action but it also gives us the opportunity to see their decision making process in action. Luke’s process was: I have responsibilities here, I need to protect my family, I need to go with you to deliver the information and stick it to the bad guys.

Act 2 breaks into 3 parts. The first half of act 2, the mid point, and the second half of act 2. The first half of act 2 is the ever increasing challenges and obstacles faced as a result of the choice made at the turning point. The mid point is just like the turning point, as a matter of fact it’s another turning point. All the same concepts apply. It should be a choice that comes from character etc. The second half of act 2 is facing the ever increasing challenges presented by the choice made at the mid point. It’s important to note that the turning point in act 2 should be just as dramatic a shift in direction for the story as the turning point between act 1 and 2.

Luke is off to save the day and deliver the droid to Alderaan but complications arise. They need a ship and the only captain they can afford is a scoundrel on the run from bounty hunters. They barely escape. They discover Alderaan is destroyed and they get captured. They put on clever disguises while Obi Wan turns off the shield generator. Lots of complications, obstacles, and solutions. At this point the story could have been a harrowing escape but here comes the turning point. They discover the princess needs saving. Now it’s a story about saving a princess and escaping from the Death Star. Complications, obstacles, and solutions ensue. They sneak into the detention block but their disguises don’t work. They get trapped in the hall and they jump down the garbage shoot. It gets more and more difficult and they finally escape with the princess and deliver the droid to the rebellion. Note the turning point in this act. It goes from being an escape to a rescue pretty quickly. That’s a pretty sharp turn in the story. Worth noting is that even with this sharp turn the entire act is about escaping.

The turning point from act 2 to act 3. Just like the turning point from act 1 to act 2 this turning point sets the story on a new path. The same rules apply. The turn should come from a choice made by the main character.

Luke has delivered the information and decides to join in the fight. He’s now gone from farm boy to on the run from the empire to fighting back against the empire. That’s a pretty dramatic journey but it’s not over yet.

Act 3 is the climax. Everything you’ve been setting up throughout the story gets dealt with here. The main character deals with the underlying issues that have plagued them throughout the story. The antagonist is overcome. And we have the resolution. Most people describe the turning point from act 2 to act 3 as the climax. I disagree with this. I think it's a turning point. A choice is made to confront the problem and the climax is when the problem is confronted and overcome. I think the climax is the high point in the resolution rather than the catalyst for the resolution. Then the story ends.

Luke has chosen to fight back. He’s on his way to the Death Star. He’s attacking. Shooting at gun towers and protecting other pilots as they make bombing runs. Darth Vader is on his tail and about to shoot him down. Everything is coming to the climactic moment where Luke uses the force to blow up the Death Star. That moment is the climax. Everything around it is the resolution of the story. The Death Star is blowed up and they have a party. The end. Luke has made his journey from being an immature farm boy to hero of the galaxy and Jedi.

Get on with it you long winded blow hard

Now that we’ve discussed the 3 act structure some, yes there’s a lot more that we could discuss, let’s start seeing how Harlan’s story fits into the three acts and how we can accomplish some of the basic needs in each act.

Act 1-Introduce the main character and reveal their decision making process.

Harlan is at work, we see how his imagination makes a dull job bearable. He should be confronted with a problem that relates to his attitude toward work. Harlan at home. We see how he relates to his wife. She has an issue she wants his help with and we see how they interact. He tries to relate to his son and fails miserably. He goes to a gaming session with his friends. We see how he acts in a situation where he’s comfortable and confident. We meet Nathan. He has an opportunity to take action in life, perhaps a promotion at work or a completely different job opportunity that he doesn’t take advantage of. He loses his job and his reaction to the loss.

Turning point-A choice that sets the story on a new course.

Nathan convinces Harlan to go on a road trip with him. This should be set up with a few refusals earlier in act 1. Probably a few different invitations to do something with Nathan. He chooses to go this time because he’s got nothing else to do and needs to escape.

Act 2 first half-Complications and obstacles arise on the journey to Nerdtacular.

The complications should be increasingly difficult to overcome. Car trouble that they try to fix but make things worse. They try taking a train but get kicked off. They rent a car. They stay at an awful motel. The rental car is stolen. Harlan’s wallet is stolen. All the complications are preventing them from reaching Nerdtacular. The complications will be due to faulty problem solving and decision making on the part of Harlan or Nathan. Nathan will be antagonistic toward Harlan despite being his friend. Harlan doesn’t really stand up for himself though.

Mid point-A choice that sets the story on a new course

Harlan and Nathan have a falling out. Harlan tries to escape by jumping out of a window (something like that) and gets hit by a car.

Act 2 second half-Complications arise as they deal with Harlan’s coma and a new goal

Harlan awakes from his coma to find that Nathan is the only person who cared enough to be there. Nathan even stayed with him the whole time he was unconscious. Probably only a few days. They’ve missed Nerdtacular but Nathan suggests they not waste the trip and they should go to Dragoncon (or some other nerdy convention). They set out to find a new nerdy convention. The trip is a little easier but Harlan is still injured and he slips in and out of his imaginary world more and more frequently. Nathan assures him he’s fine and they keep going. They arrive at a few different destinations only to discover that they’ve missed the convention, it was cancelled, or it wasn’t happening in the first place. Harlan’s health is deteriorating.

Climactic turning point-A choice is made that will bring about the resolution

Harlan chooses to go home. 

Act 3-The resolution and climax of the story.

