by Will Dunne
• Rating: 2. In a rating system where 3 is tops, 2 is a weighty factor. Self-esteem and security received this rating because they both motivate the chaplain in significant ways. His need to restore his own honor suggests that his motives may have more to do with himself than with the young man he is trying to help, though his concern about someone else’s security indicates some altruism. Look at your 2 ratings. What do they say about your character? For any of these, is it surprising that it doesn’t matter more or that it matters so much?
• Rating: 3. Justice, truth, and power each received a 3, making them the most powerful motivators of the chaplain’s behavior now. Since a serious wrong has been committed in secret, the values of justice and truth are logical motivators in his efforts to convince King to file the damaging report. Power is a more surprising motivator for this man of the cloth, yet he seems as determined to build up his own power as he is to destroy the colonel’s. Look at your 3 ratings. What do they tell about your character? For any of these, is it surprising that it matters so much, and if so, what does that suggest?
2. Primary motivator. As he tries to convince King to file the damaging report against Littlefield, the value that matters most to the chaplain is justice. Look again at the values you rated 3. Which is the single most important value at risk now?
3. Key conclusions. By looking at justice in relation to the other factors, especially the competing importance of power (rated 3) and the strong importance of self-esteem (rated 2), one might reach a surprising conclusion: the justice the chaplain seeks is not so much for the young man as for himself. His justice is his revenge against the colonel who humiliated him. Think again about your character’s primary motivator in relation to the other factors in his or her motivational palette. What insights can you gain from this comparison?
WRAP-UP
Motivation is an essential ingredient of dramatic action. It explains why characters pursue nearly impossible dreams and why they go to the trouble of tackling problems that will not be easy to solve. For such efforts to make sense, the character must have something vital at stake. This is what will be gained if the character’s goal is achieved and what will be lost if it fails.
Related tools in The Dramatic Writer’s Companion. To learn more about a character’s reasons for acting, go to the “Causing a Scene” section and try “Good Intentions.”
THE STRATEGICS OF THE SCENE
THE QUICK VERSION
Explore strategies a character might try to achieve a scenic objective
BEST TIME FOR THIS
During scene planning
HOW CHARACTERS GET WHAT THEY WANT
Strategics is the art of using certain methods to bring about a desired outcome. Dramatic writers draw from this art every time they write a character who wants something important and takes different steps to get it. Sometimes these steps, or strategies, are planned in advance. Other times they arise spontaneously.
Character strategies are the stuff of the scene: the dialogue we hear and physical action we see. Each time a character tries a new strategy, a new unit of action, or beat, begins. Strategy is thus a tool that can bring variety to a scene and keep pushing the story forward. A common dramaturgical problem in new scripts is a conflict that has grown stale because the character has been trying the same strategy for too long and failed to recognize what the audience figured out long ago: that this strategy doesn’t work and the character needs to try something else.
The character who drives a scene typically wants one thing but has to try different ways to get it. Changes in strategy occur because of the obstacles that stand in the way (conflict) and the importance of achieving the objective now (motivation). One objective can thus trigger many topics and behaviors. As a result, the strategic approach tends to be dynamic: it keeps changing as the character is forced to manage conflict.
ABOUT THE EXERCISE
Use this exercise to explore different strategies a character might try to achieve a scenic objective. Examples are from the opening scene of Ruined by Lynn Nottage. Recipient of the 2009 Pulitzer Prize for Drama, the play explores life in a rundown brothel during a civil war in the Democratic Republic of Congo. This is a world where money is king and murder, rape, and torture are common. The term ruined refers to a woman who has been genitally mutilated during rape. The victims of such crimes are often viewed as pariahs to be banished from their homes and villages.
Character 1—who drives most of the action—is Christian, in his forties, a traveling salesman who is “perpetually cheerful.” Character 2 is Mama Nadi, also in her forties, a shrewd businesswoman who runs a brothel. Their relationship: business associates. He supplies what she needs to run her establishment, such as soap, cigarettes, condoms, and girls. The main event of the scene: Christian persuades Mama Nadi to purchase two teenage homeless girls.
To prepare for the exercise, choose a scene you wish to develop, identify the two most important characters—Characters 1 and 2—and define their relationship. Then sum up the main event of the scene as you see it now: what happens overall.
■ SCENIC CONTEXT
Define the context for the dramatic action.
1. Setting. The setting for Nottage’s scene is a rundown café, bar, and brothel in a rain forest on the outskirts of a small mining town in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Identify the setting for your scene.
2. Time. It is a hot early afternoon during a war between the Congolese government and rebel soldiers. Identify when your scene takes place.
■ ELEMENTS OF ACTION
Define the basic elements of dramatic action for your Character 1.
