The Dramatic Writer's Companion
Page 4
YOUR CHARACTER'S TRADE AND THE IMPACT IT'S MADE
Even if you never show us your character on the job, you can discover a lot of useful story information by exploring what the character does-or did-for a living. Whether it's frying fries at a fast-food stand or ruling a nation from a throne, work is a profound influence that affects and reflects the character's social class, lifestyle, economics, power base, and opportunities for growth. Work also determines how the character spends a significant amount of time and whom the character meets and doesn't meet on a regular basis. All of this can affect to some degree the character's view of society, value system, and perhaps even vocabulary and dress.
Ideally, your character is unique, and no generalization always applies, but different trades tend to suggest different traits among those who ply them. For example, a temp secretary earning minimum wage might see the world differently from a corporate executive raking in top dollar. An accountant might prize organization more than an artist, who might value breaking rules. A computer programmer might speak and dress differently from a church minister, lawyer, or horse jockey. Know your character's trade and the impact it's made. You'll have a better handle on your character during the story-even when work is the last thing on his or her mind.
ABOUT THE EXERCISE
Choose a character whom you wish to explore in more depth and imagine him or her around the time the story begins. Then answer the exercise questions from this character's perspective and in this character's voice, as if you were writing dialogue. Tell the truth as best you can. "Truth" here is whatever you, the character, believe is true when the story begins.
YOUR CHARACTERS WORK LIFE
To you, the character: when the story begins:
i. Think about general work categories. What is your profession? Or, if you are currently unemployed or retired, what type of work have you mostly done?
2. What type of establishment do you work in, what is it called, and where is it located in relationship to your home?
3. How do you get to work, and how long is the commute each way?
4. What are your usual working hours?
5. What is your specific job title and how long have you had this particular job?
6. Name two or three qualifications that you needed to get this job.
7. How much do you usually make each month, and how does this pay fit your current needs and lifestyle?
8. What is one of your greatest strengths on the job?
9. What is one your greatest weaknesses on the job?
io. Overall, how well suited are you for the type of work that you do?
i i. Give a specific example of one of your greatest successes on the job.
12. Give a specific example of one of your greatest failures on the job.
13. Give a specific example of how you have fun either on the job or with your coworkers after hours.
14. Think about the people you interact with during work-for example, your boss, coworkers, customers, or suppliers. Whom do you like most, and why?
15. Think again about the people you interact with during work. Whom do you like least, and why?
16. What is one of the greatest secrets that you keep from your coworkers, and why do you keep this hidden?
17. What is one of your greatest fears or concerns related to your job?
18. Think about your answers to the questions so far. What do you like most about the type of work that you do?
ig. Overall, what do like least about the type of work that you do?
20. If you could be doing any other type of work, what would it be, and why?
If your character has a job that you have never had, you may gain new story insights by taking the time to research that line of work. Talk to people who do it. What do they most like and dislike about the job? What's unique about it? How does it affect the rest of their lives?
WRAP-UP
If your character has a full-time job, it could account for a third of his or her waking life. You may now have a better knowledge of how that valuable time is spent, what it's like for your character, and what impact it has made. Remember that characters function with a logic and motivation that reflects a whole life-not just the one we see during story events.
By responding as the character, you've taken your research out of the realm of the academic and into the realm of the dramatic. So, while learning about his or her work life, you have also developed more of your character's outlook, personality, and unique voice.
THE QUICK VERSION
Explore causes and effects of a character's emotional life
BEST TIME FOR THIS
Any time you need to know a character better or find new story ideas
USING EMOTION TO WEAVE STORY
When we see a great play or film, we are not just told the story, we experience it. We live through the characters and share their feelings. In the end, we may say that we are "moved." This is a movement which is primarily emotional and which pulls us from a place of detachment to a place of involvement. We start out with no knowledge of the characters and end up not only knowing them well, but also caring about them.
Dramatic characters can stir our feelings because they are themselves emotional in nature. When they have strong needs and face increasing pressures, they tend to experience a gamut of feelings that reveal different dimensions of who they are and lead them to different paths of action.
When choosing subjects to write about, look for people, events, and issues that trigger strong feelings in you. These will most likely lead to your best writing, and your passion for the subject can help carry you through many of the challenges of developing story. Since you also need to bring analytical vision to your work, however, beware of personal subjects that still feel too close or emotionally overwhelming. These will be great to write about later when you have enough psychological distance to understand them more clearly.
Whether positive or negative, emotions signal that a limit has been reached or crossed. The character has been shaken out of complacency to feel sympathy or love, irritation or anger, anxiety or fear. The stimulus may have been internal-such as an idea or memory-or external-such as a physical event or social interaction. Either way, the emotion can produce physical and psychological responses that can, in turn, affect the charac ter's behavior and speech. Emotion is thus both a cause and an effect of dramatic action, as well as an essential fabric of story.
