Decisions, descisions… #2
Posted on August 10, 2006
Filed Under Characters
I’m sitting here after a friggin’ marathon rewrite session totally exhausted but can’t get this blog stuff out of my head so here it is for what it’s worth…
Some of this may be a bit redundant but as I bang this rewrite out, I keep realizing that it’s the decisions that my Protagonist makes that truly defines him.
How else can we learn about your characters if they don’t make decisions? Do we really want to learn about our Protagonist from other characters in the story or do we want to see how your Protagonist makes decisions under pressure… Overcoming obstacles… In the face of conflict…
Take a hard look at the pressure your Protagonist is currently dealing with and then CRANK IT UP A FEW NOTCHES. Will he or she make the same decision(s) or do the decisions dramatically change when you crank up the heat?
And… If these decisions do in fact dramatically change when you crank up the heat, do these decisions better define your character?
Probably.
My point?
During your rewrite, TEST YOUR PROTAGONIST by cranking up the heat on each decision he or she makes… If he or she makes the same decisions when the burner is on low… Cool, you might be okay where you are but if your Protagonist makes a totally different decision when you turn the burner on HIGH, maybe… JUST MAYBE… You didn’t have the heat cranked up enough.
In other words, we do not want to see your Protagonist keep making the SAME PREDICTABLE DECISIONS all throughout your story!
BORING! FLAT! NON-DIMENSIONAL!
Ever had your back up against the wall? This is when TRUE CHARACTER REVEALS ITSELF! Back your Protagonist closer and closer against the wall as you progress through your story until at one point; THERE IS NO PLACE ELSE TO GO EXCEPT STRAIGHT AHEAD INTO THE CONFLICT!
String all these decisions from beginning to end and what do we end up with?
GROWTH.
AND WHAT DRIVES THESE DECISIONS?
MOTIVATION.
We, the audience, want to know WHY your Protagonist makes the decisions they do. We the audience, constantly compare our lives to the life of the Protagonist and while we watch your movie, we WONDER if we would be as brave… As cowardly… As disgusting… As cool… As despicable… I would even go so far as to say that we will even pick up a few “tips” on how to tackle certain life events from your Protagonist.
THAT IS IF… YOU MAKE YOUR PROTAGONIST BELIEVABLE and by believable, I mean making your Protagonist’s motivation work on two levels…
- OUTER MOTIVATION
- INNER MOTIVATION
Say what?
Your Protagonist’s OUTER MOTIVATION is the PATH to achieving their tangible, visible goal.
Your Protagonist’s INNER MOTIVATION is WHY he or she chooses one particular PATH or another.
OUTER MOTIVATION is most often revealed through ACTION while INNER MOTIVATION is most often revealed through dialogue and more importantly… the SUBTEXT of that dialogue.
While it is certainly true that some movie characters possess only the outer motivation, this throughline can make your story more comic book style… i.e., you’ll need to really pack in the ACTION and ACTION DECISIONS to keep us from wondering about your Protagonist’s WHY.
Not really sure where I’m going exactly because to be honest… I’m a little delirious and in need of a nap… LOL.
But what I think I’m trying to say is that even IF you decide to pack your story with ACTION and ACTION DECISIONS, I highly recommend that YOU absolutely KNOW your Protagonist well enough to know his or her WHY and their inner motivation EVEN if you decide not to show it to us on the page or in the film.
Ahhhh. Nap time.
Unk
Tags: Protagonist’s decisions
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2 Responses to “Decisions, descisions… #2”
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I am glad I made a decision to read this today. Good tip. Ramp it up, baby!
Hope you got that nap. It’s clear you really needed it - LOL.
As for the entry - I have two comments:
1) You’ve written that great character bio. You know exactly what your character will do in any situation. Then you write the scene, heat cranked up to 11 and, son of a bitch, if your character doesn’t surprise you and make a different decision! :) As you say, actions define characters, thus, that’s my excuse for not creating character bios (yes, I know it’s really, really weak).
2) I think it’s important to clarify that when you (and I) talk about character growth and decisions and arcs and stuff, that we’re really talking about Hollywood films/scripts. There are many, many stories of characters that don’t change (indie films) that the whole point is to show us somebody who is unable to grow and make that critical decision and what happens to them because of it (or what doesn’t). I hate those films (mostly).
Third (no, I can’t count either), I’ve looked at stories almost as a proof. In this case, regardless of if your character is able to make the necessary decision whent he time comes, you’re saying to your audience (who, as you say is now putting themselves in the main character’s shoes), that this is what will/can happen to them if they do the same as the main character.