1. Objective. Mama Nadi is the main character of Ruined, but Christian is the main character of the first scene because he drives most of the action. He does this because he wants something: to convince Mama Nadi to buy two homeless girls, Sophie and Salima, whom he has brought here on his truck full of merchandise. The scene is thus driven by his need to make a sale. Think about how your Character 1 wants to affect your Character 2. Identify a general behavioral objective: to make the other character feel good or feel bad, to find out something, or to convince the other character of something important. Then translate the objective into the specific terms of your story.
2. Conflict. Character objectives do not cause scenes to happen unless they are difficult to achieve. Christian knows that Mama Nadi is a tough, practical, and unsentimental businesswoman and that she will not want the girls he has brought for a number of reasons. She already has enough prostitutes in the brothel. And even if she did need more, she would not want these particular girls because neither will be good for business: one is plain and the other is ruined. Mama Nadi’s resistance to buying the girls is the main obstacle that Christian faces. What will make it difficult for your Character 1 to achieve the scenic objective here and now?
3. Motivation. If difficult problems stand in their way, characters must be motivated to tackle them. In Ruined, the lives of two girls are at risk. With a civil war raging and no parents to protect them, Sophie and Salima need a new home, and in this brutal world, Mama Nadi’s brothel is one of the safest places they can be. Though Christian presents himself as a trafficker of human lives, the transaction is not only about money. It’s also about a pledge he made to the families of the girls to find them a safe home. This pledge is particularly important because one of the girls—the ruined one—is his niece. What is at stake for Character 1 in your scene?
■ POSSIBLE STRATEGIES
Christian tries many strategies to get Mama Nadi to buy the two girls on his truck. His diverse behavior creates a rich, multi-beat scene that reveals a lot about the characters and the world they inhabit. Use the following four general types of behavioral action to explore possible strategies for Character 1 in your scene.
1. Feel good. Christian tries to make Mama Nadi feel good in different ways. He presents her with gifts: first a new tube of red lipstick and later a rare box of Belgian chocolates that he knows
she will savor. He also recites a poem that he wrote for her. Think about what your Character 1 wants. If one strategy was to make Character 2 feel good, how specifically would Character 1 try to do so?
• Rationale. From Christian’s point of view, it makes sense to give Mama Nadi things she likes. She’s a hard woman who is not used to being pampered, so his gifts are likely to throw her off guard and make her receptive to his proposition. Think about your Character 1’s possible feel good strategy. From the character’s point of view, right or wrong, why might this strategy make sense?
• Summary. How characters act is more important than what characters say, and the words in our language that express action are verbs. Christian’s strategy of presenting gifts to Mama Nadi could be summed up literally by the verb phrase to gift or figuratively by the verb phrase to caress. Think about the feel good strategy you chose for your character. Sharpen your understanding of this action by summing it up in two verb phrases: one that describes the action literally and one that describes it figuratively.
2. Feel bad. Christian also tries to make Mama Nadi feel bad in different ways. He lays a guilt trip on her: he had to go to a lot of trouble and risk to get here on roads that are now dangerous because of the war. He also tries to arouse her sympathy for two abused homeless girls. Think about what your Character 1 wants. If one strategy was to make Character 2 feel bad, how specifically would Character 1 try to do so?
• Rationale. From Christian’s point of view, trying to elicit guilt and sympathy from Mama Nadi makes sense because he knows there is a soul lurking beneath her hard exterior. He also believes that she secretly loves him and that he has the ability to stir the humanity within her. Think about your Character 1’s possible feel bad strategy. From the character’s point of view, right or wrong, why might this strategy make sense?
• Summary. Christian’s attempt to make Mama Nadi feel guilty could be summed up literally by the phrase to guilt or figuratively by the phrase to stab. Think about the feel bad strategy you chose for your character. Learn more about this action by summing it up in two verb phrases: one literal, one figurative.
3. Find out. Faced with Mama Nadi’s resistance to his proposal, Christian tries to figure out how to swing the deal his way. Would Mama Nadi be willing to give the girls a trial period to see how they work out? Would she take the ruined girl as part of a special package with the plain girl: two for the price of one? What’s the most Mama Nadi would pay? Think about what your Character 1 wants. If one strategy was to find out something important, what specifically would the character want to know?
• Rationale. From Christian’s point of view, it makes sense to bargain with Mama Nadi and find common ground. They’ve had many business dealings in the past, and he knows that he can get her agreement if he is persistent and flexible. Think about your Character 1’s possible find out strategy. From the character’s point of view, right or wrong, why might this strategy make sense?
• Summary. As Christian tries to make a sale, his efforts to get favorable terms for himself and the girls could be summed up literally by the phrase to negotiate or figuratively by the phrase to dig. Think about the find out strategy you chose for your character. Sum it up in two verb phrases: one literal, one figurative.