ABOUT THE EXERCISE
You are about to explore causes and effects of a character's three defining emotions: anger, fear, and love. Use the same character for the whole exercise, and try it first with your main character. For best results, stay true to what you already know about the character, but remember to keep looking for new insights in each round.
YOUR CHARACTER AND ANGER
I am so angry because ...
What makes your character really mad? Anger is a powerful emotion that can range from annoyance to rage, and what stirs it can reveal much about who your character is. Use these steps to find three examples of what causes-or could cause-extreme anger in your character:
i. Actual story. Fireworks erupt in the Alexander Payne film Sideways when Stephanie finds out that her devoted new boyfriend Jack is secretly engaged to someone else-and the wedding is this weekend. Imagine how different characters might explain their anger in a similar situation. One might say: "I am so angry because ... he's a selfish heartless bastard who lied to me and used me." Another might say: "I am so angry because ... now I'll never be able to trust anyone ever again." And yet another might say: "I am so angry because ... we had tickets for Vegas this weekend and they're not refundable."
Find the time in your story when your character gets most angry. Identify the reason for this anger in a line that begins "I am so angry because. .." and is completed in your character's unique voice. See if you can find an explanation that surprises you.
2. Backstory. Step into the past. Find an important time when the character got
boiling mad. Try to see and feel what happened as if it were now. Then let the character explain it in a line that begins "I am so angry because ..." Look for an explanation that ties somehow to the here and now of the story.
3. Possible story. Return to the present and, as an exercise, find something new that would make sense for your unique character: an example of anger that is not actually in the script now but could possibly be added. Identify the cause of this possible anger in a line that begins "I am so angry because ..." and is completed in the unique voice of your character.
Because I am so angry ...
Strong feelings can lead characters to do things-good or bad-that they might not otherwise have done: tell the truth, tell a lie, give up drugs, cheat on a test, rescue someone from a burning building, or rob a bank. Emotion can thus evolve from an effect of experience to a cause of it. Use these steps to explore possible effects of your character's anger:
I. Key anger. Look back at your three anger examples and choose one to explore further-no longer as a response but as a stimulus.
2. Responses to anger. Imagine your character feeling this anger and wanting to do something about it. Any number of responses is possible. Each would reflect a different side of the character. When betrayed by a lover, for example, one character might decide, "Because I am so angry ... I'll never speak to him or even look at his face ever again." Another might say, "Because I am so angry... I'll go out and meet someone new." And yet another might say, "Because I am so angry ... I'll find him wherever he is and beat him to a pulp."
Each of these emotional responses would trigger a different chain of events. In Sideways, Stephanie goes for the third possibility and ends up breaking Jack's nose-an injury he will have to explain to his fiancee as they prepare for the wedding.
Imagine three things your character might do as a result of the specific anger you are exploring. Think of them as separate possibilities rather than as a sequence of steps. Identify each in a line that begins "Because I am so angry ..." and is completed in your character's unique voice. Even if you are working with the actual story example, take creative leaps and look for new discoveries about what your character might do.
YOUR CHARACTER AND FEAR
I am so afraid because ...
What makes your character afraid? Fear is another powerful emotion, and may range from caution to terror. Use these steps to find three examples of what causes-or could cause-extreme fear in your character:
I. Actual story. Find a time in your story now when your character is afraid. Explain why in the character's voice: "I am so afraid because. .."
2. Backstory. Find a time in the backstory when your character got scared. Explain why in the character's voice: "I am so afraid because. .."
3. Possible story. Find an example of fear that is not actually in the story now but could possibly be added. Explain the cause of this possible fear in the character's voice: "I am so afraid because ..."
Because I am so afraid ...
How might fear affect your character's actions at a critical time? Use these steps to explore some specific possibilities:
I. Key fear. Look back at your three fear examples and choose one to explore further-no longer as a response but as a stimulus.
2. Responses to fear. Imagine your character doing something as a result of this fear. Find three separate alternatives that could make sense for your character and identify each in his or her voice: "Because I am so afraid ..."
YOUR CHARACTER AND LOVE
I am so loving because ...
What would lead your character to love? The subject of countless stories through centuries of storytelling, love is a powerful emotion that may range from simple caring to true romance to spiritual love. Use these steps to find three examples of what causes-or could cause-love in your character.
I. Actual story. Find a time in your story when your character feels love. Explain why in his or her voice: "I am so loving because ..."
2. Backstory. Find a time in the backstory when your character felt love. Explain why in his or her voice: "I am so loving because ..."
