Character, Scene, and Story

by Will Dunne

  6. Which path. Ross chooses Path B: to tell Stevie what’s going on because Martin won’t do it himself. Which path will your character actually choose?

  7. Why now. As the host of a TV show called People Who Matter, Ross values social status and public image. He knows that Martin is now in the public eye and that he would be ruined if anyone else found out about Sylvia. Think about your character’s decision point. Why now? Why can’t this decision be avoided or put off until later?

  8. Action. Ross’s decision leads him to write a tell-all letter to Martin’s wife that begins: “Dearest Stevie, this is the hardest letter I’ve ever had to write . . .” These words are written offstage after scene 1 and then read aloud by Stevie to Martin during scene 2. What action results from your character’s decision? When does this occur?

  9. Expected response. In choosing to tell Stevie about Martin’s strange affair, Ross hopes that she will be able to help him. Ross also expects her gratitude for being such a good friend. As he states in his letter: “I felt it my obligation to be the one to bear these tidings, as I’m sure you’d rather hear it from a dear friend.” What does your character expect, or hope for, as a result of the path chosen?

  10. Actual response. Stevie responds to Ross’s letter not by getting Martin to change his ways and thanking Ross for his support, but by finding Sylvia, killing her, and dragging the carcass back to the house. What actually happens as a result of your character’s decision?

  11. Who’s affected. Over time, Ross’s decision will contribute to the ruin of everyone else in the story. Who is affected by your character’s decision, and how?

  12. Truth shown. Ross’s choice of Path B—to tell Stevie what’s going on—is a moment of truth. It shows that Ross has switched his loyalty from Martin to Stevie. It also shows that Ross has mostly washed his hands of the matter. Think about your character’s decision as a moment of truth. What does it reveal about him or her?

  13. Discovery. The impact of Ross’s decision leads to his realization near the end of the story that those he once saw as friends are actually strangers capable of unthinkable acts, such as bestiality and slaughter. This prompts him to ask the haunting question “Is there anything you people don’t get off on?” Think about the consequences of your character’s decision. What will the character learn or conclude as a result of this?

  WRAP-UP

  Dramatic characters are decision makers who cause stories to happen. From the writer’s perspective, each decision is an opportunity not only to move the story forward in a certain direction but also to reveal character information. Whether a decision is good or bad, for example, the choice of one alternative over another suggests what the character believes, values, and expects at this particular time. Such moments of truth become essential to the throughline when they are the result of previous story events and have consequences that affect future events. No decision of importance occurs in a vacuum.

  Related tools in The Dramatic Writer’s Companion. To flesh out the most difficult choice your main character must make, go to the “Building Your Story” section and try “Crisis Decision.”

  LIVING IMAGES

  THE QUICK VERSION

  Translate an important story development into dynamic imagery

  BEST TIME FOR THIS

  After you are well into the story

  IMAGES THAT CAN BE WATCHED AND HEARD

  Visual images on stage or on screen are different from those in a book or on canvas. They include elements, such as movement and sound, that make them dynamic. These living images can heighten dramatic action and leave lasting impressions on the audience because of the physical and emotional power they bring to the story. Such images in a production are created by a director and actors as well as the artists and technicians responsible for sets, props, costumes, makeup, lighting, sound effects, music, and other elements. All of this is set into motion by the choices the dramatic writer makes during script development.

  Sometimes the writer combines stage directions and dialogue to create a memorable living image. In the opening of Dead Man’s Cell Phone, Sarah Ruhl uses stage directions to describe the nearly empty café where her play begins. A dead man sits alone at one table with his back to the audience and his cell phone lying in front of him. A woman sits alone at another table with an empty soup bowl in front of her as she drinks coffee and writes a letter. After a moment, the man’s cell phone begins to ring and ring. Not realizing he is dead, the woman becomes increasingly concerned about the phone. She finally asks, “Excuse me, are you going to get that?” The dead man doesn’t respond, and the scene goes on. In the meantime, through a living image, we have been drawn into the world of a story that has just begun.

  While stage directions do most of the work in the blueprint for Ruhl’s image, the line of dialogue is also important because it requires the man to not answer his phone. The dialogue thus reinforces what the stage directions describe. Sometimes, however, dialogue does all of the work in creating a living image.

  In David Mamet’s Lakeboat, two men on a ship—an old-timer and a college student hired for the summer—are in the galley getting to know each other. The old-timer says, “I’m going to get some pie.” Then he says, “You can see the bridge. You can just make it out. Like a landmark out there. You know, that is one pretty bridge. We been going under that bridge for once or twice a week since I was your age off and on, but that sure is a pretty bridge.” The kid replies, “Yeah, I like it.”

