by The Anatomy of Story- 22 Steps to Becoming a Master Storyteller (mobi)
Vertigo
(novel by Pierre Boileau and Thomas Narcejac, screenplay by Alec Coppel and Samuel Taylor, 1958) Scottie is a decent guy but is a bit naive and suffers from vertigo. His college friend, Gavin Elster, uses Scottie's weaknesses to concoct a plan to murder Elster's wife.
BUILDING CONFLICT
Once you set up a hero and an opponent competing for the same goal, you must build the conflict steadily until the final battle. Your purpose is to put constant pressure on your hero, because this is what will force him to change. The way you build conflict and put pressure on your hero depends primarily on how you distribute the attacks on the hero.
In average or simple stories, the hero comes into conflict with only one opponent. This standard opposition has the virtue of clarity, but it doesn't let you develop a deep or powerful sequence of conflicts, and it doesn't allow the audience to see a hero acting within a larger society.
KEY POINT: A simplistic opposition between two characters kills any chance at depth, complexity, or the reality of human life in your story. For that, you need a web of oppositions.
Four-Corner Opposition
Better stories go beyond a simple opposition between hero and main opponent and use a technique I call four-corner opposition. In this technique, you create a hero and a main opponent plus at least two secondary opponents. (You can have even more if the added opponents serve an important story function.) Think of each of the characters—hero and three opponents—as taking a corner of the box, meaning that each is as different from the others as possible.
There are five rules to keep in mind to make best use of the key features of four-corner opposition.
1. Each opponent should use a different way of attacking the hero's great weakness.
Attacking the hero's weakness is the central purpose of the opponent. So the first way of distinguishing opponents from one another is to give each a unique way of attacking. Notice that this technique guarantees that all conflict is organically connected to the hero's great flaw. Four-corner opposition has the added benefit of representing a complete society in miniature, with each character personifying one of the basic pillars of that society.
In the following examples, the hero is in the upper left corner, as in the diagram, while his main opponent is opposite him, with the two secondary characters underneath. In parentheses is the archetype each embodies, if one exists. As you study the examples, notice that four-corner opposition is fundamental to any good story, regardless of the medium, genre, or time when it was written.
2. Try to place each character in conflict, not only with the hero but also with every other character.
Notice an immediate advantage four-corner opposition has over standard opposition. In four-corner opposition, the amount of conflict you can create and build in the story jumps exponentially. Not only do you place your hero in conflict with three characters instead of one, but you can also put the opponents in conflict with each other, as shown by the arrows in the four-corner opposition diagram. The result is intense conflict and a dense plot.
3. Put the values of all four characters in conflict.
Great storytelling isn't just conflict between characters. It's conflict between characters and their values. When your hero experiences character change, he challenges and changes basic beliefs, leading to new moral action. A good opponent has a set of beliefs that come under assault as well. The beliefs of the hero have no meaning, and do not get expressed in the story, unless they come into conflict with the beliefs of at least one other character, preferably the opponent.
In the standard way of placing values in conflict, two characters, hero and single opponent, fight for the same goal. As they fight, their values and their ways of life—come into conflict too.
Four-corner opposition of values allows you to create a story of potentially epic scope and yet keep its essential organic unity. For example, each character may express a unique system of values, a way of life that can come into conflict with three other major ways of life. Notice that the four-corner method of placing values in conflict provides tremendous texture and depth of theme to a story.
A story with four-corner opposition of values might look like this:
KEY POINT: Be as detailed as possible when listing the values of each
character.
Don't just come up with a single value for each character. Think of a cluster of values that each can believe in. The values in each cluster are unique but also related to one another.
KEY POINT: Look for the positive and negative versions of the same value.
Believing in something can be a strength, but it can also be the source of weakness. By identifying the negative as well as the positive side of the same value, you can see how each character is most likely to make a mistake while fighting for what he believes. Examples of positive and negative versions of the same value are determined and aggressive, honest and insensitive, and patriotic and domineering.
4. Push the characters to the corners.
When creating your four-corner opposition, pencil in each character hero and three opponents—into one of four corners in a box, as in our diagrams. Then "push" each character to the corners. In other words, make each character as different as possible from the other three.
5. Extend the four-corner pattern to every level of the story.
Once you've determined the basic four-corner opposition, consider extending that pattern to other levels of the story. For example, you might set up a unique four-corner pattern of opposition within a society, an institution, a family, or even a single character. Especially in more epic stories, you will see a four-corner opposition on several levels.
Here are three stories that use four-corner opposition at two different levels of the story.
Creating Your Characters—Writing Exercise 3
■ Character Web by Story Function and Archetype Create your character web. Start by listing all of your characters, and describe what function they play in the story (for example, hero, main opponent, ally, fake-ally opponent, subplot character). Write down next to each character the archetype, if any, that applies.
■ Central Moral Problem List the central moral problem of the story.
■ Comparing the Characters List and compare the following structure elements for all your characters.
