Talk the Talk
Page 10
For Discussion:
1. Go through the scene character by character. Identify all the forces acting on each character.
2. In what ways do those forces manifest themselves in the dialogue? Is there any particular line that jumps out at you?
3. For each character, which forces are the strongest? Which are the weakest? Does that balance ever shift? If so, when? Why?
4. If the forces shift, find the exact moment(s) that they shift. What effect does each shift have on the audience? What does the audience experience in that moment?
5. What is the new situation resulting from the shift in forces? How does it affect the script going forward? Does it change a character's relationship, his priorities, or his behavior? Does it contribute to some element of the plot?
LESSON 14: BEGINNER EXERCISE
Flip through a magazine or surf the Internet to find a photograph of two people. The people should be anonymous — no famous people or people you know. Write one to two pages of dialogue between these two people. At some point in the dialogue, have the balance of forces shift. Try to make the shift large and noticeable.
For Discussion:
Read the dialogues out loud to the group.
1. Have the group identify the forces acting on each character at the beginning of the script.
2. When did those forces shift? Why?
3. Can the group identify the exact moment when the forces shifted? Is there is disagreement about when it happened? If so, what caused the disagreement?
4. What effect does each shift have on the audience? What does the audience experience in that moment?
5. What is the new situation resulting from the shift in forces? How does it affect the scene going forward?
LESSON 14: INTERMEDIATE AND ADVANCED EXERCISE
Flip through a magazine or surf the Internet to find a photograph of two people. The people should be anonymous — no famous people or people you know. Write one to two pages of dialogue between these people. At three different points in the dialogue, have the balance of forces shift. Try to make the shifts as subtle as possible while still being clear.
For Discussion:
1. Have the group identify the forces acting on each character at the beginning of the script.
2. When did those forces shift? Why?
3. Can the group identify the exact moments when the forces shifted? Is there is disagreement about when it happened? If so, what caused the disagreement?
4. What effect does each shift have on the audience? What does the audience experience in that moment?
5. What is the new situation resulting from each shift in forces? How does it affect the scene going forward?
LESSON 14: SOLO EXERCISE
1. Write a one-page dialogue scene between two characters. Have the balance of forces between the characters shift once.
2. Rewrite the same dialogue scene. Keep it only one page in length, but have the balance of forces between the characters shift twice.
3. Rewrite the dialogue from step two. Keep it only one page in length, but have the balance of forces between the characters shift three times.
4. Rewrite the dialogue from step three. Keep it only one page in length, but have the balance of forces between the characters shift in each line.
5. Repeat this exercise as an ongoing writer's workout.
LEWIS: Strong reasons make strong actions.
—William Shakespeare (King John)
LESSON FIFTEEN:
Focusing the Scene
I
n the last chapter, we talked about the shifting forces acting on dialogue. Left on their own, those forces will push and pull characters randomly. Because dialogue rides on a current of undulating forces, it is the writer's job to manipulate those forces to focus and maneuver the script. It is not enough to have a good ear for dialogue; if you can't control the forces behind the dialogue, your script will wander aimlessly. Let's imagine what this might look like. Let's say that you are writing a play. We'll call it The Sea Gull. Here's a scene between Arkadina, a famous actress, and Trigorin, a writer and Arkadina's lover.
TRIGORIN
Lovely day we're having.
ARKADINA
Yes, I agree. Would you like a cookie?
TRIGORIN
Yes, I'll have a cookie.
ARKADINA
I think I'm going to knit a sweater. Maybe a blue sweater.
TRIGORIN
Blue is a good color. I saw Nina this morning. She's a nice girl.
ARKADINA
Lovely.
TRIGORIN
Yes. Lovely. How's your son's new play coming?
ARKADINA
Fine. Just fine. You know, I think I'm going to need blue yarn for the sweater.
TRIGORIN
I think I saw some at a shop in town. Do you really want to knit? Perhaps you'd enjoy checkers instead.
ARKADINA
I adore checkers!
You can see why an audience might get frustrated. Scenes that wander aimlessly aren't interesting. They don't add up to anything. It is not enough to have your dialogue move, it must move with a sense of direction. Compare my very lame scene above to an actual scene from the real play, The Sea Gull, written by Anton Chekhov. In this version, Arkadina and Trigorin are lovers, but Trigorin has become infatuated with Nina, a young actress. Trigorin wants to remain in town so that he can seduce Nina.
