Which Comes First? The Structure or the Story?

I tried out the 5 Act structure and was excited to see how it played out. It helped me to rearrange some things in the script and put them in a better order. It also helped me identify where the script was lacking. I think just viewing the script from a little different angle was helpful. However, what it didn't do, is help me fill in those gaps where the script is lacking.

After playing with the 5 Act structure for a while I discovered that it's not much different from the four act structure that I'd been using. Scenes and sequences build from the least amout of tension to the most amount of tension until they reach a climax and a resolution. And that fact remains true no matter how you stack it. 4 acts, 5 acts, 8 acts 12 acts, still true.

I think I've been going at this all wrong. I think I've been concentrating on the structure too early. I've been trying to cram my story and my characters into a particular structure. Maybe I need to develope the story and the characters first then tweek the structure to fit them. Or maybe I have been thinking of the structure as a solid brick foundation on which to build a story, when I need to think of it more like a flexible skeleton. I don't know which it is.

I think part of my problem is that this is basically a rewrite. This is a story that I started, got lost in, then put aside. Now I'm picking it back up with all the preconceived ideas from the first draft. I know I should be looking at it with fresh eyes, but it's like the judge telling the jury to disreguard that last statement. Too late! I already have the visual! Now I have this horrible script, okay it's not horrible, it has potential, I think it has lots of potential, but it plays out in my head a certain way and I'm having trouble seeing it play out any other way.

I'd like to tell myself to just put it aside and come back to it again later. But, been there! Done that! I took 5 or 6 months away from this script to write the last one. Crap!

Is it possible that some stories just don't want to be told? Nah! I just haven't figured out how to tell it. But I will. So help me, I will!

Round Peg, Maybe?

I've been having a hard time getting the middle of this screenplay figured out. I feel like I'm pounding square pegs into round holes. I just can't get things to work out.

But I may be onto something now.

So far I've always worked with a 4 Act structure. Basically a Sid Field 3-Act structure with the screenplay divided into 4 30-minute sections with a plot point at the end of the first three and a resolution at the end of the fourth.

Act 1 - plot point at 30 minutes
First half of Act 2 - midpoint at 60 minutes
Second half of Act 2 - plot point at 90 minutes
Act 3 - resolution at 120 minutes

1 2 3 4, looks like four acts to me. I've never understood why Mr. Field doesn't just call a spade a spade, but that's beside the point, his basic theory works, sometimes.

Like I said, this screenplay isn't cooperating and I'm starting to think it may be because I'm trying to cram it into the wrong structure.

I remember the 5 act Dramatic structure from a college Lit class; Exposition, Rising Action, Climax, Falling Action and Denouement; but I have never found it useful in writing screenplays. While looking through the Wordplay archives I ran across two unrelated posts that helped me to see that 5-act structure differently. One post refered to the 5 Acts as Thesis, Antithesis, Crisis, Climax and Denouement, which for some reason clicks with me better than rising and falling actions. Another post also used 5 acts and shortened each act; 30 mins, 25 mins, 20 mins, 15 mins, 10 mins; to increase the pacing.

So we have:

Act 1 - Thesis - 30 mins
Act 2 - Antithesis - 25 mins (55 total)
Act 3 - Crisis - 20 mins (75 total)
Act 4 - Climax - 15 mins (90 total)
Act 5 - Denouement - 10 mins (100 total)

Tweek the minutes to 30, 30, 25, 20, and 15, or something similar, to get a 120 minute screenplay.

Wow! I like this! I get this! And it may be just what I need to work out the problems I'm having with that annoying middle. Have I just discovered a round peg? I don't know. I'm off to try it out.

Skipped the Middle

Well, I said I was moving on to Act 2, but I lied. I moved on to the end so I know what direction I need to be moving in Act 2. So now I have the beginning and the most of the ending worked out. I have some of the conflict in the middle figured out but I'm still stymied on other parts. I'm hoping things will just click into place, I love it when that happens, but if it doesn't I'll keep plugging away at it. I'm going to say I'm about 60% complete with the Pondering and Organizing stages.

Recipe for Conflict

I've sent a couple of scripts off for coverage. Both times they came back saying, "Needs more conflict." Sounded easy enough at first, but it turned out to be about as helpful as telling me I need to bake a cake without telling me how to bake it. I had no idea how to create conflict where there was none without it seeming forced.

I finally saw a glimmer of understanding when I read this article titled "The Task" by Terry Rossio. In it he says your character needs a Goal which is usually positive, noble and desirous. The character then needs Tasks which are those undesirable things that need to be done in order to complete the Goal. Ah ha. I don't need to create conflict. I need to give my charaters crappy things to do or put them in crappy situations and the conflict will create itself. Conflict is just a result. I need a source. I need the ingredients. So I set out to find them. This is what I've found so far.

