by Jeff Kitchen
Note that at this point in developing the script there is no ending for this story—it is unexplored territory. In the back of my mind there’s an ending in which the old Cutter emerges in a full-blown frenzy of phenomenal lying, managing to save the day and destroy the demon, St. Nick. But any ending will obviously be an outgrowth of how the story grows and complicates itself. It depends on what the Crisis, Decision & Action, or Resolution might be. Anything goes at this point, so exploring the 36 Dramatic Situations can open up innumerable possibilities.
Let’s look at the subheadings for Deliverance:
A. Appearance of a rescuer to the condemned.
B. A parent replaced upon a throne by his children.
Rescue by friends, or by strangers grateful for benefits or hospitality.
Appearance of a rescuer to the condemned is how Cutter seems to both Apollo and St. Nick, each for different reasons, when he starts his job. Apollo knows that Cutter has the skills to take down St. Nick, while St. Nick sees Cutter (in disguise as a bank examiner) as a key to gaining entrance to the world of banking. This subheading suggests that St. Nick is “condemned”—that he might not get his way unless Cutter helps to certify his bank. Maybe he’s struck a roadblock in getting money into the reserve fund that’s required to operate a bank. Though this part of the plot is embryonic at this stage, let’s speculate on the possibilities. Could St. Nick be having difficulties moving his money from offshore havens into legitimate accounts in the U.S.? Maybe St. Nick’s treasure chest is now open to snooping eyes, and the IRS wants to know why this money was never declared before; without making these deposits, he can’t complete the certification of his new bank. Perhaps there’s an unforeseen complication with law enforcement, or with another criminal stepping on his action. It’s all wide open now and can go a hundred different ways.
Rescue by friends, or by strangers grateful for benefits or hospitality suggests that since Cutter owes his life to Apollo, he’s willing to rescue him. What if St. Nick finds himself in a sticky situation and Cutter comes up with a fabulous lie that gets St. Nick off the hook? This would get him into St. Nick’s good graces and also reveal that Cutter isn’t entirely honest—exactly what Cutter needs to get St. Nick to start to trust him.
This brings up questions about the kind of problems St. Nick might have in acquiring his bank. I’ve decided that St. Nick has gone through the entire application process and now just has to get the reserve fund set up. He could be experiencing other problems, which Cutter could help him circumvent. Clearly, some research will be required to learn what it takes to buy a bank.
3. Crime Pursued by Vengeance
The most obvious aspect arising from this situation is that St. Nick has betrayed and murdered Frenchy, Cutter and Apollo’s friend from prison. This treachery must be developed to a believable fever pitch in order to motivate Cutter and Apollo so intensely. Frenchy has to be portrayed as one of the best guys they ever knew, someone so high on Cutter’s list that he’d consider risking his life to avenge this murder. How would Frenchy be depicted as somebody who turned his life around in prison, got off drugs, and became a truly good guy—one who finally escaped the criminal life. He could be the one who started Cutter thinking about going straight-and-narrow, too. Word on the inside was that Frenchy had a good job out in the world until St. Nick got him back onto heroin, used him for his old breaking-and-entering skills on a huge job, then framed him for the job and murdered him, making it look as though he overdosed. The other convicts swore vengeance on St. Nick, but he was so untouchable and utterly brutal that no one wanted to risk going after him. After that, Cutter, shaken to the core, radically changed his life. He determined to go straight, got released, met Margarita, and turned his life around.
When Cutter learns of the opportunity to take down St. Nick, part of him burns with vengeance. But he’s now a more mature man, not the hothead he used to be, and he carefully considers his vow never to do anything illegal or immoral again. His life may be frustrating and he may feel trapped in certain ways, but at least it’s healthy and stable. This new life he’s built cannot be risked, despite the raging vengeance inside him, driving him like an engine.
I see Apollo not so much as vengeful toward Cutter, but as someone who’s willing to use anyone to get what he wants. There’s real friendship between them—they were cellmates for eight years—but Cutter knows that Apollo always has something up his sleeve. If Apollo is unstable in any way, then it may not take all that much for him to go off-plan.