3. Possible story. Find a new example of love that could possibly be added to the story. Then explain the cause of this possible love in the character's voice: "I am so loving because .. .
Because I am so loving ...
Love can make one foolish or wise, honest or deceitful, generous or possessive. It can turn cowards into heroes, and beasts into beauties. Use these steps to explore specific ways that love might affect your character:
I. Key love. Look back at your three love examples and choose one to explore further-no longer as a response but as a stimulus.
2. Responses to love. Imagine your character wanting to do something as a result of this love. In your character's voice, identify three separate alternatives that would make sense for him or her: "Because I am so loving..."
WRAP-UP
As you work on your script, continue to look for new opportunities to use emotions like anger, fear, and love to shape and reflect the dramatic action. Remember that there is no generic cause for any one emotion and no generic effect. You will learn a lot about your characters from how they feel in a certain situation, why they feel that way, and what they do about it.
THE QUICK VERSION
Explore the backstory of an important character
BEST TIME FOR THIS
During early story development
PAST IS PRESENT
A key ingredient of a great story is a great backstory. You don't need to know every single thing that ever happened in the character's past, but if you are aware of the most significant relationships and events in this history, you will have a rich source of material to tap as you chart the character's dramatic journey in the present.
ABOUT THE EXERCISE
Try this with your main character or a principle character. As you step back through time, focus on what's relevant to your story. If your character is in mourning like Madame Popova, the melodramatic widow in Anton Chekhov's comedy The Bear, for example, you might find more story action by going back to the time of death and seeing what actually happened.
STEP I: SET THE CLOCK ...
... to the "point of attack" time for your story. This is simply when the story begins. At a certain moment, something happens-a nervous soldier on a moonlit night hears a noise and asks "Who's there?"-and a chain of dramatic events is set into motion.
Your main character may or may not be present to your audience at the point-of-attack time. In Hamlet, for example, the title character is elsewhere doing something as the soldiers gather in the moonlight to wait for a ghost. In Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? on the other hand, we meet the main characters right away as they trip home at 2:oo a.m. from a Saturday-night party.
Most stories communicate a general sense of the point-of-attack time, but not a precise one, because the details of this time often don't matter to the audience. However, this is an exercise where time is of the essence, so the first step is to decide exactly and precisely when your story begins. Think about that opening moment and define it in time by identifying the hour of the day, day of the week, month, date, and year-for example, 11:57 a.m., Friday, April 1, 1894.
Whether or not your character is present to the audience at this time, he or she is somewhere in the world of the story. Locate the character and answer the following seven questions. Then move to step 2.
AT THIS MOMENT IN TIME
I. What is your character doing now? Whether it's trivial or profound, positive or negative, your character is doing something. Even just the act of sitting usually involves more than that: perhaps the character is resting, waiting, thinking, daydreaming, praying, listening to something, or watching something. The activity may or may not involve others. Briefly describe what your character is doing-for example, Madame Popova is dabbing tears from her eyes with a handkerchief as she studies a large photograph of her deceased husband Nikolai Mikhailovich.
2. Where
is your character doing this? This may be a setting where important story action occurs, or it may be some place in the offstage world of the character. Briefly describe the setting-for example, the drawing room of Madame Popova's house in the country. Though it's a lovely spring morning outside, the curtains are drawn. The room feels like a tomb, stale and musty.
3. When is your character doing this? You have been given a general time frame. Flesh it out by adding specific circumstances-for example, today is the seven-month anniversary of her husband's death.
4. Who else, if anyone, is here and what are they doing? If others are present, identify them in relation to your character and briefly describe what they are doing-for example, the only other person here now is Lookah, her elderly manservant. He is trying desperately to cheer her up.
5. How does your character feel now? This may or may not be a moment of high emotion. Either way, the character feels something. Describe it-for example, Madame Popova is in deep mourning, as if her husband had just died the night before.
6. What is your character thinking about now? Whether it's deep thought or an idle daydream, something is on the character's mind. Briefly describe it-for example, Madame Popova is thinking about Nikolai Mikhailovich, and how lonely and dead she feels without him.
7. What is the next thing your character says? Your character's next line may be self-directed or to someone else. It may be the launch of a new subject or a response to something just said. It may occur here and now, or later on. In any event, it's the next line out of your character's mouth. Identify whom is being addressed and write the line-for example, to Loo- kah, who has been admonishing her for never leaving the house, Madame Popova says, "And I will never go out. Why should I? My life is over. He lies in his grave. I have buried myself in these four walls. We are both dead."
STEP 2: MOVE THE CLOCK BACK ...
... one day from the point-of-attack time, give or take a few hours. Go back and answer the same "At this moment in time" questions again. Look for what's important and what's new here and now.