Recipe for Conflict

1) Take one or more characters

2) Add the following - the more the better.
a. an undesirable task
b. a problem with no obvious solution
c. Circumstances that prevent the character from doing what he must
d. Circumstances that give the character no choice but to do something he hates (lie, hurt someone, do something immoral)
e. to feel helpless or incapable
f. to loose hope
g. a painful past or secret that must now be revealed
h. rotten luck
i. a tough decision
j. dilemmas where there is no good choice
k. opposite feelings or emotions felt simultaneously
l. then there's always things exploding, people shooting, cops or bad guys chasing, etc...
m. or any other nasty or undesirable place or situation or feeling you can think of

3) Mix together and see what happens.

A Little Two Steppin'

Just a quick update. I have the general story figured out now. I know what the protagonist wants. I know why she wants it and why it's going to be hard for her to achieve it. I know who the other characters are and I have a general idea of how they represent the different facets of the theme. I can see the path they are going to take and I have a few of the milemarkers in place, so now I'm doing the Screenwriting Two Step, A little Pondering, a little Organizing, a little thinking, a little structuring. I have Act one pretty much figured out so I'm saying the Pondering and Organizing stages are each 25% complete. Now it's on to Act 2 and building the conflict. Arrgghh.

Oh, The Joys of Rewriting

I spent the whole weekend tying to figure out what was wrong with the script. It's becoming my little problem child. I love it, but whew, some days!

Finally, it occured to me that I was revealing too much too soon. Little pieces of dialogue needed to be moved from one scene to the following scene involving those people. No problem. A little tweak here, another tweak there. Then I discovered that my climax was happening too soon also. How did that happen? And how did I not see that before? So two scenes needed to be completely rewriten. One scene needed the climax eliminated and the ending needed the climax added. Unbelievable!

It wasn't too hard to take out the climax of the first scene, but I really struggled with the new ending. I wracked my brain yesterday trying to come up with the right words, the right actions, the right emotions. I finally gave up and went to bed. I don't remember my muse whispering in my ear while I was sleeping, but he/she/it must have because I woke up this morning and wrote the new ending. Just like that. I had it finished by 8 am. God, I love it when that happens. Those little moments are what keep me in this game.

I'm off to celebrate my small victory by cleaning my house. It was neglected over the weekend and now it's nagging me. Tomorrow, it's back to script #2. Hopefully, all this nagging will stop and things will be a little quieter this time.

Nag, Nag, Nag!

I've been trying to work on this new script, but my last script, One Week, keeps nagging me. Something just isn't quite right with it. I've had a few ideas and did some tweaks here and there, but every tweak leads to another, then another, then another. I'm becoming obsessed with this thing. I feel like the key is just out of reach, like I almost know how to fix it. Hmm, my last post mentioned the same feeling. Maybe it's time for some Ginkgo Biloba.

What's a Premise?

My understanding of storytelling ebbs and flows. Some days I think I've got it. Other days it is a complete mystery. I think it's because of all the words associated with screenwriting and all the different definitions for each of those words.

A couple of years ago, I read Lajos Egri's The Art of Dramatic Writing. I was three quarters finished with the book when I thought, "Ooh, ooh, I think I get it. You start with the premise, then you create characters who will illustrate that premise by putting them in conflicts that are somehow related to the premise... Wait, what's a premise?" I felt like complete understanding was just outside my grasp, like that word that dances on the tip of your tongue. I went back and read chapter 1 PREMISE again. Aarrgghh! My near revelation farted, flew and fell like a balloon at a kid's bithday party.

I searched other books and websites and discovered that no two people in the universe agree on what a premise is. I put the screenwriting books away, got off the internet and got out my Webster's New World Dictionary.

Premise - n. a previous statement serving as a basis for an argument.

Not much help unless you think of your story as an argument. Hmm, that sounds vaguely familiar.

After reading everything I could find on the subject of Premise, I was still lost. So I went to work on Theme.

I came across this article where Terry Rossio talks about:

"A unified, worthwhile theme. Some compelling powerful truth that makes the
movie worth making."

"...each character can, in some way, reveal a facet of the overall theme."

"... let the villain articulate the theme."

"... let the subplot state the theme."

I'm getting that feeling again. I can almost touch it. After a few more chapters and a few more articles I was able to come up with my own definition of theme.

The Theme is your story narrowed down to one word.

... more or less. It's the broad universal idea or subject at the heart of you story that you, the writer, want to explore. The theme can usually be summed up in a few words, often just one. Many facets of the theme should be explored to avoid preaching or making a one-sided argument. (Hmm, there's that word again)

To explore the Facets of the Theme, I re-read Robert McKee's Story. Chapter 14 discusses contradictory values, contrary values, and the negation of the negation, what ever that is. I understood the general concept but the language gave me a headache, so after some thought, I came up with this. If you've read Story, you'll recognize some of the following.

The Theme and its Facets
Is your thesaurus handy?

