by Will Dunne
■ STRATEGIES
When characters want something badly and have obstacles standing in the way, they usually have to employ a number of different strategies. Whether these efforts succeed or fail, each begins a new beat, or unit of dramatic action, that can reveal a different dimension of the character and bring variety to the action.
Like scenic objectives, strategies are usually behavioral. If a real estate agent wants to convince a coworker to rob their office, for example, he might try to put the coworker in a good mood to make him more receptive to the idea, get him angry enough about the company to want revenge, and convince him that the endeavor will be lucrative. Or the plotting agent might try all of these strategies at different times in the same scene.
Character 1
1. Think about what your Character 1 wants. What are at least three different strategies that he or she could try here and now in pursuit of this goal?
2. Using verbs to sum up your character’s strategies can help you sharpen your focus on these actions so that you can see how they compare. Such verbs might identify the character’s behavior literally—for example, cheers up, angers, convinces. Or they might reflect a more figurative approach—for example, tickles, inflames, dazzles. What verbs or verb phrases best sum up your Character 1’s strategies in this scene?
3. Are these strategies truly distinct, or does the character keep repeating the same action? If the latter, how can you bring more variety to the scene?
4. Does Character 1 keep using a strategy after it becomes clear that it doesn’t work? If so, when should the character change strategies? What should the new strategy be?
Other character(s)
5. Think about what the character wants. What are at least two different strategies that he or she might try to achieve this objective?
6. What verbs or verb phrases best sum up these strategies? As before, you can identify your character’s actions literally or figuratively.
7. Have you overlooked opportunities to make these strategies more distinct or to add new strategies that make sense for this character in this situation?
Strategies in sequence
8. When pursuing an objective, characters typically begin with the strategy that feels easiest, most logical, or most timely. If this doesn’t work, they may have to try increasingly difficult and risky steps. Look at each character’s action plan. Does this sequence of strategies feel logical and truthful for this character in this situation?
Related tools in this guide. To explore different actions that characters might take to get what they want, go to the “Causing a Scene” section and try “The Strategics of the Scene.”
■ FRENCH SCENES
A French scene is a unit of action demarcated by the entrance or exit of a character. Each time someone comes or goes, a new combination of characters occurs, and something new happens. Ideally, each French scene contributes in an essential way to the main event of the scene. Address the following questions if your scene consists of more than one French scene—that is, if someone enters after the scene has started or exits before it ends.
Entrances and exits
1. Characters may enter a scene for reasons that range from ordinary to extraordinary. What is each character’s reason for being here now?
2. How would the dramatic action be affected if at least one character had a different reason for being here now?
3. For any character who exits before the scene ends, what is the reason for doing so?
4. Exits tend to work best dramatically when they are emotional. Instead of leaving to get a cup of coffee, for example, he is too angry to remain here. Or instead of leaving to go to the bathroom, she is worried about someone elsewhere. For any character who exits before the scene ends, does he or she need a stronger motivation for leaving?
Scene structure
5. How many French scenes does this scene include? What combination of characters occurs in each one?
6. Ideally, something important happens in each French scene. For example, something is accomplished or fails to be accomplished. Large or small, what event occurs in each of your French scenes? If there is no distinct event, what changes do you need to make?
7. How is each French scene essential to the main event of the scene?
8. Too many entrances and exits can make the action feel choppy. Are there any French scenes that can be combined or cut? If so, how would that change the scene?
Related tools in this guide. To explore how and why a scene divides into French scenes, go to the “Causing a Scene” section and try “The Scenes within the Scene.”
■ EXPOSITION
Exposition is anything that cannot be observed by the audience and thus needs to be explained so they know what’s going on. Frequent subjects for exposition include past events in the world of the story, events that are currently taking place elsewhere, characters who are not here now, and inner life, such as ideas, feelings, and memories.
Exposition is an essential part of any story but is often viewed negatively because it can bring the action to a halt. When handled well, however. exposition can be a powerful storytelling tool. It tends to work best when someone is forced to reveal the information in order to achieve an objective, when it is suggested in bits and pieces rather than articulated in long narratives, or when it answers a question that the audience has been wanting to know.
1. Flag any significant expositional passages in your scene. Common signs of exposition include long speeches that have stopped the characters from interacting; a sudden absence of conflict; several lines written in the past tense; and revelations that are offered for no purpose other than to inform or to display the character’s brilliance.