From St. Nick’s point of view, is there any way a crime has been done to him that deserves vengeance? He’s extremely volatile, so he’ll perceive any trouble with buying this bank as a crime against him: “How dare they try to exclude me?” If St. Nick didn’t have to be on his best behavior now, he might execute every banking official in sight. When they challenge him, they probably have no idea how close they are to sudden, awful death. If Cutter is playing the part of one of these inspectors, for example, then he’ll be taking heat from St. Nick as part of his job.
In fact, St. Nick behaves like a dictator who views dissent as a crime—someone used to getting his way on every little thing (Saddam Hussein is an obvious example). A completely offbeat idea occurs to me: I went to school with the son of a dictator and he was a very powerful figure, even as a teenager. He had a real aura of power, and the stories we heard from him and his cousins were astonishing. Thinking about this has made me consider a completely random possibility: What if Apollo’s father had been a dictator years ago? That would add a fascinating level to his character, especially since I picture Apollo as a gregarious devil of a fellow—fun, dangerous, mesmerizing, and unpredictable.
A dictator’s son is just a spontaneous hit-or-miss idea, an unexpected twist that popped up from the free-association process as part of working with the 36 Dramatic Situations. I was thinking about St. Nick’s behavior when it occurred to me, but then I used it for Apollo. It may not amount to anything, but that’s what the brainstorming process is like—you generate hundreds of possibilities and toss most of them. You can stumble onto completely unforeseen, stimulating possibilities if you let your brain run wild and free, so really push it—remember, it’s the entertainment industry.
Bear in mind that all the above ideas came from playing around with Crime Pursued by Vengeance. They’re not necessarily on target for this particular situation, but that’s part of this process. When playing with the 36 Dramatic Situations, don’t be afraid to take the train of thought wherever it leads. If a situation catalyzes an idea, no matter how seemingly bizarre the connection, then it’s done its job. The situations are only triggers for the writer’s mind. Screenwriting is not a rigid process, but an amorphic one. As this chapter shows, the tools can be a portal to seemingly unrelated types of creativity. One script may diverge into two; the ending may be slow in coming; details and the need to research may pop up at inopportune moments; and offbeat free-association ideas may arrive without reason or rhyme.
As various story ideas are examined through the lens of each Dramatic Situation, new options and fresh insights arise on things I’ve been wrestling with. Especially at this stage of development, the plot is up for grabs—anything goes and the sky’s the limit. There’s plenty of fun to be had playing with possibilities, which can be the best part of storytelling. With this tool, I work my way through each of the pertinent 36 Dramatic Situations like an inventor wandering through an electronics parts store: “Wow, I could use this. . . . I’ve got to have that. . . . I’m not sure what this is, but it’s really thought-provoking and I’m taking it home with me.”
Now let’s examine the subheadings for Crime Pursued by Vengeance:
A. The avenging of a slain parent or ancestor.
The avenging of a slain child or descendant.
Vengeance for a child dishonored.
The avenging of a slain wife or husband.
Vengeance for the dishonor, or attempted dishonoring, of a wife.
Vengeance for a mistress slain.
Vengeance for a slain or injured friend.
Vengeance for a sister seduced.
B. Vengeance for intentional injury or spoliation.
Vengeance for having been despoiled during absence.
Revenge for an attempted slaying.
Revenge for a false accusation.
Vengeance for violation.
Vengeance for having been robbed of one’s own.
Revenge upon a whole sex for a deception by one.
C. Professional pursuit of criminals.
Vengeance for a slain or injured friend is obviously present in Cutter and Apollo’s desire to avenge Frenchy. Once Cutter infiltrates St. Nick’s circle, his excluded wife will demonstrate The avenging of a slain wife (she feels slain). Cutter’s son could act out Vengeance for a child dishonored because he’s been left out. Both Margarita and Mischa will be seeking Vengeance for intentional injury or spoliation and Vengeance for violation, as well as Vengeance for having been robbed of one’s own when each feels that Cutter has turned his back on them.