1. Weaknesses
2. Need, both psychological and moral
3. Desire
4. Values
5. Power, status, and ability
6. How each faces the central moral problem
Begin the comparison between your hero and main opponent.
■ Variation on the Moral Problem Make sure each character takes a different approach to the hero's central moral problem.
■ Requirements of a Hero Now concentrate on fleshing out your hero. Begin by making sure you have incorporated the four requirements of any great hero:
1. Make your lead character constantly fascinating.
2. Make the audience identify with the character, but not too much.
3. Make the audience empathize with your hero, not sympathize.
4. Give your hero a moral as well as a psychological need.
■ Hero's Character Change Determine your hero's character change. Write down the self-revelation first, and then go back to the need. Make sure the self-revelation actually solves the need. In other words, whatever lies or crutches the hero is living with in the beginning must be faced at the self-revelation and overcome.
■ Changed Beliefs Write down the beliefs your hero challenges and changes over the course of your story.
■ Hero's Desire Clarify your hero's desire line. Is it a single, specific goal that extends throughout the story? When does the audience know whether the hero has accomplished the goal or not? ■ Opponents Detail your opponents. First describe how your main opponent and each of your lesser opponents attack the great weakness of your hero in a different way. ■ Opponents' Values List a few values for each oppo
nent.
How is each opponent a kind of double for the hero? Give each some level of power, status, and ability, and describe what similarities each shares with the hero.
State in one line the moral problem of each character and how each character justifies the actions he takes to reach his goal.
■ Minor Character Variation on the Hero's Weakness and Moral Problem In what ways are any of the minor characters variations on the hero's unique weakness and moral problem?
■ Four-Corner Opposition Map out the four-corner opposition for your story. Put your hero and main opponent on the top line with at least two secondary opponents underneath. Label each character with his or her archetype, but only if it is appropriate. Many characters are not archetypes. Don't force it.
Push the four major characters to the corners. That is, make sure each is as different from the other three as possible. The best way to ensure that is to focus on how the values of each differ.
Let's use A Streetcar Named Desire as an example of how to flesh out characters.
A Streetcar Named Desire
(by Tennessee Williams, 1947)
Character Web by Story Function and Archetype
Hero: Blanche DuBois (artist)
Main opponent: Stanley Kowalski (warrior-king)
Fake-ally opponents: Mitch, Stanley's friend, and Stella Kowalski
(mother), Blanche's sister Ally: None
Fake-opponent ally: None
Subplot character: None
■ Central Moral Problem Is someone ever justified in using lies and
illusion to get love?
■ Comparing the Characters
BLANCHE
Weaknesses: Beaten down, relies on her fading looks, has no true sense of self, often retreats into delusion when life is too hard, uses sex to get love, uses others to serve her and preserve the illusion that she's still a belle.
Psychological need: Blanche must learn to see the value that is in her heart and not in her looks. Also, she must stop looking for a man to save her.
Moral need: She must learn to tell the truth when seeking someone's love.
Desire: At first, Blanche wants a place to rest. But her main desire is to get Mitch to marry her so that she can feel safe.
STANLEY
Weaknesses: Mean-spirited, suspicious, quick-tempered, brutal.
Psychological need: Stanley needs to overcome the petty
competitiveness that drives him to beat everyone else and prove what a big man he is.
Moral need: Stanley must overcome the base cruelty he shows toward anyone weaker than himself. He is a mean, selfish child who must deprive others of happiness.
Desire: Stanley wants Blanche out of his house and wants his life back the way it was. Then he wants to keep Mitch from marrying Blanche.
STELLA
Weaknesses: Naive, dependent on Stanley, simpleminded.
Psychological need: Stella needs to become her own person and see Stanley for what he really is.
Moral need: Stella must take responsibility for supporting Stanley's brutality.
Desire: She wants to see her sister marry Mitch and be happy.
MITCH
Weaknesses: Shy, weak, unable to think or act on his own. Psychological need: Mitch needs to break away from Stanley and his
mother and live his own life. Moral need: He must treat Blanche as a human being, respecting her
decency and the pain with which she has had to live her life. Desire: At first, Mitch wants to marry Blanche. But when he learns of her past, he just wants her for sex.
■ Variation on the Moral Problem
Blanche: Blanche lies to herself and to others in order to get love. Stanley: Stanley is so brutally honest when it comes to exposing the lies of others that he actually tears people apart. His belief that the world is harsh, competitive, and underhanded makes it more so than it really is. His aggressive, self-righteous view of the truth is far more destructive than Blanche's lies. Stella: Stella is guilty of a sin of omission. She allows her sister to have her little delusions, but she cannot see the lies her own husband tells after he brutally attacks her sister. Mitch: Mitch is taken in by Blanche's superficial lies and is therefore unable to see the deeper beauty that she possesses.
Blanche's Character Change:
Weaknesses: Loneliness, false Change: Madness, despair, hope, bravado, lies broken spirit
Changed Beliefs Blanche moves beyond her belief that she must fool a man by physical and verbal lies to get him to love her. But her honesty and insight are wasted on the wrong man.
