Write the Damn Thing!

DAY 18

Hey folks!

Yesterday’s post was the longest one yet. I’m trying to keep the reading to a minimum here so you can move on into writing quickly, but sometimes I get too entangled in the subject we’re discussing. Sorry!

I hope we cleared some ideas on what a ‘B-Story’ is. We will now jump into other aspects of the 2nd Act.

Key aspect of screenwriting: Trials and Tribulations.

So as screenwriters we create drama, right? How do we go about creating drama? Pretty simple. We give a character a goal, we put the most difficult obstacles we can think of in the way of that goal and we show him the consequences of what will happen if he doesn’t acquire the goal.

DRAMA = OBJECTIVE + OBSTACLE + STAKES.

But as we’ve discussed before, the main objective can be broken down into “mini objectives”. In the second act, we have to see the hero work towards those objectives, failing, trying different things, meeting friends and foes., and trying again.

In ‘Save the Cat!’ Blake Snyder calls this part ‘The Promise of the Premise’. It’s basically exploring the idea we said the movie was about.

The policeman chases bad guys and finds clues, the burglar plans and begins the heist, the superhero fights the villain. Harry Potter is chased by a dragon so he can complete a trial in the Triwizard Tournament.

OBJECTIVE + OBSTACLE + STAKES.

DAY 18 task:

Keep writing your 2nd Act. Let’s push out 2 or 3 pages.

Yesterday I kept you for too long, so I’m going to let you guys go early today. Let’s write some great trials and tribulations for our main character. The audience should be having a blast here.

Happy writing!

PS: You can find yesterday’s post here.