Revenge for a false accusation is interesting because Cutter is a reformed liar and the truth has become very important to him. Being falsely accused of lying, even while he is in fact lying as part of the revenge plan, would be a huge deal to Cutter. He may overreact irrationally, which could complicate things. This possibility would probably never have occurred to me without this subheading triggering it.
If St. Nick has trouble acquiring the bank, he might seek vengeance, feeling as though he’s being unfairly “robbed.” That brings up Vengeance for intentional injury or spoliation, Vengeance for violation, and Vengeance for having been robbed of one’s own. These situations apply to Cutter and Apollo as well, in terms of losing Frenchy. These three situations don’t necessarily inspire any new possibilities or insights, but it doesn’t hurt to look them over just in case they trigger anything fresh. Often it takes time to notice the hints of relevance, and handling a problem repeatedly from mildly different points of view can shake something loose or make the obvious become apparent.
Professional pursuit of criminals offers abundant possibilities. This can refer not only Sherlock Holmes but even to Michael Corleone—he happens to be a criminal himself, but part of his job is to ride herd on other criminals. The same is true here with Cutter and Apollo pursuing St. Nick; they might also be involved with other criminals, some of whom probably can’t be trusted or have agendas of their own. This subheading also suggests the possibility of a lawman who is after either St. Nick, Apollo, or Cutter.
INTERRUPTING THE PROCESS TO BRAINSTORM
Before I take the 36 Dramatic Situations further into this story creation process, I want to stop, regroup, and shake things up. At this point, I’ve got a good beginning with a strong dilemma. But I feel as though I’ve applied these first three situations to a story still limited in scope and size, as though I’m stuck in one room of a huge mansion. The work I’ve done thus far makes me notice that big sections of the story need to be developed much further. I need to get some distance, broaden my point of view, break out the story, shake things up, violate what I’ve got so far, and go on a creative rampage—nothing’s off limits. This tool has given me a good, hard whack in the head, jarring loose some story ideas that just won’t wait. (Speaking of which, the book A Whack on the Side of the Head: How You Can Be More Creative, by Roger Von Oech, is a great book for expanding and freshening your creative process.)
Stepping Back and Shaking Things Up
In order not to become trapped in my earliest view of the plot, I want to really bang on it and make sure there isn’t some other, truly great potential lurking in there that I haven’t thought of. This may sound like a wild goose chase, but it reveals the true process of developing a script using all these screenwriting tools. If your story doesn’t have some real juice to it, all the structuring in the world won’t get the damn thing off the ground.
There are still lots of questions pertaining to the plot that must be laid out and explored. There are big holes in the script’s structure as it stands now.
There are doubts about how to make it all work. There are out-to-lunch ideas to experiment with. There are different endings to try on, all of them unformed. There is major research yet to do. What business do I have trying to write a screenplay in the first place? I have a tiger by the tail—what should I do with it? Does any of this sound familiar? Each of you, if you write almost every day, has these questions constantly swirling around in your brain. If you’re not exploring them and challenging yourself as much as you can, then your material will be mediocre. When the ideas start knocking at the door, it’s best to let them enter. Write them down as they pour in, and worry later about returning to the tools to add structure and fill in the gaps.
So at this point in the process, I’ll stop and wrestle with the story—its unformed sections, its rough spots, and all the questions inherent in it. Remember, the writing process is not a linear one; it often requires topsyturvy methods to be fruitful. The pages below—one of my Writer’s Notebook sections (set off in a different font as explained earlier)—are not related to any of the specific tools. They read like a journal entry, and will help me to wrangle the story into shape, to think things through, and to create solutions to the many plot problems that are routine in at this stage of developing a script. I continue working with the 36 Dramatic Situations in chapter 10.