Nathan won’t let him go. He insists they continue the trip. Harlan makes his escape from Nathan as his injuries get more severe. He takes a stand against Nathan and discovers that Nathan has been using him as his escape from dealing with his wife’s death. Harlan ends up in the hospital. This time his wife and son do arrive and he’s able to start repairing those relationships. The End.

Endings are hard

Okay, that ending is a little weak. There are a few things about it that I like. Having Harlan’s health completely give out there at the end is a good physical consequence to his actions. It raises the stakes nicely. Raising stakes is important and we’ll talk about that another time in greater depth. But right now that ending doesn’t quite work. It’s sloppy and comes across as too easy and convenient. We’ll get there. I’m bringing it up though because the ending is possibly the most important part of the story. The end is the last experience people have with your story. People should walk out of the theatre saying “That was a great ending to a great story. I want to see that again.” They rarely say “What a great story with a rotten ending. I want to see that again.” I like to start with a good ending to a story. It’s easy to come up with a compelling beginning to a story. How many times have you thought “this would make a cool opening to a movie”? How many times have you thought “that would make a great climactic ending to a movie”? The first probably happens far more frequently. I know people will say to me “I have an idea for a movie where such and such starts happening.” When I ask how it ends I get “I don’t know.” Unfortunately a good opening is easy. A good ending is super hard. So I need to find a good solid ending. One that makes the story worth the trip. One that makes people want to come back and watch (read) the story again.

I believe so strongly in knowing the end of a story that I don’t recommend writing anything until you have a solid ending planned.

I'm going to break that rule for now and keep moving forward despite having a weak ending. We'll get it hammered out eventually.

Enough already!

Okay, this post is long enough. Hopefully you’ve gotten a decent idea of the 3 act structure. If you have any questions or thoughts about it bring it up in the comments. We also have a decent outline for our story based on the 3 act structure. It needs work but it’s a good rough outline of the structure.

Let’s hear some ideas about the story so far. Particularly about the ending. This story needs a great ending. Maybe a great beginning too. Probably could use a great middle of the story too. So any thoughts you have feel free to share them so I can steal liberally from you.

Next time we’ll be breaking the story into beats starting with act 1. What’s a beat you ask? Come back and find out.

Is Unresolvable A Word? It Should Be. It's A Good Word.

Meeting Expectations and Deadlines

On a personal note this blog has been a great motivator for getting me to put my butt in a chair and write. Meeting the deadline of 2 posts a week has really forced me to write when I would have otherwise procrastinated. I hope you enjoy reading this as much as I’m enjoy writing it.

As promised here’s the write up for Nathan Helm, our antagonist. As I gave him some thought I decided the best antagonist for Harlan was someone decisive and proactive to an extreme. I felt like he needed to be a forceful character who can push Harlan into action. I think this first pass does that job nicely.

I think Harlan and Nathan should be friends. Nathan will be the friend who comes over for dinner and tells you about having made the same dish, only better. He’s antagonistic toward people he knows and downright aggressive toward people he doesn’t. He treats everything as an opportunity to argue. He’s that friend you would rather avoid. Why does Harlan still hang out with him? Does Nathan have any redeeming qualities? Nathan’s smart but stuck in that “knows everything better than you” stage. I think the key to why Harlan (and the audience) might be willing to put up with Nathan is in his marriage. Nathan is completely and totally dedicated to his wife. He loves her more than anything. That level of dedication is admirable and it makes up for a lot. Even though we don’t have to like or relate to the antagonist, having something about them that we can understand and connect to is important. Nathan isn’t a moustache twirling villain intent on watching the world burn. He should end up being a person we don’t necessarily like but at least we understand.

Is it a movie?

Matt Nix did an interview on The Nerdist Writer’s Panel where he made a really great comment about the difference between writing for film and writing for television.

“If you tend to think in terms of big resolvable conflicts, and these days they have to be really big really resolvable conflicts of a particular kind, then that’s a movie. And if you think in terms of ongoing unresolvable conflicts, things that you can just do every week. Whether it’s on a procedural level like Law & Order is gonna go on forever because crime’s not gonna stop. On a character level, take a show like House, House is not gonna wake up one morning and go “I’m not grumpy anymore and I’m just a happy guy” eventually that’s all about an unresolvable conflict in a man’s soul. Rescue Me is a wonderful example of that. It was a terrific example of a show that had external conflicts but it was about a character with an inordinately unresolvable conflict. That guy was never gonna get better. So you could just do that forever. That’s a great way to tell. If you tend to think in terms of those stories then you’re probably going to have an easier time in TV.”

The paraphrase of this would be:

Movies deal with big resolvable conflicts and TV deals with long lasting unresolvable conflicts.

The notable thing about this for our purposes is that we’re telling a story that’s all about dealing with Harlan’s small problems. Most of his conflicts are unresolvable. Harlan isn’t taking a ring to Mordor, defeating an invading alien fleet with a computer virus, or boxing Dolph Lundgren.  Wouldn’t Harlan’s story be better told as a TV series? That’s certainly a reasonable path to take. I think Harlan has (or will have) the depth to carry a few seasons of TV. But we’re writing a feature film. What we have to remember is that this story is the climactic event in Harlan’s life. This is the story of the life-defining event in his life. This event will have to be big, dramatic, and (on some level) related to Harlan’s issues.

