Character Want - Story Analysis

Saying the theme of your story is "hope" or "love" or "friendship" "etc" or this that and the other and inserting, rewriting scenes to reflect this has the same NEGATIVE EFFECT

As the writer who says "I want to have a scene where the main character runs into a burning building, it explodes, he walks out all badass, then there is a car chase, then the girl he wants fucks him. etc" and inserts, rewrites scenes to reflect that.

Whenever you write outside of following a characters want, and how it reflects and deflects other character's wants, the story will suffer.

The Big Lebowski - Character Arc

First off I think "character arc" is a misleading term.

I like to think in terms of character growth and character change.

The "Dude" is a pacifist.

He takes up the opposite stance "To take a Stand"

Having been a part of the shit storm that "taking a stand" leads him on...

He returns to his pacifism


Is this character growth?  - I think so.  I think he learned that who he is, is who he should be.  It's a confirmation of his original beliefs.

I think we the audience/reader like it is, 1) it's funny to see a pacifist take a stand 2) we empathize with a character who agrees to put his belief system aside to try someone else's


Now at the start of the movie you've got The father Walter, The mother "Dude", and the child Donnie.

In another movie version you would have The father i.e. Walter replaced by Maude but because of her feminist stance she wants no part of the Dude in their unborn childs life.

The "unborn child and the Dude" replaces "Donnie and the dude's" relationship.

Is this character change? - No.  Not technically.  The dude does not form a new relationship with Maude.

That said I think we the audience/reader are okay with it is because we see that Maude will be fine on her own as a single mother.  And we probably wouldn't want the Dude being responsible for a child.

After seeing how the man rolls, well, it's probably best he just abides.  And takes it easy.

thinking about screenwriting

"But, as I have just suggested, I believe that the practice of writing consists in more and more relegating all that schematic operation to the subconscious. The critic that is in every fabulist is like the iceberg—nine-tenths of him is under water. Yeats warned against probing into how and why one writes; he called it “muddying the spring.” He quoted Browning’s lines:

Where the apple reddens never pry—

Lest we lose our Edens, Eve and I."

Trying to be Coy - Screenwriting

Fuck being mysterious.  You've got to show what you intend.  Put it right in their face.

"In a movie, I don’t know. If you do it merely “suggestively,” it’s a cop-out."

This goes again with the idea that whatever your logline is about must be in that first scene.

It's about this character dealing with this obstacle trying to get this want.

All of that should be in the first scene.   Don't hold back for the "inciting incident"  or the "second act plot point"

Don't hold anything back.  let the want and obstacle start right off the bat and let it play itself out.

Don't try to be a magician.  It's a rare thing to need a prologue as in the Sixth Sense.

And even that element didnt come about until the fifth draft.

Writing Movies - How hard is it?

"They don’t ­realize that the format is nothing any child couldn’t do, any child with a visual sense, a visual attitude, and a basic familiarity with movies."

Always must remind myself that a decent movie can be written between 9 - 12 days.


Anything longer is the writer's personality obstructing the work.

Exclamation Points - END OF ACT

At the end of an Act - sometimes there is a moment with the main character, set to music, sometimes in slow motion, that adds a little flair of "fuck ya I just did that"  or "Fuck, I just did that"  or "Fuck, here we go"

French New Wave

Godard - essentially all about Sound.  This allows for jump cuts and lyrical dialog.

Truffaut - biography, autobiography, documentary

Ray Bradbury - Quote

"Style is truth. Once you nail down what you want to say about yourself and your fears and your life, then that becomes your style and you go to those writers who can teach you how to use words to fit your truth. "

From this interview:

http://www.theparisreview.org/interviews/6012/the-art-of-fiction-no-203-ray-bradbury

HERO's Journey - Screenwriting

A Hero doesn't start out as such.

Meaning, you don't make your main character a Hero until the end of the story.

Until he has made Heroic choices does he become a Hero.

At the beginning of a story every character is equal.

Screenwriting - Know Your Audience

Is your story intended for good people or bad people?

Are you writing this story because you want bad people to see how their actions effect others?

Are you writing this story because you want good people to see how their actions effect others?

Intent - Intentions - Your Audience - Screenwriting

Well, I think the intent of my stories is to teach those people who suffer from the same weakness my flawed characters suffer from, and for them to see the negative effects these flaws can have on others,

How to write a STRONG NARRATIVE movie

1) make the first scene, the scene in which the story want is setup.  It can be "the" want or a "similar want" i.e. Indiana Jones - first scene in Ark Indiana is trying to get an artifact.  It's the "same" thing as the "ark"  Man going after rare, dangerous, artifacts.

2) write down for yourself exactly what the story you want to tell is.
Don't just say "Comedy"  or "a good story."  Nothing in general.
i.e. "A dark comedy about a Police officer who wants to stop killer.  But the killer is his father and they are best friends"  Write down something specific like that so you know when you're going off course.  You can use that line when you do rewrites.  And don't waiver from that line once you start working on the story.

Goals and the Premise

Whatever it is you Pitch to someone about your story should be there in the first scene.

Whatever you say your main characters goal is, should be established in the first scene.