2. For each expositional passage, how important is it for the characters and the audience to know this information at this time in the story, and why? Which passages are not necessary and can thus be eliminated?
3. For any critical exposition, what is the character’s reason for revealing this information now? If the character is not doing it to affect someone else, you may need to rethink how and why this information is being imparted.
4. For any critical exposition, how much detail is really necessary to communicate what matters most?
5. Subtext is what the characters don’t say and is often more important than what they do say. Can any exposition in this scene be converted to subtext that is inferred by how the characters appear, the emotions they display, or the actions they take?
6. Think about what the characters and audience must know at this time in the story. Do you need to add any exposition about a past experience, an offstage person or event, or a character’s inner world? If so, what is the purpose of this revelation?
Related tools in this guide. To analyze dialogue, including exposition, go to the “Causing a Scene” section and try “Phrase Book” or “Anatomy of Speech.” To explore subtext, try “Better Left Unsaid” in the same section.
■ VISUAL IMAGERY
What the audience sees during a dramatic story is often more telling and more lasting than what they hear. A visual image can speak a thousand words about the characters, the world they inhabit, and the events that occur during the dramatic journey. This imagery draws its power from the physical life of the character’s world, such as the setting and what’s in it, and the physicality of the characters themselves, such as how they appear and what they are doing. You can create such images by describing them in stage directions and/or by implying them through dialogue.
1. What are the three most interesting visual images in the scene?
2. Which of these images matters most? What does it reveal about your characters? About what’s happening in the world of the story?
3. Think about how your visual images work together in sequence. What story do they tell without words? Is this the right story for this scene?
4. If any of your key visual images seem similar, is there a reason for the repetition? If not, how can you add more visu
al variety to the scene?
5. Have you overlooked opportunities to add visual imagery that would heighten the dramatic impact of an important moment or reduce the need for words of explanation?
Related tools in this guide. For help with translating character and story information into visual imagery, go to the “Building Your Story” section and try “Living Images.”
■ SCENIC EVENT
Ideally, scenes are the essential steps of a dramatic story. Whether positive or negative, each centers on an experience that reveals something new about the characters, changes their lives in some way, and moves the dramatic journey forward. A scenic event may take the form of a discovery, revelation, beginning, ending, or other development.
What happens overall
1. What is the main event of this scene? Sum it up in a sentence or so.
2. Think about how the end of the scene differs from the beginning. What has changed in the lives of the characters as a result of what happened here and now?
3. The change that occurs often has an impact on the main character, even if he or she is not present. This impact may be positive or negative, direct or indirect. How does the main event of this scene advance or hinder your main character’s dramatic journey?
4. What is the most important moment in the scene? The most important line? How clearly have you established this importance?
5. In what significant ways have the characters not changed when the scene ends?
6. Should the scene have a different outcome? If so, what would it be, and how would that affect the rest of the story?
How scene relates to rest of story
7. Why is this scene essential to the whole story?
8. Is this scene similar to any other scene in the story? If so, can the scenes be combined, or can one be eliminated?
9. Complicated or unusual events may need to be foreshadowed earlier in the story so they are understandable and credible when they occur. If a wife decides to leave her husband of many years, for example, earlier scenes may need to depict signs of trouble in the marriage so that we are prepared to accept this outcome as believable. Would the main event of your scene benefit from foreshadowing? If so, how and when can you pave the way for it earlier in the script?
Related tools in this guide. To map out a scenic event through the filter of a character relationship, go to the “Causing a Scene” section and try “Relationship Storyboard.” For more about events, go to the “Building Your Story” section and try “What Just Happened?” For more about foreshadowing, try “An End in Sight” in the same section.
■ HOW THE PRESENT AFFECTS THE FUTURE
If this is not the final scene, it will have repercussions later in the story. Because of what happens now, the characters will enter the next scene or a later scene with new experience that will affect how they behave. Knowing what happens later can help you make decisions about what needs to happen now so that the future will feel truthful and logical for these characters in this story.
1. What future scene will be most directly affected by this scene, and how?
2. Have you overlooked opportunities to strengthen the connection between this scene and the rest of the story? Be sure to consider any character beliefs, feelings, needs, or problems that arise during this scene and could affect what happens later.
3. Think about how the present paves the way for the future. Is there an important event later in the story that needs foreshadowing now so that it will be understandable and believable when it occurs? If so, what clues can you plant in this scene?