Making a life interesting

Our day-to-day lives aren’t interesting. No matter how important your job, how dramatic your life, a day in your life is boring. How much time do you spend sitting in a car? Watching TV? Eating? Most of your day-to-day is dull and would be obscenely uninteresting to watch. The life of a police officer is mostly dull. You wander around town in your patrol car waiting and watching. Then suddenly there’s a call and you have 20 minutes of adrenaline fueled chaos. Followed by hours of paperwork. If you were writing a story about a cop you probably want to focus on those 20 minutes of adrenaline. Harlan’s life is dull. It’s routine and boring and he doesn’t do much of note. How the heck are we going to tell a compelling story about this person? How will we find a clear, visual goal for our resolution? If I were to do a story that encompasses all of Harlan’s life it would be boring. A lot of sitting around as his life decays around him. This can be done in a film and it can be done well. That’s not the story I want to write though. My story about Harlan needs to be about that great big thing that changes his life forever. It’s about that turning point sequence of events that will change the course of his life forever. How do we figure out what that looks like though?

Digging for boogers

Right now we don’t know what genre this movie will be. Is it a comedy? A drama? Is it a buddy cop movie with Jackie Chan and Chris Tucker? I think great stories come from turning the internal struggles of the characters into external obstacles. In order to figure out what that looks and sounds like we have to dig deep and root out those elements of Harlan’s life that will be good buttons to push. And we now know that Nathan will be the one pushing those buttons. As I compare the two characters I’m starting to get some ideas about scenes and conversations these two might have. Points where their personalities and lives would come into conflict. Harlan is just waiting for his marriage to finally die while Nathan is so devoted to his wife that he would probably cease to exist if she were gone. That’s going to be good for a few scenes of conflict. Harlan is indecisive and Nathan is decisive. There will be some scenes with Harlan being indecisive while Nathan makes a firm decision. Will Nathan’s decision be the wrong course of action? How will Harlan react to that? As often as possible Nathan will be forcing Harlan to make decisions and take a stand. Will this be a master plan on Nathan’s part to get Harlan to figure his life out? I don’t think Nathan is capable of that sort of thing.

The bad version

I’ve been dancing around it a little but now it’s time to get into it. Let’s talk story. This can be a huge roadblock. It’s easy to get caught up in evaluating and reevaluating your ideas to decide whether or not they’re original enough, creative enough, or interesting enough. To get around this I acknowledge that my first pass is the bad version of my story. The bad version doesn’t mean it’s all bad, it’s just a way for me to get started. I put things in writing so I can get past the initial thought and dig deeper for a good meaty booger. So here goes with the bad version.

We meet Harlan, a man whose life is in steady decay. He doesn’t get along with his wife and he doesn’t know his son. His days have metronomic repetition he goes from work at the hardware store to lonely nights in front of the TV and back. His imagination is crazy though, when he’s at the hardware store he imagines dragons made of drill bits and washers coming to life. When he sits in traffic he sees giants wandering the hills. When he gets together with his friends for their weekly gaming session he comes alive and seems to finally have some fun. At the game we meet Nathan, the obnoxious friend he would rather avoid. Harlan loses his job.

With no prospects on the horizon he slips more and more into his imaginary world.Nathan arrives at Harlan’s door and invites Harlan to join him on a road trip to Nerdtacular.  Harlan isn't interested but Nathan finally forces Harlan to join him and they’re off on the road. The trip is easy enough despite being trapped in a car with Nathan. Harlan’s only escape from Nathan’s constantly annoying attitude is his imagination. We get to see the wild things Harlan imagines. Car chases, space battles, and wild west shootouts. Harlan is hit by a car.

Harlan spends a few days in a coma. “It’s a comma, he was just pausing before moving on.”

When he comes out of the coma he discovers that his wife never came to check on him and that Nathan is the only person who stuck by him. They stage a jailbreak like escape from the hospital and they continue their journey. Harlan has an increasingly difficult time distinguishing between his imagination and the real world. Their trip gets more and more chaotic. It’s almost like Nathan, normally a driven and decisive person, doesn’t want to get where they’re going.

Things come to a head when Harlan discovers that Nathan has been leading them on a wild ride with no ultimate destination. When he was in a coma his wife was never contacted. She didn’t know what was going on. Nathan has essentially kidnapped him. They have a big falling out where Harlan discovers some things about himself and has to make a decision about his wife, his son, and his entire life. Will he choose to abandon it or commit to making it better?

Treat it like a treatment

A treatment is a document that essentially lays out the entire story much like I’ve written here. Treatments can be anywhere from 1 to a lot of pages. If we look at this as a treatment you’ll notice that each paragraph is essentially a section of the 3 act structure. Paragraph 1 is act 1. Then the first half of act 2 followed by a single line for the mid point of act 2, the second half, and the third act as the final paragraph. It’s not the best practice to end with a question though. It’s far better to know what your end will be. Don’t be afraid of giving it away in your treatment. The treatment is a way to see how the story works in broad strokes. If the ending isn’t there then there’s no way to know if the story actually works. We’ll get into treatments, the 3 act structure, and endings next time.

Good, Bad, and Ugly

I couldn’t resist that one. Now that we have our two most important characters and a bad version of the plot it’s time to work on a good version and start plugging it into the structure of a script. Your input about the bad version is extremely useful. Does anything in there sound good to you? Absurdly bad? Do you have a different idea of how Harlan’s story could play out? Is a road trip a bad idea? What’s working for you and what’s not? Let me know in the comments. As promised I will consider all of your comments and suggestions before ignoring them and doing my own thing anyway.

Next time: A treatment, 3 act structure, and the all important ending.