Don't make the audience/reader sit around, waiting for the goal and premise to enter the story.

Interview with a Screenwriter - Gary Ross

Gary Ross - Big, Dave, Pleasantville

Talks about his writing process and the writing process in general

http://www.uncleanarts.com/writing/interviews/gary-ross-page-2.htm

Screenwriting - Have something to say

What does it mean to have something to say?

When writing a story, you will invariably be putting stuff in there that presents an opinion.

Now the opinion revolves around a behavior.

A behavior in a specific situation.

Here's the wrong way to "say something"

you might say "Drinking alcohol is bad."

Now this opinion would be "messagey" "preachy" "propaganda".  Why?  Because it's general.

here's the right way to "Say something"  and to say it through multiple connected scenes.

"drinking Alcohol at your pals party is bad when your wife is at home alone and there is a killer on the loose in your neighborhood."
"drinking alcohol is bad when your driving."
"Drinking alcohol is bad when your supposed to be helping your kid with his homework"

Throw in a scene where drinking alcohol is good to balance it out.
A single guy, drinking alcohol, stops a man from beating up his girlfriend.
A single guy saying "thank god i was drinking or i wouldn't have found the courage to stop that asshole"


There is a time and a place for every behavior.  Your job is to show that balance.

An interesting aspect of writing is that you don't need to know what you want to say before you start.

As you show a character going after their goal, that character should be showing you his/her consistent behaviors.

Everytime he's takes another action toward reaching his goal he does what behavior?

WES ANDERSON and OWEN WILSON'S RUSHMORE - Failure to develop Character Need

Why does Max Fischer want Ms. Cross?

What is Max Fischer's Need?

I would suggest two motivations:
-to impress the boys of rushmore academy
-she fulfills the missing place his dead mother left

Neither of which were developed in the story.

Considering Max falls for a kindergarten teacher I think the Need would have most likely been the teacher fulfilling the role his dead mother played.

The last image of Max and Ms. Cross dancing fails to provide any meaning because the character need was never developed.

There is an analogy to Vietnam.  A war that could not be won to Max's desire to win Ms. Cross's heart.

So perhaps there could have been something about his mom and him dancing, a picture or a memory or a line of dialog...

And perhaps when he does dance with Ms. Cross he realizes that just as in vietnam, that war can't be one, that she is not his mother and that no one will replace her.

Character Need - Screenwriting

Character Need is just another way of saying Motivation.

Writers fail to blow their readers out of the water when they fail to develop the characters need.

How to develop the character's need?

While going after the characters want....

You must keep asking, "why they want this goal?"

Once you get through the first draft, go back and think about why they want the goal.

What patterns of behavior do you see that conflict, that create obstacles for the character?

What character is missing from their life?  What character is infringing on their life?

What do other characters want from your character?

Just like the audience, writers go into the story blindly.  Our goal is to find the need, the motivation, the selfish desire the "character want" will give them.

The motivation will be specific just like the character want.

The character doesn't want money.  He wants the money in that vault.
He doesn't need a big house full of women.  He needs that whore house with those women who remind him of his sisters.

Remember "Need" revolves around character relationships.  Motivation is the glue that bonds characters.

"Want" is the external person place or thing they think will give them their selfish need.

You start with the Want and end at the Need.

Writing is simply finding motivation.  Finding the need.

Be Hannibal Lector.

Hannibal wanted to find Clarice Starlings Need.  He wanted to find her motivation.

Once he found it he told her how to get what she wanted, Buffalo Bill.

Screenwriting - Want and Need

A character has a Want -

The want is meaningless

"I want a box of condoms"

A character has a Need

The need gives meaning.

"I want to give the box of condoms to my daughter so that she doesn't get pregnant or sick."

The "character need" is also called motivation, co-want, relationship connector, etc.

Now if the need is selfish, you may be talking about the antagonist.

"I want to use the condoms on escorts while my wife is at home with our sick child."

So, the want is always meaningless

and the need gives the meaning

The need gives the relationship connection

Piecing Your Story - Screenwriting

When you start dissecting your story into plot lines and elements like protag and antag - you may well just be fucking yourself.


Just follow their wants in a believable manner.

And don't lock onto one character as if they are your baby.  You may get two thirds of the way into the story and realize the character you thought was the protag is not.

Saying this character is good and this character is bad before you've seen their actions will harm your work.

You can't spell analyze without anal and that's where the crap comes from.

END OF ACT 2 - SCREENWRITING

At the end of Act 2 a character has a change of heart.  And will change relationships.  Will bond with another.

or break an existing bond with another.

They next take a step that tips the scales and leads to the end of the story.

This could be a protag, antag, or third shadow character

Screenwriting the O'natural Way

There is a formula to screenwriting.  Thank God it happens to fulfill itself organically when you let your characters go after what they want.

Sure, at the midpoint of your story shits going to hit the fan.  But you don't need to think about what that will be and put it in.  There is a natural order of things when characters go after what they want.

Amen.

Antagonist - Protagonist

Make it clear what each WANTS.