#1 What is the Theme or subject of the story? It usually has a positive value, but it doesn’t have to. If you choose a subject with a negative value, keep that in mind as you complete the rest of the facets. Since many words have similar meaning, but different connotations, brainstorm the subject until you come up with the word that works best. Try to narrow your subject down to one word, but use any words that apply for the other categories.
(Ex. Free will, Liberty, Independence, Autonomy, Sovereignty, Emancipation, Freedom - I'll choose Freedom)

#2 What is the opposite of your the subject? If your subject is positive, this will be negative.
(Ex. Oppression, Restraint, Slavery, Imprisonment, Force, Restriction, Captivity, Bound, Incarceration)

#3 What is in between the two, neither positive nor negative?
(Ex. Rules, Freedom in some areas and restrictions in others)

#4 In a perfect world, what is the most positive value you can give the subject? This goes one step better than your subject. It may help to dig down deep inside yourself (Self-love, Self-truth, Self-made) or to think globally (Justice for all, Elimination of poverty,
(Ex. Complete Autonomy, Self-ruling)

#5 Under the worst conditions, how bad can the opposite get? Putting the word "self" in front of the opposite may help. (Self-hate or Self-deception) To lie or be lied to is bad, but it's even worse to lie to yourself. You can also start with the opposite, add the words "perceived as" or "masquerading as" then add the subject. (Failure perceived as Success - Selling out , or Hate masquerading as Love) You can defend yourself against Hate, but how do you defend yourself against Hate masquerading as Love?
(Ex. Self-enslavement, or Slavery masquerading as freedom)

Having your characters and subplots represent a different facet will assure that 1) your characters are not all made from the same mold, 2) that your Protagonist is faced with varying conflicts each related to the theme, and 3) the the theme is fully explored.

Also, while re-reading Story, I came to page 120 where he says, "In creating the dimensions of your story's "argument," take great care to build the power of both sides." "In other words, do not slant your "argument." There it is. The story IS an argument.

(In the margin of that same page I had written, "Don't preach- Tell both sides zealously, but end on your side." I must have been quoting someone, zealously is not a work I use very often. I don't know who said it, I couldn't find that McKee said it, but it's good advise and worth repeating.)

Armed with a working understanding of Theme and Facets, I took another look at Webster's definition of Premise.

The Premise is a statement (or a question) that serves as a basis for an argument.

Okay, so the Premise takes the general, universal Theme by the shoulders and points it in a particular direction by asking a question or making a statement about it. The story, the characters, the conflicts will all argue the validity of the statement or question until every side or facet has been evaluated and a conclusion can be drawn.

The Premise, then, is like a thesis statement in an essay. You make a thesis statement, usually in the first or second paragraph. Then every paragraph and every sentence that follows should work to prove your thesis. If it doesn't, it doesn't belong in your essay. The same is true for a premise. Every character, every conflict, every subplot, every bit of dialogue should work to answer the question or prove your point. Unlike a thesis statement, however, a Premise is implied through the actions and dialogue of the characters and not generally spoken outright. Remember, don't preach.
(Ex. How far will one go to maintain their freedom? Or Freedom at any cost.)

So how does all this work? Let's use Thema and Louise as an example.

You start with the general Theme:
Freedom

For the Premise, you make a statement or ask a question about that theme:
How far will one go to maintain their freedom? Or Freedom at any cost.

You assign each character or subplot a facet of the theme to be explored:
(Starting with the first goal of getting away for the weekend to be free, Thelma's oppressive husband, the forceful rapist and elimintaing his freedoms, then the second goal of making it to Mexico where they can remain free, the hitchhiking thief who steals their money and makes freedom impossible, the FBI guy who wants to incarcerate them and take their freedom for the next 20 or 30 years, the cop they forced and restrained in the trunk so they can be free, the rude trucker they just can't free themselves of, and ending with them on the ultimate road to freedom.)

Story, characters, goals, conflicts, subplots all tied to the theme, all becoming more challenging as the story progresses, and all working to answer the question or prove the point of the premise.

I could also argue that the Premise is "Men are pigs," since almost every scene works to prove that point, but I won't go there. Hey, don't yell at me, I didn't write it.

That's the way I see it anyway, feel free to disagree.

Well, there they are. My definitions of Theme and Premise. Today, anyway. Tomorrow I may ebb again and come up with brand new definitions to add to the thousands already in play.

Starting Over

Here we go. Time to start a new screenplay. I have a few screenplays that I started, got lost in, then put aside while I worked on something new. Since my goal is to write three screenplays this year, I had planned on picking up one of those old screenplays and trying it again. I thought it might save some time since some of the work is already done. It felt almost like cheating. But after rewriting One Week I know that trying to fix a broken script can be harder than starting from scratch, so it's not going to feel like cheating. Also, I read this article the other day and realized that I NEED to finish those old screenplays. I need to work through EVERY step of the writing process over and over. I can't skip the hard parts. I must... keep... ...writing! No pain, No gain.

So, I've narrowed it down to two choices. I'll read each of them and see if anything jumps out at me as an obvious solution to my story problems. If not, I'll have choose a story and give it some thought. Come on, Muse. Let's dance.