Too Much Cat Poop or Not Nearly Enough

It’s a Process

The goal of this blog is to work through the process of writing a script. That process can be frustrating and slow at times. This is one of those times. I was working on the antagonist and I discovered I was creating a character I found far more interesting than the protagonist. This isn’t unusual for me. Remember how we talked about creating characters who aren’t us? The first pass on Harlan was okay. He was a little too similar to me in some regards. There’s a lot to work with but I think he’s a little one dimensional. He didn’t have teeth or edge. By that I mean that he didn’t really have major problems he had to tackle and wrestle with. Sure, the main theme was being addressed but that was pretty much it. There wasn’t a lot of room to work. The antagonist on the other hand is uglier. He has more problems and issues to deal with. In general he’s a more fully realized character. Perhaps you’ll disagree but I think he’s got more going on than Harlan.

For comparison here's the original character work up for Harlan.

 

This Guy Has Issues

Nathan, the antagonist, has problems. He’s got a wife he might despise, a son he doesn’t understand or connect with, and no sense of purpose. He needs to change (more on this misnomer later). Here are a few points that really got my attention. As you look at these remember that the goal here is to get inside the character’s head. To see things the way they see things. If this were written from the perspective of his wife, son, or friends it would probably be very different. This is probably how Nathan would see himself if he were being hard on himself. His perspective and the reality aren’t necessarily the same thing.

Home life: Married to a woman he met while in the Air Force. They were very young, had a kid, and are both too stubborn to get divorced. They don’t get along. They stay together because they have a kid and neither is willing to be the bad guy and leave the kid. His son is 16, a musician, and politically active in the way a rebellious 16 year old is politically active: he is vehemently opposed if he thinks his dad would support it.

Relationship to family: Has a very traditional relationship with his family. He sees himself as the disciplinarian and bread-winner. Believes his dinner should be on the table when he gets home, the paper and a beer in front of the tv, and his son making him proud on the football field. In reality his family never eats together; he usually eats a frozen tv dinner. His son has no interest in football and instead has long hair and plays keyboard in a punk/hip-hop/reggae/classical fusion band. He does get his beer in front of the TV though, probably too much.

This guy’s relationships are a mess. Maybe the solution is a divorce. I doubt it. He and his wife have stuck it out for 16 years. There has to be something there for people to do that these days. Divorce doesn’t have the stigma it once had.  Does he really believe his food should be on the table when he gets home? Is that just what he thinks he believes and it’s not that important to him? I think this is probably his way of communicating his desire for family dinners and what that means to him. Does he want the paper and beer in front of the tv? Or does he need to feel like he’s safe and loved when he’s at home? I really want to hear a punk/hip-hop/reggae/classical fusion band. Does that exist?

Married: Yes because she hasn’t asked for a divorce and he’s not going to

I like that he thinks they’re playing marital chicken. They’re going to stay married until one of them blinks. Why has she stayed with him for so long if she feels the same way? Why has he?

Sex life: desperately wants to have an affair because he and his wife never have relations. This is his primary “love language” and he needs validation.

If you haven’t heard about or are just kind of fuzzy on the “love language” thing you can check it out here. It might be a bunch of baloney (or bologna if you prefer) but things like this are great for writers since it helps to codify behaviors. It’s difficult for people to feel loved if their “love language” isn’t being spoken to them. This character clearly needs to learn his wife’s love language and she probably could stand to learn his.

Ethics: Has a very rigid ethical code in regard to his employer. He would never lie, cheat, or steal from his employer. Doing these things in his private life is fine as long as he thinks it “doesn’t hurt anyone”. Extremely loyal to his employer.

This guy desperately wants to be a part of something bigger than he is. I like that about him. He’s willing to put all of himself into something and follow. This can certainly put him in a position where he’s loyal to something that doesn’t deserve his loyalty. He could find himself being loyal to a person or organization that doesn’t value or reciprocate that loyalty. If he works for a big box store it’s likely that they see him as just a replaceable cog. Is he aware of this? Does he know he’s easily replaced but still insists on being loyal?

A little bit of cat poop spoils the whole cake

One gram of cat poop in a 10 pound cake and the cake is ruined. For characters that’s not the case. We want our characters to be flawed and have problems. Harlan is flawed and has problems to be sure but I don’t think there are any cat turds in that cake. Nathan on the other hand has loads of cat turd in his cake. (I’ll stop with that analogy now). So as I worked on Nathan I realized I liked this guy. He’s interesting. He has a lot of room to grow. He needs a hug and (if I were a hugger) I would give it to him. I would hang out with Harlan but I would get involved in Nathan’s life.  So what if I combined the two characters? What if Nathan’s problems were Harlan’s problems? Let’s look at Harlan 2.0. He’s older and has more cat turd. (I couldn’t resist)

Economic class of family: Lower Middle Class

Home life: Married to a woman he met while in the Air Force. They were very young, had a kid, and are both too stubborn to get divorced. They don’t get along. They stay together because they have a kid and neither is willing to be the bad guy and leave the kid. His son is 16, an athlete, and politically active in the way a rebellious 16 year old is politically active: he is vehemently opposed if he thinks his dad would support it.

Relationship to family: Has a very traditional relationship with his family. He sees himself as the disciplinarian and bread-winner. Wants his dinner on the table when he gets home, the paper and a beer in front of the tv, and his son should share his enthusiasm for all things nerd. In reality his family never eats together; he usually eats a frozen tv dinner. His son has no interest in fantasy or sci-fi and instead plays football, baseball, and basketball and cares about the prom and homecoming. He does get his beer in front of the TV though, probably too much. His parents are extremely supportive but he’s afraid of letting them down so he keeps a lot of what he sees as failures to himself. He wants them to think he’s got it together more than he does.