4. If this is not the final scene, you can generate suspense by raising at least one new question during the scene and leaving it unanswered for now. This creates the need for future scenes by implying that something important remains unresolved. What is the unanswered question at the end of this scene?
5. What specific elements in the scene might trigger this question?
6. What is the answer to this question? How and when will this answer be revealed, if at all, during the story?
Related tools in this guide. To explore how scenes connect, go to the “Building Your Story” section and try “The Dramatic Continuum.”
■ SHAKING THINGS UP
If you have not already uncovered the source of the scene’s problem, this final set of questions can help you shake up your material and explore new possibilities. As you address each question, stay open to new discoveries. You may find a solution where you least expect it.
1. Think about when the scene occurs in the chain of events that make up the story. What if this scene happened earlier or later in the script? How would moving this scene affect the dramatic action? The rest of the story?
2. Do you really know your characters well enough, or can you surprise yourself by learning something new about them? For example, does any character have a secret that you were not aware of?
3. Are you trying to force your characters to do something they don’t want to do? If so, what would they rather do instead? How would that change the story?
4. Think about the setting for the scene and what’s in it. Suppose there were an object here that you have overlooked and that could play an important role in the scene. What is this object, why does it matter, and how would it affect the dramatic action?
5. Each character enters the scene feeling a certain way. What if at least one character were in a different physical or emotional state when the scene begins? Instead of being sober, for example, he’s drunk. Or instead of being angry, she’s amused. Who might start the scene feeling differently? How would this affect the scene?
6. Characters also enter the scene with certain beliefs, right or wrong, that influence their behavior. What if someone in the scene were misinformed about something important or operating under a delusion? Who might not know the truth, what would the error be, and how might this affect what happens in the scene?
7. Think about who has the most power here and now. This control might be physical, psychological, or social. What if this character had the least power? What would cause this shift, and how would that affect the character interaction?
8. Suppose Character 1’s scenic objective were the opposite of what you originally imagined? Instead of trying to save his marriage, for example, he is trying to destroy it. How would flipping the character’s objective affect the scene and the story?
9. Characters pursue their objectives because something important is at stake. What if the stakes were higher? What if, for example, a greater number of people could be affected by what happens here and now? Who else’s well-being could be at risk, and how would that change the dynamics of the scene?
10. Conflict can grow stale if the characters are unable to affect each other—that is, if the punches never land. What if a character were more vulnerable than you realized? How would this vulnerability affect the dramatic action?
11. What if the conclusion of the scene were the opposite of what you originally imagined? Instead of getting fired from her job, for example, she ends up getting a promotion. How would flipping the scene’s outcome affect the action leading up to it? The action that occurs later as a result of it?
12. Have you truly created different and compelling images in the scene to help you show, not tell, the story? Or is this primarily a visual sequence of talking heads? If the latter, what new visual imagery can you build into the script?
13. Are you revealing the story as a sequence of different steps, or do you keep repeating the same story over and over?
14. Am you emotionally moved in some way by this scene? If not, what can you do to change that?
Related tools in this guide. You can use any exercise in any section of this guide to shake up your material and make new discoveries about your story. Scenic problems often can be traced back to characters who need more development. To address this issue, go to the “Developing Your Character” section and try “Character Interview,” “Beyond Belief,” “The Imperfect Character,” or
“Objects of Interest.”
WRAP-UP
This has been an in-depth analysis of one scene. Not every scene requires this level of scrutiny. Much story development will happen instinctively as you live in the moment with your characters. However, these questions may be helpful when you reach a stumbling block or don’t know which way to head next.
Writing a story is a process that involves both creativity and analysis. If you are only creative, you may construct some great dramatic moments but end up with a script that doesn’t hold the audience from beginning to end. If you are only analytical, you may create a logical sequence of events but end up with a script that has no emotional impact or life. Find the right balance between creativity and analysis, and you will be on the way toward writing a great story.
Related tools in The Dramatic Writer’s Companion. To continue exploring script issues, go to “Fixing Common Script Problems” at the end of the guide.
GLOSSARY
Following are definitions of key terms used in Will Dunne’s books for dramatic writers. While you may already be familiar with many of these terms, they are included here because their definitions highlight many of the dramatic principles underlying guide exercises.
act. A major unit of dramatic action that is typically composed of scenes and ends with a significant change, or reversal, in the dramatic journey. Most full-length plays today are structured in two acts; most full-length screenplays are structured in three acts.