4. Convince. To convince others is not to explain something to them. It is to persuade them to adopt new beliefs or agree to new actions. Christian tries to convince Mama Nadi that the girls will be good for her business because they can cook, clean, and do other chores to keep the brothel running. He also stresses that because of the rich red dirt of the region, good times will come to the mining town soon and Mama Nadi will need extra help to handle the increased business this will bring. Think about what your Character 1 wants. If one strategy was to convince Character 2 of something important, what would be the specific topic?
• Rationale. From Christian’s point of view, it makes sense to focus on the girls as good business investments, because business is Mama Nadi’s chief concern. Think about the convince strategy you chose for your character. From the character’s point of view, right or wrong, why might this strategy make sense?
• Summary. Christian’s attempt to convince Mama Nadi of the merits of his business proposition could be summed up literally by the phrase to sell or figuratively by the phrase to bedazzle. Think about the convince strategy you chose for your character. Sum it up in two verb phrases: one literal, one figurative.
■ SAMPLE ACTION PLAN
Now that you’ve explored possible strategies that Character 1 might try in your scene, begin to think about how these strategies could work together to form an action plan that the character either formulates in advance or devises from moment to moment.
1. Early strategy. The opening scene of Ruined centers on a transaction. Christian begins his strategic approach to this transaction not by presenting the two girls he wants to sell but by flirting with Mama Nadi and reciting a poem he has written. The girls meanwhile are hidden outside on the truck, and it will not be until later that their presence is revealed. Christian’s action plan is unique to him but illustrates an approach that is typical in dramatic scenes. The first actions tend to be what the character sees as the least demanding or most timely steps. It is much easier to flatter Mama Nada and recite poetry than it is to sell her something she doesn’t want.
Think about the possible strategies you identified for your Character 1 as well as any new strategies that come to mind now. Some of these steps would be easier for your character than others. From the character’s point of view, right or wrong, what would be the least demanding or most timely step to try? This might be one of the character’s first strategies in the scene.
2. Late strategy. One of Christian’s final strategies is to reveal the truth: the ruined girl, Sophie, is his niece, and he promised her sister he would find her a safe home. This is the last card he can play, because it reveals how vulnerable he really is. The transaction is not about business as usual. It is about his family and himself, and he cannot get more personal than this in his strategic approach.
The steps between the first action and the final action often reflect the transition that takes place in a scene, with each new strategy requiring greater effort or risk than the one before. As a result, more and more is demanded of the character as the scene unfolds. Of the strategies you identified so far or can think of now, what would be the most difficult or risky step for your Character 1 to try? If this is one of the character’s last strategies, it might be the one that leads finally to success or failure.
WRAP-UP
We learn a lot about characters by how they try to achieve their objectives: what strategies they choose and don’t choose, how well they execute these strategies, how they manage the unexpected, and how they think and act under rising pressure. If you give two characters the same objective and put them into the same situation, you will most likely end up with two different action plans, since each will draw from a unique set of personal resources and life experiences.
Related tools in The Dramatic Writer’s Companion. To continue exploring character strategies and tactics, go to the “Causing a Scene” section and try “How It Happens.”
THE SCENES WITHIN THE SCENE
THE QUICK VERSION
Explore the nature and function of French scenes
BEST TIME FOR THIS
During scene planning, writing, or revision
WHEN CHARACTERS COME AND GO
Named after a seventeenth-century French system for identifying scenes in a dramatic script, a “French scene” is a unit of dramatic action demarcated by the entrance or exit of a character. Each time someone comes or goes, a new combination of characters forms and a new French scene begins. If there are a number of such comings and goings, one scene can be made up of several French scenes. Some may be as short as a few lines. Others may extend for pages. Ideally, something important happens in each of these character combinations that contributes to the scene a
s a whole.
Originally used for rehearsal scheduling, French scenes enable the director to plan which actors rehearse in which groups and on what material. This is important from a writer’s perspective because it implies that in each French scene there is something worth rehearsing: an event that, however small, is significant enough to move the whole scene forward.
French scenes affect the tempo of dramatic action, which may feel fast paced if they are abundant and slow paced if they are not. French scenes also reveal key information about relationships, since they enable us to see how mood and behavior can change as characters come or go. When a new character arrives after a scene has begun, for example, a friendly gathering may turn hostile. Or when a character departs before the scene ends, a professional meeting may suddenly turn romantic.
ABOUT THE EXERCISE
Use this exercise to develop a scene with two or more French scenes. The model has four French scenes but can be tailored to your needs. Examples are from act 1, scene 13, of The Clean House by Sarah Ruhl. Recipient of the 2004 Susan Smith Blackburn Prize and a finalist for the 2005 Pulitzer Prize for Drama, the play centers on three women from different walks of life who reach across class boundaries to find a common bond.
The model features the three main characters: Lane, a married doctor bent on perfection; her maid, Matilde, who would rather be a comedian; and her sister, Virginia, who uses cleaning to distract herself from her failures. The main event of the scene: Lane has a breakdown after revealing that her husband has left her for another woman.
