antagonist

Hardhats required beyond this point

Maximum Z antagonist, characters, Dave Trottier, guidelines, plot, protagonist, rewrite, rules, scenes, screenwriting, script, story, storytelling, structure, theme, writing , ,
Safety goggles are optional, but typing in work gloves is darned near impossible
Safety goggles are optional, but typing in work gloves is darned near impossible

This is a time of overlap, chums.

The final wrap-up of the western spec draws closer, despite realizing a new wrinkle – I need to show what happens to one of my supporting characters, rather than tossing that info out via a line of dialogue. This will also require a little set-up somewhere in the latter half of Act Two, but I think I’ve found a good spot for it.  Then off it goes into the digital waiting room that is my hard drive.

As that door closes, the one into the rewrite of the mystery-comedy spec reopens. As much as I’d like to really jump into it, this is definitely going to require baby steps and lots and lots of planning. Since it’s been a very long time since I read it, I opted to start completely fresh, which meant figuring out my plot points.

I can’t recommend this enough. It doesn’t matter if you’re starting a new story or rewriting an old one: KNOW YOUR PLOT POINTS!

You know that expression about how a screenplay is like a blueprint for a building? Think of the plot points as the load-bearing support beams that hold everything up. Without them, everything will come crashing down.

So get yourself a blank page and, based on how well you know your story, jot down the following:

page 3 – statement of theme. You may not know it when you start, but having a general idea about it can help shape the story AND influence each scene
page 10 – inciting incident. Serves multiple purposes – gets your main story started, shakes up your protagonist’s world, raises the main question of the story
page 17 – a little twist in the action that continues to push your protagonist out of their comfort zone
Act 1 turning point – your protagonist enters a totally new environment; the main story question is once again raised
page 45 – another twist for your protagonist
Midpoint/Point of No Return – your protagonist becomes fully committed to achieving their goal
page 75 – another twist (yes, seems redundant, but each one of these has to make things harder for your protagonist)
Act 2 turning point – ALL IS LOST. Looks like your protagonist has no chance whatsoever of reaching their goal
Climax – your protagonist starts to turn things around, leading to a final showdown with the antagonist
Resolution – main story and assorted subplots are tied up
Denouement – how the protagonist’s life is different now

(For some great examples of these from well-known films, check out Dave Trottier’s THE SCREENWRITER’S BIBLE.)

Something else to keep in mind – MAKE SURE YOUR PROTAGONIST IS THE ONE DRIVING THE ACTION! Why would we be interested in a passive main character who just reacts to things, or even worse, does nothing at all?  Your protagonist should always have to go with the harder of two choices – don’t look for the easy way out.

Don’t get frustrated if you can’t figure it all out right away. You’re creating an original story, which isn’t easy to begin with. Take your time and think your way through it at your own pace.  Ask yourself “What’s the best way to get from HERE to HERE?”

Once you know your plot points, then it’s on to the fun stuff: filling in the spaces between them.

Odds, ends & everything in-between

Maximum Z adventure, antagonist, Bruce Campbell, contest, conventions, Disney, Movie of the Moment, Sam Raimi, screenwriting, script, Tracking Board, Wondercon, writer's block, writing
A little of everything for all tastes
A little of everything for all tastes

It’s spring break this week, so script progress has been somewhat limited, but at least it’s still happening.  In the meantime…

-Had an unusual case of writer’s block yesterday. Scene notes in the outline had the main character asking something completely out of the blue, and I didn’t want that. Just couldn’t fix it, so rather than sit and stew in frustration, I stepped away. Potential solutions have been brewing ever since.

-Been reading some great material from assorted gurus – check out recent scribblings from Lee Jessup, Erik Bork and Michele Wallerstein. Each has some info and comments worth hearing.

-For all my fellow Passover celebrants, do NOT be misled by the way Manischewitz portrays its products on the packaging. Just about every one of their items tastes the same, no matter what it looks like. Trust me on this one.

-Seriously considering entering DREAMSHIP in the Tracking Board’s Launchpad contest. deadline is Sunday night. Details here.

-2nd year in a row of not being able to attend Wondercon this weekend in Anaheim. It’s usually here, but the idiots who run the venue can’t get their act together so it’s down in SoCal again. Hope fading it’ll return for 2014.

-Movie of the Moment:  Since it’s spring break, V and I had a double feature yesterday.  First up was OZ THE GREAT & POWERFUL (2013). Liked it, but didn’t love it. Thought it felt kind of sluggish in parts.

And you know how an antagonist’s goal is supposed to be contrary to that of the protagonist?  Didn’t really get that here. If they really wanted to stop Oz, wouldn’t they have been more active, rather than just sitting around?

Still, nice to see Sam Raimi include Bruce Campbell’s obligatory cameo, and I think I figured out where the 1973 Oldsmobile Delta 88 made its appearance (courtesy of a teaser from Campbell himself at a personal appearance a few weeks ago).

-Second movie was JOURNEY 2: THE MYSTERIOUS ISLAND (2012)  Never saw the first film – JOURNEY TO THE CENTER OF THE EARTH, but this looked like something V would like, and she did. Family-friendly Disney-esque adventure with some honest laughs (courtesy of Dwayne Johnson and Luis Guzman). Not a bad choice for family movie night.

-As always, what are you working on this weekend?

Going for that streamlined look

Maximum Z antagonist, creativity, editing, outlines, podcasts, productivity, protagonist, rewrite, scenes, screenwriting, story, structure, westerns, writing ,
No, no. The car.
No, no. The car. Aw, never mind.