TRIGORIN
Let us stay here one more day!
ARKADINA
[Shakes her head.]
TRIGORIN
Do let us stay!
ARKADINA
I know, dearest, what keeps you here, but you must control yourself. Be sober; your emotions have intoxicated you a little.
TRIGORIN
You must be sober, too. Be sensible; look upon what has happened as a true friend would. [Taking her hand.] You are capable of self-sacrifice. Be a friend to me and release me!
ARKADINA
[In deep excitement.] Are you so much in love?
TRIGORIN
I am irresistibly impelled toward her. It may be that this is just what I need.
ARKADINA
What, the love of a country girl? Oh, how little you know yourself!
TRIGORIN
People sometimes walk in their sleep, and so I feel as if I were asleep, and dreaming of her as I stand here talking to you. My imagination is shaken by the sweetest and most glorious visions. Release me!
ARKADINA
[Shuddering.] No, no! I am only an ordinary woman; you must not say such things to me. Do not torment me, Boris; you frighten me.
TRIGORIN
You could be an extraordinary woman if you only would. Love alone can bring happiness on earth, love the enchanting, the poetical love of youth, that sweeps away the sorrows of the world. I had no time for it when I was young and struggling with want and laying siege to the literary fortress, but now at last this love has come to me. I see it beckoning; why should I fly?
ARKADINA
[With anger.] You are mad!
TRIGORIN
Release me.
ARKADINA
You have all conspired together to torture me today. [She weeps.]
TRIGORIN
[Clutching his head desperately.] She doesn't understand me! She won't understand me!
ARKADINA
Am I then so old and ugly already that you can talk to me like this without any shame about another woman? [She embraces and kisses him.] Oh, you have lost your senses! My splendid, my glorious friend, my love for you is the last chapter of my life. [She falls on her knees.] You are my pride, my joy, my light. [She embraces his knees.] I could never endure it should you desert me, if only for an hour; I should go mad. Oh, my wonder, my marvel, my king!
TRIGORIN
Someone might come in. [He helps her to rise.]
ARKADINA
Let them come! I am not ashamed of my love. [She kisses his hands.] My jewel! My despair! You
want to do a foolish thing, but I don't want you to do it. I shan't let you do it! [She laughs.] You are mine, you are mine! This forehead is mine, these eyes are mine, this silky hair is mine. All your being is mine. You are so clever, so wise, the first of all living writers; you are the only hope of your country. You are so fresh, so simple, so deeply humorous. You can bring out every feature of a man or of a landscape in a single line, and your characters live and breathe. Do you think that these words are but the incense of flattery? Do you think I am not speaking the truth? Come, look into my eyes; look deep; do you find lies there? No, you see that I alone know how to treasure you. I alone tell you the truth. Oh, my very dear, you will go with me? You will? You will not forsake me?
TRIGORIN
I have no will of my own; I never had. I am too indolent, too submissive, too phlegmatic, to have any. Is it possible that women like that? Take me. Take me away with you, but do not let me stir a step from your side.
ARKADINA
[To herself.] Now he is mine! [Carelessly, as if nothing unusual had happened.] Of course you must stay here if you really want to. I shall go, and you can follow in a week's time. Yes, really, why should you hurry away?
TRIGORIN
Let us go together.
ARKADINA
As you like. Let us go together then.
The second version of the scene is from one of the most famous plays by one of the most famous playwrights of all time. The first scene is not. What is the difference between the two scenes? At a very basic level, the second scene has focus. It has direction. Stories have a beginning and an end. Scene by scene and line by line, characters move from plot point to plot point. Chekhov was a master at steering his characters through the complicated maze of their emotional lives. As a writer, you must learn to do the same thing. If you're not able to steer the script, your dialogue will wander aimlessly. It will get lost from the story line and your audience will be bored and confused.
To take control of dialogue and steer it in a particular direction, you use the same technique that an engineer uses to move objects in a particular direction. You create a dominant force. If one force is stronger than the others, if one force dominates the others, then the character will move in the direction of that force.
