How the quadratic formula relates to screenwriting and character

Old Pythagoras gave us the Quadratic formula:

f(y) = ax²+bx + c

Here I'm going to relate that to how we define a Character in a story.

a = their Conflict and it is squared or amplified by their internal and external problems.
b = their How.  Their how is their unique way of approaching and try to reach their goal.
c = their Goal.  This is their want.

Character = Conflict(Internal fear and external pressures) + How(their personal style) + Goal

Fiction Vs. Non-Fiction

Here lies the fundamental similarities and differences of fiction and non-fiction books:

Just finished reading a non-fiction book.  It's called DIRT.  It's about SOIL and how human agricultural methods have been eroding it since the dawn of agriculture.  It's led to the collapse of past civilizations and could be our demise as well.

It's about logic.  It showcases cause and effect of human activity on physical objects.

A fiction book example:  A guy spends an amazing night with a girl.  She pursues him after that one night of passion but he keeps rebuffing her.  He ends up dating her but sleeps around and treats her like garbage.  For reasons dispelled in the book he can't find the ability to love a woman.  He's been hurt by a past lover and won't let his heart be broken again.

It's about emotion.  It showcases how a man cannot let this woman or real love into his life because of a prior painful breakup.  It shows how old emotional wounds have hurt his soul and how they could happen again.

Both book types explore relationships.  However both explore them through different lenses.

Non-Fiction uses LOGIC.
Fiction uses EMOTION.

In Non-fiction writers use scientific data.  Such as from 1900-1950 over two feet of topsoil has eroded from the state of Kansas.(this is not true but using to prove point)

In Fiction writers use emotional data. Such as Tim's former girlfriend left him for her boss two years ago and he's never really gotten over it.  He's dated and slept with 16 women since then and sometimes he's dating more than one at a time.

Both types of writing can leave the reader wandering what will happen.
In Non-fiction the writer may say "Governments are now working to make X and Y policy to combat soil erosion.  Or Governments have yet to do anything about this problem.  Or as of this writing Governments have enacted a policy and soil erosion is reversing.

In Fiction a writer may have the main character give love a shot by the end of the story.  They may not let the character give it a shot.   It depends on how the writer wants the story to end.  If the writer feels like cheating is something that will ruin people than they may end it on that sour note.  If the writer feels like cheating is something that can be overcome then they may end it on a more positive note.

The ending a of a non-fiction book is based on past and current data.  It doesn't much matter what the author feels should happen.

The ending of a fiction book is based on how the author feels.

Beating the drum of Relationships

They're is a saying: "Your character is defined not by what you say but what you do."

But that's not the only way for us, as screenwriters, to define our characters.

Here's an interesting quote from a book that explores the subject of ecology.

"Humans are not specially privileged species but mere nodes in the grand web of life, properly defined more by their relationships to other species than by their individual characteristics."
- Rambunctious Garden - Emma Marris - 2011

When we surround our main characters with others, we are defining who they are - their economic means and their dominance or lack of dominance.  Through dialog and action we can contrast them against other characters to create a clear picture.

Character Vs. Characterization - Screenwriting

What is characterization?  It's the way a character walks, the tone of their voice, the clothes they wear, the transportation they use, etc.

What is character?  Character is more elusive to me.  It's motivation.  It's desire.  And expressing those can be hard to do.  Sometimes I write a scene or some dialog and move on and when I'm sitting around thinking about it, I think, "Crap, am I clearly expressing character here or just writing something that's characterization?"  I tend to write fast and without a clear intention.  So I have to go back and reread and cut and change anything that seems superfluous.  

Screenwriting - Writing Tip

"A play can start with an image that can be as simple as two people in a room and I begin to ask questions about who they are in relation to one another."  - Donald Margulies

 A screenplay can also start that way.  But the main point I take from the above quote is asking "Who characters are in relation to one another."  I like to think of my characters as people.  I like to be sincere about who they are and what the want and why they want it.  A clear simple character can hook me and watching them deal with extraordinary or even ordinary issues can hook me too.

Does your Screenplay make an Emotional Argument? - Let's see!

When you write your screenplay...does your character's motivation make sense?

Probably.

But your readers aren't connecting with them?

Why?

Chances are your main character's reason for striving toward their goal is firmly based on logic.  And logic makes sense but doesn't make emotion.

Consider two examples:

Logic - A son wants his father to include him in his will because he's running his father's business and he could use the inheritance to expand the business.

Emotion - A son wants his father to include him in his will because he is his father's son.

The first example makes sense and is reasonable.

The second example makes sense and is unreasonable.  You can't argue logically with the line "Because I am your son."  The irony is that motivation such as that is a catalyst, a firecracker engine for drama/comedy.  The less the motivation is reasonable the more conflict you can draw from it.

Passion and emotion cause conflict, they get us into wars, they provide the juice and blood that fuel great screenplays.

Think about this:
When your upset...how do you calm down?  Using reason.

Don't let a reasonable motivation calm your screenplay down and snuff the flame that will connect your readers to your story.

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.

Character Vs. Plot

What we have in other words is Character Vs. Tools.

I think one reason we outline is because we fear that the Tools will lose this battle if we write from page one without knowing where we'll be on page 10.

The tools create the interesting set pieces, they create the interesting visuals, the interesting battles, and so on.

However when we write from an outline, we lose the interesting ways in which characters relate to each other.  The ways they hurt and help each other.

attracting an audience

We are attracted to 1)characters and 2) tools.
We are not attracted to structure.

Characters - relationship problems
Tools - how they are used, magic

Stories

Stories are simply about a character that doesn't fit in with others