  With no stage directions, the playwright has created the living image of an older man in a ship’s galley heading toward a pie, then stopping to look out a porthole in awe, and finally drawing the younger man to gaze out as well. This dynamic, or a variation of it, must occur in order for the dialogue to make sense.

  Whether a living image arises from stage directions, from dialogue, or from both, its usual purpose is to reveal something important about the characters and story, to do so in an interesting way, and to stir the audience’s feelings and thoughts.

  ABOUT THE EXERCISE

  This exercise can help you explore possibilities for a living image that can heighten the impact of your script. For best results, focus on a critical time in the story, such as the opening scene, inciting event, end of an act, crisis, climax, other major turning point, or final scene. Look for a story development that you wish to understand better.

  ■ BRINGING A VISUAL IMAGE TO LIFE

  Use the following steps to translate your story development into a living image. As you do this, try to work from an instinctive and emotional point of view.

  1. Color. When you think about what’s happening at this point in your story, what color speaks to you the loudest for any reason?

  2. Emotion. Whether positive or negative, what emotion do you associate with the color you just named?

  3. Character(s). Identify who’s here now. It may be one character alone or two or more characters interacting.

  4. Setting. Consider where you are at this point in the story, and identify the setting. Whether indoors or outdoors, familiar or unfamiliar, this place will provide a visual context for your image.

  5. Visual description. Imagine the setting you identified. With a focus on what matters most, describe what you see.

  6. Mood. Describe the mood, or emotional atmosphere, of this place at this time.

  7. Object. Look for an object or physical element in this setting that could be an important part of your image. Describe what you find.

  8. Emotion. Think about whoever is here now in relation to the setting and what’s in it. What emotion do you associate with these choices? This may be the same emotion you named before or a new one.

  9. Lighting. Whether it is day or night, your setting has a certain quality of light that affects what it looks like and perhaps how it feels. Describe the light here now.

  10. Sounds. If you listen carefully to your setting at this particular time in the story, you may hear sounds coming from something in the se
tting, from the setting itself, or from somewhere else. These sounds may be loud or quiet, pleasant or unpleasant, familiar or unfamiliar. Listen carefully and describe what you hear.

  11. Smells. Continue to use your senses to explore the setting and describe what you smell. This smell may be strong or slight, pleasant or unpleasant, familiar or unfamiliar.

  12. Sensation. The setting has a certain temperature, air quality, and texture. Describe how it feels here—not emotionally but physically.

  13. Music. As an exercise that might lead to discovery, imagine that your image is accompanied by music. What do you hear? You might identify a musical genre, such as rock or jazz, or name a specific song, such as “Jingle Bells” or “Happy Birthday.”

  14. Color. You began this instinctual exploration with a color. Think about what you’ve learned since then. Does that color still feel like a dominant color for this image? If not, what color does?

  15. Color placement. Keep thinking about the dominant color here. Where in the image does it reside?

  16. Apparel. Think about who’s here now, and describe what each character is wearing. This may include clothing, headwear, footwear, jewelry, or anything else that is visible on the character’s body and that you find interesting enough to mention.

  17. Physical description. Keep looking at the characters, and for each one, identify any distinguishing physical traits—for example, tall or tattooed.

  18. Action. Describe what you see your character(s) doing. This activity may be routine or unusual, pleasant or unpleasant, relaxing or strenuous. If two or more characters are present, they may be interacting or in separate worlds.

  19. Dialogue. Find some dialogue to bring your image to life. Identify who is speaking to whom, and write at least three lines of dialogue not in your script now.

  20. Title. As a focusing exercise, give your living image a title that reflects what matters most.

  ■ IMAGE ANALYSIS

  You’ve been working instinctually to find a living image that can add dramatic weight and staying power to an important moment in your story. Begin to work more analytically now as you review your findings.

  1. Summary. Think about what you’ve learned so far about your living image and the details it might include. Sum up what you imagine seeing and hearing at this particular time in the story. Your image may or may not include dialogue, and for now it does not need to be written as it will appear in your script.

  2. Insights. If your script gets produced, the audience—a group of strangers—will come to see it. Imagine them experiencing the living image you described. Right or wrong, what impressions might they gain from this image about your characters and your story? List whatever insights might come to mind.

  3. Cause. This living image is the consequence of some action or event earlier in the world of the story. What was the primary cause of this image?

  4. Change. What is the most important change that this image depicts?

  5. Impact. If your image truly matters, it will have consequences. Identify the most important thing that will happen later in the story as a result of what is happening now.

  ■ SCRIPTWRITING

  How will you actually enter your living image into your script? Use the best of what you found during the exercise to write first-draft stage directions and/or dialogue that will begin to make this image an integral part of your story.