In Chekhov's scene, the characters don't just say or do things willy-nilly. Arkadina does not talk about cookies. Trigorin does not chitchat about the weather. Why? Not because the characters can't do those things, only because each has something more important to do. Each has a dominant force that overwhelms the other forces. Trigorin wants to stay in town so that he can seduce a young actress. Arkadina is desperate to keep Trigorin with her. Those dominant forces drive the characters and their dialogue throughout the scene.
Writing teachers and textbooks tend to agree on the need for this dominant force. Different experts describe it with different names. For example, I've heard people call it “the character's goal,” “the character's want,” “the character's motivation,” or “the character's need.” All these terms are describing the same thing. I prefer the term “dominant force” because a force is defined by two characteristics: direction and magnitude
Direction
A force pushes a character in a specific direction. The key word here is “specific.” Consider the following two forces acting on a character:
1. Joe wants to feel at peace with his father's suicide.
2. Joe wants to organize a rock concert to raise $500,000 to donate to charity in his father's memory.
Which force is more specific? Which force gives you a clearer sense of direction? Which tells you where the character is going to go? What he is going to do next? Which force points to specific actions that the character might undertake? Obviously, the answer is force 2. Both are powerful, but only the second force gives the character one specific direction for his actions. The dominant force for your character must have this clear sense of direction, otherwise it will be overwhelmed and disrupted by other forces in your script.
Magnitude
Magnitude refers to strength and intensity. A force may have direction, but how much energy is behind that direction? How much drive? How much motivation? To create a dominant force, a writer must not only give it direction, but she must also make it the strongest and most intense force acting upon a character. To create this strength, she must figure out where the force comes from. Does it arise from some deep internal need, such as a need to be loved, a need to feel fulfilled, or a need to be heard? Does it arise from some powerful external pressure such as a child's illness, a family's financial crisis, or a violent threat? Once you figure out the origin of the force, you can look for ways to intensify that need or pressure. What does the character lose from failure? What does he gain from success? By raising the stakes, a writer can intensify the force's power.
LESSON 15: SCRIPT ANALYSIS EXERCISE
Have the group watch the same film or attend the same stage play. (See the Appendix for a list of suggestions.) Pick a dialogue scene from the script to review in class.
For Discussion:
1. Identify the dominant force acting upon each character in the scene.
2. For each dominant force: What is its direction? Where, specifically, is it pushing the character to go? What is it driving the character to do?
3. For each dominant force: What is its magnitude? How strong is it? What deep need or want does it come from? What happens if that need or want is not fulfilled? How might things change for the character if that need or want is fulfilled?
4. Do the dominant forces for each character come into conflict with each other? If so, where?
LESSON 15: BEGINNER EXERCISE
1. Flip through a magazine or surf the Internet to find a photograph of an interesting place — it can be any place you'd like.
2. Imagine two different characters in that place. Why are they there? What is the dominant force that has brought each one to this place? What does each need to accomplish before he leaves?
3. Write a three- to five-page dialogue between those two characters set in that location. Make sure that each character's dominant force drives him through the dialogue.
For Discussion:
Review the dialogues with the group.
1. Identify the dominant force acting upon each character in the scene.
2. For each dominant force: What is its direction? Where, specifically, is it pushing the character to go? What is it driving the character to do?
3. For each dominant force: What is its magnitude? How strong is it? What deep need or want does it come from? What happens if that need or want is not fulfilled? How might things change for the character if that need or want is fulfilled?
4. Does each character maintain the dominant force throughout the dialogue? If not, where does it break? Why?
5. Do the dominant forces for each character come into confict with each other? If so, where?
LESSON 15: INTERMEDIATE AND ADVANCED EXERCISE
1. Interview ten different people. Ask each person to name one thing that he'd like to do before he dies.
2. Look over the list of life goals. Pick one goal from the list. Imagine an original character who has this life goal. Pick a second goal from the list. Imagine a different original character who has this life goal.
3. Where might these two characters meet? In this place, how could each character pursue his life goal? What concrete action could each one take? Make this drive the dominant force for each character in the scene.
4. Write a three- to five-page dialogue between the two characters.
For Discussion:
Review the scenes with the group.
1. Identify the dominant force acting upon each character in the scene.
2. For each dominant force: What is its direction? Where, specifically, is it pushing the character to go? What is it driving the character to do?
3. For each dominant force: What is its magnitude? How strong is it? What deep need or want does it
come from? What happens if that need or want is not fulfilled? How might things change for the character if that need or want is fulfilled?