■ Blanche's Desire Blanche wants Mitch to marry her. We know that Blanche fails to achieve her desire when Mitch brutally turns her down.
■ Opponents' Attacks on the Hero's Weaknesses
Stanley: Stanley is brutally aggressive in forcing Blanche to face the
"truth" about herself. Stella: Stella is largely unaware of her part in destroying her sister. Her
simple-mindedness and love for Stanley prevent her from protecting her sister's fragile state from her husband's attacks. Stella refuses to believe that Stanley has raped her sister.
Mitch: Mitch is essentially decent, but he is weak and cowardly. When he shows interest in Blanche but then backs away and even abuses her, he dashes her last best hopes and hurts her deeply.
■ Characters' Values
Blanche: Beauty, appearance, manners, refinement, kindness, Stella.
Stanley: Strength, power, women, sex, money, Stella, his male friends.
Stella: Stanley, her marriage, Blanche, sex, her baby.
Mitch: His mother, his friends, manners, Blanche.
■ Opponents' Similarities to the Hero
Stanley: Blanche and Stanley are very different in many ways. But they share a deeper understanding of the world that Stella does not see. They are both smart in a scheming, tactical way and recognize that ability in the other.
Stella: Stella shares Blanche's past, when they lived in the beautiful, " graceful, mannered world of old Southern aristocracy. Stella also shares her sister's need for love and kindness.
Mitch: Mitch responds to Blanche's love of manners and courtship. He appreciates her gentility and the last vestiges of her beauty.
■ Power, Status, and Ability
Blanche: Blanche has lost all status. She desperately holds on to her ability to please a man with her looks and charm.
Stanley: Stanley is the "top dog" in his circle of male friends. He is also very capable of getting what he wants, especially from Stella.
Stella: Stella has no power or status except what is given to her by Stanley. But she is very good at pleasing Stanley.
Mitch: Mitch has little status or power either within his group or in the larger world. He is a born follower.
■ Moral Problem and Justification
Blanche: Blanche feels that her lies have not hurt anyone and that this is her only chance at happiness.
Stanley: He thinks Blanche is a lying whore who has swindled him.
He believes he is just looking out for his friend when he tells Mitch about Blanche's past. Stella: Stella is not smart enough to see that she is part of a process
that is destroying her sister. Mitch: Mitch feels that a woman who has acted as a prostitute can be treated like one.
■ Minor Character Variation on the Hero's Weakness and Moral Problem Eunice and Steve are married and live upstairs. They argue over his infidelity. When she leaves, Steve chases after her and brings her back.
■ Four-Corner Opposition
ACCORDING TO HOLLYWOOD LORE, it was Samuel Goldwyn who said, "If you want to send a message, try West-ern Union." He was right about not sending a message in an obvious, preachy way. But stories with powerful themes, expressed properly, are not only more highly regarded but more popular as well.
A great story is not simply a sequence of events or surprises designed to entertain an audience. It is a sequence of actions, with moral implications and effects,
designed to express a larger theme.
Theme may be the most misunderstood of all major aspects of storytelling. Most people think of theme as subject matter, in categories such as the moral, psychological, and social, citing examples such as death, good versus evil, redemption, class, corruption, responsibility, and love.
I don't refer to theme as subject matter. Theme is the author's view of how to act in the world. It is your moral vision. Whenever you present a character using means to reach an end, you are presenting a moral predicament, exploring the question of right action, and making a moral argument about how best to live. Your moral vision is totally original to you, and expressing it to an audience is one of the main purposes of telling the story. Let's return to the body metaphor for story. A good story is a "living"
system in which the parts work together to make an integrated whole. These parts are themselves systems, each like character, plot, ami theme hanging together as a unit bur also connecting in myriad ways to each of the other subsystems of the story body. We have compared character to the heart and the circulatory system of the story. Structure is the skeleton. Continuing the metaphor, we might say that theme is the brain of the story body, because it expresses the higher design. As the brain, it should lead the writing process, without becoming so dominant that it turns the story—a work of artistry—into a philosophical thesis.
How writers weave their moral vision into the story covers a wide range of possibilities, depending on the author and the story form. At one extreme are highly thematic forms like drama, allegory, irony, "serious literature," and religious stories. They place heavy emphasis on creating a complex moral vision, with dialogue that highlights the complexity and contradiction in the characters' moral situation.
At the other extreme are such popular story forms as adventure, myth, fantasy, and action stories. Here the moral vision is usually slight, with almost total emphasis on surprise, suspense, imagination, and the psychological and emotional states, rather than the moral difficulties, of the characters.
Regardless of story form, average writers express their moral vision almost solely through the dialogue, so that the "morals" overwhelm the story. Stories like these, such as Guess Who's Coming to Dinner? and Gandhi, get criticized for being "on the nose" and preachy. At their worst, overtly moralizing stories are ponderous, causing their audience to shrink back from the author's oppressive lecturing, clumsy narrative, and lack of technique.