With most of the querying out of the way, I’m now focusing on two things: getting the podcast up and running, and fine-tuning the western outline.

There’s not much to say about the podcast, except it just hasn’t been a priority. I could have spent more time on it, but opted to get the queries out, which was very time-consuming. It’s looking more likely now to be a February launch.  Stay tuned for more details.

Regarding the outline rewrite, although I had a pretty solid outline already done, it still needs a lot of work.  Up first: tightening things up.  There are just too many scenes.

Using the existing outline, I’m now figuring out ways to move story details and plot points around so everything moves along faster.

For example: the earlier draft didn’t really introduce the villain until around page 17 (he’d been lurking around in the shadows up until then). I’ve since moved things around and now he shows up around page 4, which also includes a follow-up scene to show just what kind of a bad guy he is.

There was also the decision whether or not two scenes could be combined into one. I’ve gone back and forth on this. Scene 1 advances the story/continues to set things in motion, while Scene 2 provides some backstory about the connection between the hero and the villain. Although each has merit on their own, I’ll probably remain undecided up until the end.

Happy to say I’m still enjoying the whole thing.

-Movie of the Moment Two-fer!: THE OTHER GUYS (2010)   I don’t really care for a lot of Will Ferrell’s films, but this caught me totally off-guard. It was actually funny and had a good story. Surprisingly entertaining.

MIDNIGHT IN PARIS (2011) Another clever film from Woody Allen. Probably doesn’t hurt that I love Paris too. Kind of wish he’d write characters other than those from the upper classes.

Darn my stubbornness

Maximum Z antagonist, creativity, feedback, Mary and Max, rewrite, screenwriting, The Matrix, writing
My eyes have been opened. No pill necessary.

I’m getting over a nasty bout of some kind of respiratory virus, which at one point included a fever of 104.1, thereby completely nullifying my ability to do just about anything. I was hoping to utilize the time being laid up to work on the rewrite, but it’s kind of difficult when your head feels hotter than the surface of the sun.

Over the weekend, I got some helpful feedback from a trusted colleague. This was a repeat evaluation for him, and he again raised some points about the antagonist and the way she acted. At first, I basically glossed over his comments, most likely because I didn’t necessarily agree with them.

But his words gnawed at me. If he had issues with that, who’s to say a potential future interested industry-connected person wouldn’t say the exact same thing?  It’s up to me to make this thing as tight, connected and bulletproof as possible, so any criticism needs to be taken into consideration.

Since my health wasn’t exactly around 100 percent, and it was easier to read then to actually write, I went through the sequence he was talking about. I read through it not as the person who wrote it, but as a reader/audience member going in blind.

And of course, he was right.  Why would the antagonist do these things? It made no sense.  That and a two-scene sequence that the more I thought about, didn’t seem to serve much of a purpose. So out that went as well.

Suffice to say, a mini-rewrite is in progress.  It’ll take a little bit of effort to work my way through this, but as usually happens, the new end result will (in theory) be stronger, more effective and just improve things overall.  At first I was annoyed that I had to go through this, but upon reflection, anything that has to be done to improve the script is necessary and should always been seen as a positive rather than a negative.

Hopefully, it won’t take too long.

-Movie of the Moment – MARY AND MAX (2009). Don’t let the animation fool you – this ain’t no kids film. This claymation feature from Australia deals with adult subjects such as depression and mental illness.  The title refers to 8-year-old Mary, growing up lonely and ignored in the suburbs of Melbourne, who becomes pen pals with 44-year-old Max, living alone and afraid in New York City.  Their relationship spans 20 years as we get to see the impact each has on the other’s life during that time.

This description really can’t do the story justice; it’s one of those films you have to see for yourself. Highly recommended for adults, NOT recommended for kids.  This has also got to be one of the most heart-wrenchingly sad movies you may ever see (if you don’t cry at the end, then you just have no soul), but at times can also be extremely hilarious.  It leans more towards black humor, so if that’s not your thing, you might not enjoy it as much.

>Insert diabolical laughter here<

Maximum Z antagonist, conflict, creativity, ideas, Monty Python, outlines, protagonist, rewrite, screenwriting, westerns
Followed immediately by this. Sorry. Couldn’t resist.

 

I vowed to get to the end of Act Two, and by gosh, I did. And then some. This really is the “all seems lost” moment for my protagonist. I had to make sure it seemed like she has no way whatsoever of reaching her goal, and that’s how it’s playing out so far.  How in the world is she going to get out of this exceptionally insurmountable situation? Which is exactly what I want you to think.

(Actually, you should be thinking that in every scenario for anybody’s script.)

While it’s fun to put the whole story together, I get a certain joy from devising what kind of obstacles to keep throwing into the mix. Taking this one step further, after I come up with the problem, I have to figure out how my hero gets out of each scrape. And since this is a Western, there’s a whole lot to choose from.

Those who know me personally would not hesitate to call me a nice person. “Still a boy scout,” even. But when it comes to developing the bad guys? Hello, dark side! From somewhere deep within the far reaches of my mind, I’m able to conjure up actions and characters most sinister.  The harder I make the conditions for my hero, the more interesting the story gets.

I want my hero to succeed, right? Then they have to go through hell in order to do that. And it’s up to me as the creator of this particular world to devise every hellish detail and solution.

If the prospect of doing this doesn’t make you giddy, then you’re in the wrong business.

Next up: keeping you on the edge of your seat while wrapping it all up in Act Three.