This Harlan has money problems, a rotten marriage, and a son he can’t connect to. He hides his problems. Maybe he just thinks he can fix it. Or maybe he doesn’t think he can fix it and has given up.

Education: Recent College grad with a degree in computer science. Graduated high in his class.

He’s smart and his degree matches up with his way of thinking. His views tend to be binary. Yes this works or no it doesn’t. If it isn’t binary he has a hard time finding a solution. “My wife and I don’t get along so we can’t get along.” “I’m loyal to the company so I will remain loyal to the company.” I’m not saying computer engineers think this way. I’m saying the computer science version of Harlan thinks this way.

Faults: sees epic struggles of good vs. evil in small interactions. He was a part of a team when he was in the military. He was valuable and did things that mattered. He needs that feeling and thinks he can get it through loyalty to his employer even if that employer is a faceless corporation like WalMart. He is dishonest about his military experience. He was in the service between actual wars and never saw anything remotely like combat. It was just a job. He thinks it should have been something more and makes it sound that way to when he talks about it. He’s searching for that feeling of purpose and usefulness he imagines he once had.

Why does he lie about his military experience? What does that do for him? Do people believe his lies? Does he feel like his experiences should meet an expectation from his war veteran dad? Do his lies make him feel more important?

Greatest fear: personal and professional failure. Specifically a failure to achieve what he thinks are reasonable expectations of “success” in his life. That he will be seen as he sees himself: a fraud who didn’t do anything of note and is stuck in a life with no future.

This is a pretty good fear. Especially the fear of being discovered as a fraud. Would people see him as a fraud? He certainly thinks so. His lies will be revealed in the story. We have to confront the main character’s greatest fear and I feel pretty good about this one.

Those are some high points about this version of Harlan. He’s a person with more texture. He has problems to confront through the story. The first pass gave me someone with the imagination we need for the fantasy world elements. This pass keeps that but adds problems he needs to escape with this fantasy world. Problems we’ll get to confront in the story.

If the black hat doesn’t fit

Unfortunately, now that we’ve combined the protagonist and antagonist into one troubled protagonist we still need an antagonist. I think this version of Harlan needs someone who isn’t as morally flexible as he is. Someone who asks more questions and sees the world in a far less binary way. We’ll start with a name. Nathan Helm works for me. Nathan is the antagonist. Nathan will be someone who doesn’t value loyalty the same way Harlan does. Nathan wouldn’t accept a marriage just waiting to die. Nathan will force Harlan to reevaluate his life. We’ll have to wait until next time to meet Nathan.

Spare a dime?

One of the catch phrases of writing is that characters must undergo change. I disagree. Characters don’t change. A character should be the same person at the end of the story that they were in the beginning. People don’t change. Aspects of a person will be more or less dominant depending on where they are in their life and the choices they’ve made but they don’t change. Let’s take Ebenezer Scrooge as an example. He seems to undergo a huge change. He starts out as a selfish, money-grubbing jerk. At the end of the story he’s generous, kind, and friendly. That’s change right? Yes and no. Yes, he’s changed because he behaves differently. No, he’s still the same person but the generous, kind, and friendly aspects of his personality are now dominant. We see through the course of the story that he had the capacity for kindness when he was younger. We see how he could have been that person all along if his life and his behavior had been different. If he hadn’t let the events in his life determine what aspects of his personality were dominant.

The same should be true of Harlan. He’s starting out as a person in desperate need of change. Does he need to change as a person? He can’t. He will always have these experiences and the capacity for being the person he is at the beginning. In the end he should appear to have changed though. If we focus on his relationship with his wife we can already see that there’s probably more to it than he thinks. He’s operating under the assumption that his marriage has failed and it’s going to end. That doesn’t make it true. He also hasn’t pulled the trigger on ending it. He hasn’t even had an affair. Why not? If I do this right (and I probably won’t) we’ll see that Harlan has the capacity to be a loving husband and father. These things are within him but they’re buried under a lot of cat poop that he has to dig through. In the end, if he’s dug through the cat poop enough, it won’t be a change in who he is as a person. Instead it will be Harlan being the better version of Harlan that he could have been all along.

Next time we meet Nathan Helm (probably)

Have any questions? Ideas? Think I’m completely wrong in every way? Let me know in the comments.

The Boy In The Black Hat Wants You To Make Your Bed

Obstacles

Stories are about a main character overcoming obstacles to reach a goal. The obstacles should be related to the goals, traits, and personality of the main character. When I’m writing, my goal is to write a screenplay. The biggest obstacle I face is the practice of actually writing. It’s hard to make myself sit down and write. Some of the obstacles I face come from my own habits. I want to play a video game. I want to watch a movie. I want to check Facebook one more time. Hey, that video on youtube might be funny. When I squish my belly button it makes a smiley face. These are internal obstacles. Internal since they essentially come from my own desire to procrastinate. Then there are external obstacles. This morning I discovered the kitchen floor was a huge puddle of dirty water. My son won’t take a nap. The dog needs to go out. These are mundane obstacles but they still prevent me from sitting down to write. Internal obstacles are bad. External obstacles are good. Film is a visual medium. The story is told through images. Internal obstacles aren’t very visual. Internal struggles need to be described by external obstacles in a screenplay. The most important factor in creating obstacles that do double duty as both external and internal obstacles is with an antagonist. My antagonist is my son.

Bad Dad!

