Procrastination
Now that I have a reasonable outline laid out I wanted to
take a little time to talk about two extremely useful tools. I’ve teased
“what’s the worst that can happen” a few times now and have only briefly
mentioned want vs. need. Both of these tools will be immensely valuable for the
next stage of the process. As I start breaking down the beats into scenes I’ll
be looking for ways to create obstacles while remaining true to the overall
story. These two tools will help accomplish that goal.
It’s hard to be that mean
It can be extremely difficult to create good obstacles for
our characters. We want things to work out for ourselves so it can be difficult
to actually put a character through the wringer. Really excellent writers take
pleasure in putting their characters in terrible situations. As much as that
sounds easy to do, it isn’t. It takes skill and practice to do it well.
(SPOILER) How many of us would have actually killed Wash?
Simple
What’s the worst that can happen? Just look at the situation
you’ve put the character in, think of the worst that could happen, then do
that. It really is that simple.
Less simple
It gets a little more complicated when you want to find the
best worst thing that can happen. You want to create scenes with obstacles that
are unexpected and make things worse. The obstacles should make life more
difficult for the character regardless of the solution. They should be problems
that make sense but the audience didn’t see coming. These obstacles should also
reflect the theme of the story, the arc of the character, and set up problems
for later. That’s a lot of work. You don’t want to create obstacles that end
the story. The obstacles could end the story if they aren’t dealt with but
shouldn’t be the end of the story. When I ask kids to come up with the worst
that can happen to a character the first answer is always “they die.” While
this may actually be the worst that could happen it gets pretty difficult to
continue that character’s story. It’s important to understand that the result
of the obstacle could be death but that can’t be the obstacle.
What’s the example that can happen?
You can find clumsy examples of “what’s the worst that can
happen” in almost every show or movie. Next time you’re watching your favorite show
start asking yourself what’s the worst that can happen and see if you’re right.
I was watching a show recently where the main character was going to give his
lady love a Valentine’s Day gift. He wanted to surprise her by slipping it into
her coat pocket. He slips it into a coat that he thinks is hers. Oh no! It’s
not her coat. It belongs to someone who shouldn’t know they’re dating. Oh no!
He can’t get it back without being caught. Oh no! The wrong person found it. Oh
no! He wrote a note and the wrong person reads it. Oh no! etc… What’s the worst
that can happen? This was all expected, obvious, and we’ve seen it countless
times but it worked because things kept getting worse. It wasn’t great but it
was serviceable.
What’s the good example that can happen?
One of my favorite examples of this tool is in Die Hard. Bruce
Willis takes off his shoes to relax. What’s the worst that can happen? The bad
guys start shooting up the place. What’s the worst that can happen? We expect
the bad guys to come after him. We expect the shooting and the yelling and the
whatnot. But we didn’t expect him to leave his shoes behind. That’s a great
worst that can happen. It’s something unexpected, reveals character, and sets
up obstacles for later. What’s the worst that can happen? The bad guys find out
he’s barefoot. They shoot out a bunch of glass so that he has to run through it
barefoot.
All about the story
Obstacles that serve the story are difficult to create. We
can find the worst that can happen easier than finding the worst that can
happen that serves the story. In Die Hard the worst that could have happened at
the beginning could have been a toilet overflows in the bathroom where Bruce
Willis is hiding. Would this have served the story? Maybe. The loss of the
shoes set up great obstacles for later and revealed a lot about his character.
It showed us how he doesn’t give up. How many of us could actually run through
broken glass barefoot? How many of us could do that and keep fighting? A great
tool for making sure your obstacles (and everything else) serve the story as a
whole is to understand wants vs. needs.
Want a cookie?
Your characters want something and they need something.
Often these are the same thing. In 28 Days Later
the characters want and need to survive.
Need a snack?
I prefer when wants and needs aren’t the same thing though.
It adds complexity. Probably the best way to describe want vs. need is with an
example. We’ll use Rocky (it won
an Oscar for a reason). For those who haven’t seen the movie you probably
should before you read on. It’s worth seeing. So Rocky is about this not too
bright tough guy who gets a shot at boxing the world champion. After training
montages and story stuff that show how he’s got a heart of gold and just needs
a little self-respect and stuff he gets in the ring with the champ. They beat
each other up for a while. In the end Rocky loses the fight but we still feel
satisfied by the ending.
Losing ain’t losing when you win
Why is it okay that Rocky loses the fight? Why is the audience
satisfied by an ending where the hero loses? It’s not because we don’t want him
to win. It’s not because sad endings are inherently better and more realistic.
It’s because even though Rocky doesn’t get what he wants he gets what he needs.
Rocky wants to win the boxing match. Rocky needs to prove he’s not a loser. He
loses but he lasts the entire fight and proves he’s not a loser. It’s good.
I want and need to wrap this up
For Harlan’s story I’ll be creating obstacles that are the
worst that can happen that relates to his underlying wants and needs. Harlan
wants to get away from his life and family. He needs to find a life that
matters to him.
Next time we’ll be outlining scenes for Act 1.
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