And don't forget that each has a  WANT and a symbiotic CO-WANT

In other words, a WANT and a NEED
In other words, a WANT and a MOTIVATION

The WANT revolves around a person, place, or thing.
The CO-WANT revolves around a person place or thing.

One character says, "I want to put up a picture of my dead mother."
Another character says. "No.  There will be no pictures of her in this house."

That's WANT

Here's CO-WANT
One character says, "I want people to remember her when they are here.  She was a strong woman and made us who we are.  I want to keep that dignified personality alive here."
Another character says, "I want people to forget about her.  She was a bitch. I want to let loose in the house and not think of her looking over my shoulder."

1) Picture of mom
2) Loose Personalities vs. dignified personalities

And the CO-WANT should suggest a relationship conflict BEYOND the protag and antag.

Your Genre

Ever try writing in a genre that you love but it just feels so hard to do?

The genre that I love, is hard for me to write in.  The exact opposite of that genre is what I'm good at writing.

I think I'm attracted to the first genre because it's the opposite of my personality.  But I think that when we write the genre we're good at, and it may seem boring and uninteresting to you, we write well.  because the genre we are good at is a metaphor for what we dislike in ourselves.

the more your write within and about what bothers you, what your ego does not like, the better the writing.

poop.

Character Want - Screenwriting

In your character's voice say, "I want this... so that I can do this..."

For example:

"I want to buy an SUV so that my kids are safe on the road" is perfectly understandable reason but it doesn't suggest a relationship conflict.

"I want to buy an SUV so that my kids are safe on the road AND I can impress that guys wife."

That suggests a relationship conflict.

motivation, reasoning must suggest a relationship conflict.  That is what a story's "aboutness" will be about.

I want to put this want over that want and to do it I want to buy, steal, take, borrow, etc. this thing.

"I want to steal this bike because it will be fun to ride." = no story
"I want to steal this bike because I hate that nigger."  = story
"I want to steal this bike because my dad won't buy me one"  = story
"I want to steal this bike because I like stealing." = close, but no story
"I like stealing"  is generic "I like stealing from people."  Getting better.  "I like stealing from people who are rich in my eyes." - Even better.
"I like stealing from that guy who lives across from my uncles house because he's got nice stuff and I want nice stuff so that I can impress that girl who lives down the block." - = seed to a story

now the other half of the story arises while writing.

it's the other want that lies dormant that begins to show up.

like - I want to steal to impress that girl, but(and) I want to...  you can't make the second part up before you write the story.  you have to write for that second want to show up.

Screenwriting - Denial of Voices

Have you ever decided while you were writing that you were not going to have a certain character in your story?

For example, you might say well in this story I don't want there to be any news reporters.  Or I don't want the cops to be involved.

But while your writing, your intuition is saying that "if this thing happened, the police would know about it".

Don't deny that voice.  Don't deny that character.

If your intuition says that character should come into play, then you've got to do it.  Your intellect can't stop what your intuition wants.  You got to play fair.  And you'll see it makes the story better.

Stories are about two characters battling over something and sometimes it may be that voice you're denying, that ends up tip the balance and ending the story.

Screenwriting - Three Characters

Protagonist vs. antagonist

Hero Vs. Villain

Good guy Vs. Bad Guy

but, in the shadows, in the shadows lurks a third character.

And when that third character shows up

they tip the scales

and the end draws near.

SCREENWRITING - THE ACT

Does it satisfy your soul or your ego?

theme

After years and I mean years of trying various writing methods with Theme in mind, I have subscribed to the idea that the most useful Theme is the situation itself.

Focusing your story by following a character in a situation and staying with that situation will indubitably UNIFY the story.  And will, in the end, say something whether you like it or not.

And here are two quotes I found on the internet that reinforce this idea.

"The experienced dramatist or screenwriter seldom begins with a theme, or attempts to fashion a story in order to present a philosophical position, which might be called a thesis. This method leads to clichés, propaganda, and lifeless characters; because all the human issues of the drama have been subordinated to this thesis the author is out to prove. Instead, an accomplished screenwriter creates characters and situations, and then chooses a culmination and resolution that seem right and satisfactory to his own feelings about the subject matter. In other words, a good screenwriter lets the theme take care of itself. The theme thus becomes not some point to be proven, but the subject matter itself, that aspect of human existence this story will explore."

"Another aspect of theme to keep in mind is that it applies to the entirety of the screenplay, not just to the protagonist."

shawshank redemption....again

Theme of shawshank redemption - "making a go of it"  "love the one your with"
"adjust to your surroundings" BUT "don't lose yourself while doing it"

Why Screenwriting

"Researching her life before her illness so that the reader might fall in love with my mother before the disease wrenched her away, attempting to allow the reader to value our loss and, in turn, understand our "dramatic struggle.""

Showing what the main character values and showing it gone in context of their world.

ReWriting

ten times less likely to change or rewrite scenes when you follow a want as apposed to describing a want.

get into the conflict right off the bat and decide on the tone of the conflict.

Screenplay Form(structure)

Let your characters create the form with their actions and relationships.

Letting go of your Story World - Screenwriting without a parachute

If you have the ability to put your desires for what's in your story aside, you've got a fantastic shot at writing something that's really alive.