Hold your horses. Before you start thinking I’m calling my son a bad guy. Or thinking that I have some adversarial relationship with a 1 year old let me explain. What is an antagonist? New screenwriters often get hung up on the idea of an antagonist. “My story doesn’t have a bad guy. It’s not that kind of story.” “Real life doesn’t have moustache twirling villains.” These things may be true but real life certainly has antagonists. An antagonist, in their most simple (and oddly complex) form, is a character that forces the main character to make choices. Antagonists are the external representation of the main character’s internal struggle. An antagonist doesn’t have to be a villain. Instead they can be someone trying very hard to help the main character change. They just do it by creating roadblocks for the main character. The example I use for kids is this: You’re the main character and you have a cold but hate the medicine. The antagonist is your mom who is forcing you to take the medicine. She loves you and is taking care of you by creating an obstacle you must overcome to get better. It’s a very simple description of how an antagonist can exist in the real world without being a villain. My son is my antagonist because he forces me to prioritize my time more than I would otherwise. He creates obstacles that I must overcome in order to write.

In a room

A good antagonist is the embodiment of the ultimate obstacle the main character must overcome to complete their story. The story is at it’s strongest when the protagonist and antagonist are face to face challenging one another. If putting your protagonist and antagonist alone in a room would result in a lot of stares and sullen looks then find a new antagonist. There should be fireworks. These two people should be pushing at one another in every way.

No mirrors please

An antagonist shouldn’t just be the opposite of the main character. That gets boring. The antagonist should have goals and desires that have nothing to do with the protagonist. A good antagonist would be a good protagonist if the story were told from their perspective.

Where the evil meets the road

With all that in mind it’s time to consider who would be the perfect antagonist for Harlan. Let’s start by looking at the theme. Harlan’s story is about the journey from immaturity to maturity. He’s going to struggle with finding out what it means to be a man (at least for him). Is the antagonist mature already? Or are they permanently immature? Is the antagonist a woman? Is it a man who has it all “figured out”? A lot of this story will be told in Harlan’s imagination. Is the antagonist only in his imagination? If we’re following Maslow’s Hierarchy is the antagonist already at the top of the hierarchy? Are they permanently at the bottom? In the middle?

Ticking the boxes

As I ask these questions an image of the antagonist takes shape. No, the antagonist isn’t a woman. This isn’t a battle of the sexes story. I’m going back and forth on the antagonist’s maturity level. An immature antagonist would be a comedic element constantly pulling Harlan toward stasis. While a mature antagonist would be pulling Harlan toward becoming more mature but in a fashion that doesn’t suit Harlan’s character. It’s a more dramatic angle that would force Harlan to consider what kind of man he wants to become. I’m leaning toward the more mature angle but I’m not positive yet. I think having the antagonist exist entirely in Harlan’s imaginary world would undermine the stakes of the story. This antagonist should absolutely exist in that imaginary world but must exist outside as well. If the antagonist existed purely in Harlan’s imaginary world the story would essentially be an internal struggle.

Keys

Now that we’ve figured out that the antagonist is a man, probably more mature (or behaves as such) than Harlan, who exists in both the real world and Harlan’s imaginary world it’s time to get some serious work done on this character. The two most important questions I want to answer next are: What is his name? and What is the central point of conflict between him and Harlan? Once those are in place we’ll work on the character the same way we did with Harlan.

Your Turn

With this information in mind let’s see what you guys have to say. What should be our antagonist’s name? What are some points of conflict you would find interesting between Harlan and this as yet unnamed menace? Should the antagonist be helping Harlan or in opposition to him? Does he want Harlan to change or is his agenda something Harlan needs to oppose? Is there something I haven’t thought of?

Next time: We meet the antagonist and talk about the things he adds to this particular story.

Do You Like Toast....Too?

Getting to know you.

The main character is the heart and soul of your story. No matter what type of story you’re telling. Getting to know that character is a process. It’s rare to meet someone and know everything about them in the first few minutes or hours you spend with them. Often our first impressions are wrong, or at the very least, incomplete. That’s the case with your main character when you first start developing them. I’ve now spent about two days (in terms of concentrated hours) with Harlan. After two days we’re still at the “I know you don't like cauliflower but I don't know why you get angry about drive thru fast food” phase. I can tell you he loves his wife. I’m not sure why he loves his wife. There are surface details that are easy to identify but the inner workings of the guy’s brain are still a mystery to me. Those underlying aspects of his personality will only become evident after I’ve spent more time with him. It’s those underlying aspects of the character’s personality that the audience really wants to understand and experience. Unfortunately Harlan and I aren’t there yet. But we'll get there.

Get to it already

This is as far as I plan to go with developing Harlan before I start the actual script. Some writers like to be at that deep understanding point with the characters before they start writing. I’m sure this is a completely reasonable approach. I feel like it’s procrastination. Start writing, put your characters into situations and see how they react. Based on the rough outline we already have we can start to put Harlan into scenes and see how he acts and reacts to other people. All this work is research. Research is good. But it isn’t the script. I prefer to get a decent idea of who the characters are, put them into the story, see how they work, then refine it as I get to know them better.

What do we know about Harlan?

A worksheet like this is a tool. It’s not written in stone. It’s not a roadmap of a character. It’s a sketch. It has legs, arms, and a head but it’s certainly not a final image of who the person is. It’s a lot of answers to questions that help me to think more about who the character is. Most of what’s there is surface stuff. That was my best guess at Harlan’s greatest fear. I probably won’t know what he actually fears most until a draft or two into the script at the earliest. It gives me things to ask questions about.