Beefing Up the Comedy
One of the things I’d like to do is to make this script funnier. Give it a bit of an Elmore Leonard twist—some comic bite. I could make it into a savage thriller, and it may end up there yet, but I’d like to see if I can find a satiric edge. What are some possibilities for this? One of the things I stumbled onto is that Cutter could be much more challenged in his honest life. Perhaps he feels trapped; he’s getting old and fat. He may be a hypochondriac or have to stay on mood-altering drugs to deal with reality. What if he needs antipsychotic drugs in order to keep him “normal,” or pills in order to sleep?
This leads to the concept of Cutter being run down, defeated, or broken in some ways—the complete opposite of the man about whom we’ve heard these wild stories, the man who was unstoppable, high-strung, raving mad, indomitable, fearless, feisty, and the life of the party. This new, reformed man is small, broken, boring, pathetic, henpecked, and wasting away, providing a great contrast to the maniac who emerges when he reverts to his deceitful self later in the script. If he’s a hypochondriac, he’ll feel susceptible to practically everything—colds, flu, migraine headaches, insomnia, allergies—you name it. This has to be handled well if it’s to come across as funny. What I’m trying for is to make Cutter pathetic at certain levels, laughable. But how do I maximize this without losing the audience? For this to work they need to be able to see themselves in him.
Basically, Cutter is now unfailingly honest, heroic, determined, realistic, and clear-eyed. But he can also feel trapped, depressed, lifeless, ill, and tired. He’s got a nice wife, a good home, and a future free of crime; he is stable, is in love, goes to church, is a good father, and is happy in his own way. However, he’s also in debt like much of middle-aged America, is getting old and fat with a bad back and bad teeth, has settled for what he’s got, doesn’t like his job, and often feels powerless. Once a wild animal, he’s now kept in a cage at the zoo. He engages in a certain amount of self-deception to make his life work. All of this can render him a more universal and intriguing character, and can bring more comedy into the mix. You can see how I’m still playing with dilemma because adding this new layer further complicates his dilemma.
Crisis and Decision & Action need to be blazing in a plot like this, which promises catastrophic disaster. When a character who’s a ticking time bomb gets dragged into an volatile situation, I rub my hands in glee, thinking, “Wow, I can’t wait for it to all go haywire!” What I’ve seen since the first glimmer of this story is that Cutter would explode
back into his wild persona in a desperate attempt to make this impossibly insane situation somehow succeed.
Exploding With Questions
My head is bursting with hundreds of questions about the raw possibilities for this plot. I’ll lay some of them out:
1. How zany can this story get? I want it to be off the charts! I want people to be jumping out of their seats. This is hard to do, but it’s my intention to blow the audience away with Cutter’s virtuosity in lying. He should be stunning, astonishing, and brilliant.
2. It seems inevitable that St. Nick will discover who Cutter is beneath the disguise and what he’s up to. Would St. Nick be completely onto him, or would he just discover that Cutter’s not who he says he is? What level of desperate trouble would that put Cutter in? What would be the mechanics of this discovery or partial discovery?
3. Will Apollo betray Cutter? I’ve had it in the back of my mind that Apollo has a batch of counterfeit money he needs to move. Did he steal it? Did he manufacture it? Is it poor quality, so that he needs to palm it off on some sucker? Is the law onto him, so that he can’t follow his normal process of circulating it? Is he in huge trouble? How desperate is he? How well-planned is his scheme? Is it a master plan dating way back?
4. If Cutter is on medications to stay “normal,” then what happens when the meds are gone? Does Apollo substitute placebos because he needs the old lying Cutter to make an appearance? What’s Cutter like without them? Dangerous? Crazy? Fun? This could complicate things immensely and be really funny and wacky.
5. What is involved when Cutter reverts to his old, out-of-control, lying self? How does this manifest itself? What kind of struggle does he put up? Does he consciously choose to go off the deep end in order to deal with the emerging situation? Does he know this could cost him everything? This is a big question and it should be central to the third act.