  WRAP-UP

  Your script is a blueprint for what the audience will see and hear. This blueprint can suggest a living image through stage directions that spell out what should happen in production, dialogue that implies what should happen, or a combination of directions and dialogue. As you write, keep finding opportunities for the audience to experience your story so they don’t they have listen to explanations about what they missed.

  Related tools in The Dramatic Writer’s Companion. To use visual imagery to map out a scene, go to the “Causing a Scene” section and try “Seeing the Scene.” To use visual imagery to map out a story, go to the “Building Your Story” section and try “Picturing the Arc of Action.”

  WHAT JUST HAPPENED?

  THE QUICK VERSION

  Examine different types of events in your story and explore one in more depth

  BEST TIME FOR THIS

  After you are well into story development

  STEPS OF THE JOURNEY

  Story is the series of events that occur when a character pursues an important but difficult goal. Each event is something that happens at a certain time and place in the world of this story. It may be a discovery or disclosure that someone makes. Or it may be primarily a beginning, ending, or change of some kind. Whether positive or negative, intentional or accidental, each event has two dramatic functions: to reveal new information about the characters and to move the dramatic journey forward.

  ABOUT THE EXERCISE

  This exercise can help you learn more about your story by identifying different types of events in the dramatic journey and then examining in more depth the one you understand least. You need to have a principal character in mind during this process. Which character will it be?

  ■ DIFFERENT TYPES OF DRAMATIC EVENTS

  Use the following categories to identify different types of events in your character’s dramatic journey. Since many can be viewed from more than one angle, you need to focus on what matters most about each event so that you can find a new response for each category. For best results, do not repeat a response you’ve already given.

  1. Discovery. Some events center on an important discovery that someone makes. These aha! moments may be positive or negative, accurate or inaccurate. They may be self-realizations or insights about someone else. They may relate to specific events in the world of the story or to broader aspects of humanity, nature, the universe, or beyond. For example, she realizes that she is going mad. Or he finds out that his best friend has betrayed him. Or she concludes that people are incapable of changing who they are. Identify your character’s most important discovery during the story.

  2. Disclosure. Some events center on a disclosure that someone makes to someone else or to the public. Whether positive or negative, true or false, something important is confessed or shared. This revelation might be about oneself, someone else, or something related to the world of the story. For example, she reveals that she loves him. Or he admits that he robbed the office. Or she announces that the father of her child is God. Identify a big disclosure that your character makes in the course of the story.

  3. Beginning, Some events matter primarily because they are beginnings. The character, or someone close to the character, initiates a new course of action or adopts a new way of thinking or being. Whether positive or negative, intentional or accidental, such starting points suggest movement toward something new. For example, he enrolls in an acting class. Or she lands a job in another city. Or he and his brother get arrested for reasons they don’t understand. Identify an event in your story that is important primarily because it starts something new.

  4. Ending. Beginnings and endings often go hand in hand, but in some cases the fact that something has ended is more important than the fact that something new will begin. Such endings may be positive or negative, intentional or accidental. They suggest a movement away from something. For example, he is deposed from the throne. Or she stops smoking crack. Or her son gets kidnapped. Identify an event in your story that is important primarily because it ends something that once mattered.

  5. Change for the better. Some events center on a positive change in the life of the character or someone close to the character. This change for the better might be the result of deliberate action. Or it might happen by accident or chance. Such upturns may have negative consequences later, but they are perceived as good when they first occur. For example, she wins the lottery. Or they fall in love at first sight. Or she finally agrees to accept her sister’s help. Identify an event that is important because of the positive change it brings to your character’s dra
matic journey. Remember not to repeat a response you’ve already given.

  6. Change for the worse. Some events center on a negative change in the world of the story. This change for the worse might be caused by the character or someone else. Or it might occur by accident or chance. Such downturns may have positive consequences later, but they are perceived as bad when they first occur. For example, she is diagnosed with a terminal illness. Or his pretentious sister-in-law tries to ruin his marriage. Or the city streets are invaded by foreign tanks. Identify an event that is important because of the negative change it brings to your character’s journey.

  ■ THE EVENT YOU UNDERSTAND LEAST

  Review the events you highlighted from your story. Identify the one you understand least, and then use the following steps to learn more about it.

  1. Title. As a focusing exercise, write a title for the event that reflects what matters most—for example, “A Prophecy from Three Witches.”

  2. Nature of event. In the first round, you categorized this event primarily as a discovery, disclosure, beginning, ending, change for the better, or change for the worse. You may learn more about this event now by looking at it from other angles as well. For example, a certain “beginning” might also involve a certain “ending” and a “change for the better” and a “change for the worse” as well. Which of the other exercise categories, if any, could also apply to this event, and how? What new insights do you gain by looking at the event from one than one angle?