A few things that led to other things

As I was working on this a few things caught my eye. These things came out of working through the character sheet. I hadn't thought of them until I was faced with the question. They gave me pieces for the story so they're worth talking about.

Married: Yes

I originally thought Harlan was single. I think having him be married works better with the theme of the story because...

Home life: His wife is finding a great deal of success as a journalist. She works a lot though so they don’t see each other as often as they would like. When they do get time together they clearly get along well.

If Harlan’s wife is finding success and is the primary means of financial support it puts Harlan in the position where he’s outside one of the “norms” of our culture. It let’s me play with the concept of “man as bread winner” and how that can affect his sense of self and where he fits into the world.

Political views: Democrat with the idealistic fervor of youth

This is something that is very different from me. I make a conscious effort to be non-political (possibly to a fault). I thought it might be interesting if Harlan were opposite of me in that regard. He’s idealistic and believes in the power of politics to make the world a better place. I went democrat because it’s more accurate (stereotypically) to his age/interests. This may never be a part of the story but it helps me understand him and how he thinks.

Hobbies: Roleplaying games. He has a twice weekly game of dungeons & dragons with friends that they’ve been playing since they were 15.

This gives me a support group for Harlan. These are people he trusts and would be willing to reveal things about himself to. He might still keep up a public mask but these guys can see through it easier than most.

Ethics: Rule oriented. Believes every man should have a code even if he’s not sure what his “code” is

and

Values: Believes in right and wrong but is more interested in the shades of grey and how different cultures evaluate right and wrong. Idealistic about the inherent good of humanity. Believes everything will work out for the best in the end

These two things go together. People are contradictory. They will believe in two things that are in conflict with one another. Harlan can believe strongly in right and wrong and obeying the rules but he can also constantly see things as grey where there isn’t right or wrong. He can also break the rules or not follow the rules because it doesn’t coincide with his “code”. I don’t even think Harlan has a “code” so much as he wants to have one. His “code” is probably a way of accepting his contradictions and justifying them to himself. He might detest dishonesty but be dishonest. As long as he can justify it with his “code” this isn’t contradictory to him.

There’s a reason for everything (or should be)

Every piece of the character worksheet should be weighed, considered, and have a reason to be part of the character. Harlan is 29 because if he were younger he would have the invincibility of youth and not be as afraid of failure. Much older and he would likely have a different self image. I want this to be a story about transition. I feel like 29 is a transitional age. Why is he a white male? Because it’s the most commonly portrayed demographic in the media. If this is a story about being a man in modern American culture then that’s the person with the most examples in the media. Most of the information has a reason to be there. If you see something that doesn’t make sense to you or you have a question mention it in the comments and we’ll see if we can come up with something better.

Feedback

Writing is a solitary endeavor. I sit alone (usually) and come up with the characters and story in a vacuum. It can be a little like yelling in an echo chamber. What if Harlan wears pink tights under his pants? Absolutely Caleb, that’s a brilliant idea! It’s great subtext and really brings out the underlying themes of the story! I’m so very smart. The great thing about this blog is that it doesn’t have to be an echo chamber. Let’s hear what you have to say. Is there something that strikes you as interesting about Harlan? Is there something you think would be interesting that isn’t there? I don’t promise to use your ideas but I do promise to consider them carefully and abuse them as if they were my own.

Sing Along

Are you writing a script? Interested in writing a script? Want to work along with me? Follow along and write your story. This script will reach completion and if you follow along with your own, your script will be completed too. Let us (me and anyone else reading this) know and we’ll do what we can to help. You don’t even have to plan on failing.

Next time: Bring your black hats because we’re going to start work on the antagonist.

We Aren't That Interesting

Write what you know.

That’s what they say. A common mistake, especially among new writers, is that their main characters are just a version of themselves. Unfortunately, you’re not that interesting. I know I’m not that interesting. If your main character is a writer you’re not doing your story justice. What do writers do? They sit at the computer and type. I can get bored writing, I would hate to sit and watch 2 hours of someone typing. The main character should be out in the world doing something. Preferably something interesting. Even Hemingway didn’t sit on the back of an elephant writing a novel. Create a character that isn’t you.

Write what you know.

The good version of writing what you know (in my opinion) is that you’re writing about a character that you’ve spent so much time developing you can get in their head and understand their thoughts and emotions. These things should come from the character and not be reflections of how you would react. They should be emotions and reactions that come from that character. Yes the character comes from you but they should not be you.

What’s in a name?

A man in his late 50’s walks into the room and takes off his hat.

Archibald walks into the room and takes off his hat.

I like to start with a name for my characters. I think a name does a lot for a character. It makes the character a person. You can invest in someone named Archibald. You can’t easily invest in a male in his late 50’s. A name gives you something to hold onto. It gives you a sense that the character has a life outside the sentence. In the first example above you have no sense of time, place, or motivation. In the second example you can imagine that Archibald has a specific type of hat. You probably get a sense of what the room looks like. Who is Archibald and why is he in this room taking off his hat? Why doesn’t he go by the abbreviated name of Archie? I feel like the name starts building the character. Based on that single sentence your version of Archibald is probably far different from mine but it gets you to start asking questions about him. That’s a pretty good place to start.

My main character will be Harlan Millard. Thanks for the suggestions everyone.

Who is Harlan Millard?

Sometimes you just don’t know anything about the character and need to start with their information to get to know them and what their story is. Usually you will have some idea of the kind of story you want to tell and have some idea of a hook to the character that you want to start with and build out. A hook being an aspect of the character that you find interesting. Something that will be a central part of the story your going to tell.

Brainstorming the Hook

I was considering how to go about telling this story about Harlan, a man who needs to discover what it means to be a man in our modern American culture. It’s a search for identity. He’s searching for a role in life. If he’s searching for that perhaps he’s starting out as immature. Still childlike in how he sees the world. A child has a great imagination. The world is a wondrous place where anything is possible. Maybe Harlan sees the world that way. Maybe Harlan sees the world with so much imagination that he gets lost with his wandering thoughts and loses connection with the regular world. What if we could see what Harlan sees? What if we could see the dragons, robots, and adventurous things Harlan imagines as he takes the trash out? Is a ride on a bus a journey to a distant planet aboard a giant spaceship? It might be to Harlan. I think I want to find out.

We all have skeletons.

What are the parts that make up this person named Harlan? I have a hook but that isn’t enough. I need to know everything about him. I have a template that I use to break down a lot of the basic character work. You can find templates like this in tons of places around the internet. You can go simple where it’s just things like height, weight, age, etc. Or you can get really in depth where it’s 10 pages of information about every aspect of the character. Mine is generally 2 pages of information once it’s all done. Find something that works for you and start filling in information about the character. None of it is written in stone.

This is the form I fill out.

My intent is to tell the story of a man about to turn 30 who gets so involved in his imagination that we (the audience) slip in and out of his fantasy world with him. The things that happen in his fantasy world will be how he imagines the things he’s experiencing in the normal world. For example: if he’s making the bed we might see it as him doing repairs to a giant robot. He turns the normal world into a fantasy so that he can engage with it. I’ll be building Harlan with that in mind. The answers to the questions in the character template should give me ideas on how to get into his life and reveal who he is and how he thinks. They’ll also give me threads to work with as I build the story.

Next time we’ll take a look at the answers I have to these questions and which ones give me ideas to work with as we move forward.

Snakes Eating Their Own Tails (It's a Circle)

I know I said twice a week. Maybe this will be my twice this week and I won’t post again until next week. At this stage of the process there really isn’t much writing going on. It’s a lot of musing and imagining and whittling away at ideas. I figure that’s a big part of the process so let’s talk about it as it happens.

If you’re thinking about writing a screenplay, whether it’s a short story, novel, screenplay, or anything else it can be pretty daunting when you start considering all your options. How do you start? What kind of story will it be? Should I outline first? Do note cards? Write a treatment? What’s the genre? Who’s the main character? How does it begin? How does it end? On and on and on. There are so many things to consider it can be overwhelming pretty fast. Hopefully you’ve got a seed of an idea that started you on the process and it’s most likely a good idea to start with that idea and build out from there. In this case I didn’t start with an idea beyond what was stated previously.

Where do I begin?

There are three elements of a story that feed each other in an endless loop: Plot, Character, and Theme. The character is revealed through the plot. The plot is driven by the character. The theme is revealed by the character interacting with the plot. So let’s see if anything strikes a chord as I consider plots, themes, and characters that might be interesting.

Plot

They say there are only 5 stories. Or 7. Or maybe it’s 13. Depends on who you talk to and what books they’ve read. There’s man vs. nature, man vs. self, man vs. I’m bored. Yes, at the most basic level there are very few stories out there. But a good story doesn’t have to be an entirely new idea that has never existed before. A good story is more than that. Obviously I don’t have any great ideas popping into my head regarding plot. I guess this won’t be a story derived from plot. We could have a great discussion about stories derived from plot so bring it up in the comments if you have some thoughts.

Theme

Themes, much like plots, can be boiled down to simple terms. Love, hate, anger, despair, joy, and peace are all examples of very simple themes to start with. As a theme I’ve been considering maturity as it relates to men. What does it mean to be a man in our modern American culture? Who are the great male role models of our time? Where do we learn what qualities are “manly”? In a way this could be a story about the search for identity.

I’m a big fan of Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs as a tool for developing story. If a character is struggling to find shelter they probably won’t be that worried about their self-esteem. It’s a pretty valuable tool. If the theme is love then your character probably feels safe. A starving person doesn’t care about making out as much as they care about eating some food.

So if this story is about learning to be a man (whatever that might mean) it’s more about self-actualization than safety. Many of those lower tier needs are either met before the story begins or need to be met throughout the course of the story. Huh, that might be a good structure for the plot. A character that makes their way through the hierarchy might work. Food for thought.

Character

For me this is where the story comes from. Stories derived from theme can easily become heavy handed and preachy since everything is crafted to serve that theme. A story derived from plot can be complex and engaging but can just as easily be inaccessible and dry. It’s rare to find a plot or theme so interesting that it makes up for weak or uninteresting characters. The main character of a story should be someone you want to spend 2 hours hanging out with. If you’re like me you probably don’t watch Castle because the plots are all that engrossing. You probably don’t watch it to learn something deep and meaningful about life or love. I keep watching that show because I like hanging out with Richard Castle.

A main character doesn’t have to be likeable. Far from it. You can despise the main character. But, no matter how you feel about the character, the audience must want to spend time with them.

So I’m going to start with the main character.

To sum up

I’ve got a theme to work with, a possible plot (thanks Maslow), and the decision that the story will be derived from an interesting main character.

This is pretty basic stuff so if I’m putting too much time into talking about it let me know in the comments.

Next time we’re going to develop the main character. Let’s hear some possible names, traits, flaws, jobs, anything you guys think might be interesting for a character.