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Lesson 12
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Blair’s Challenging Situations
What I’ve learned that is improving my writing is to create challenging situations to help elevate the scene and make it more interesting to viewers.
Scene 1:
A. Current Scene Logline: Kyle sees his daughter Chelsea in the hospital for the first time since the car accident.B. Essence: Without having a lot of information about the car accident, Kyle does his best to calm Chelsea down.
C. Brainstorm list of possible challenges.
Goal: For Kyle to be there for Chelsea while figuring out what to tell her.
• Kyle starts sobbing when he sees Chelsea.
• Kyle is conflicted about having to lie to Chelsea.
Needs: Kyle must remain calm for Chelsea.
• Chelsea starts screaming and freaking out when she wakes up and sees Kyle.
• The nurse runs back into the room and asks Kyle what happened.
• Kyle freezes as he watches the nurse try to calm Chelsea down.Wound: Kyle is concerned about Roxie and Chelsea’s prognoses’
• Once Chelsea calms down, Kyle grills the nurse about Chelsea’s condition.
• The nurse tells Kyle that Chelsea was calmed down before Kyle came to visit.
• Chelsea has a violent tic rage and Kyle doesn’t know what to do.D. Quick summary of how you will write the scene differently with the new challenge.
Kyle enters Chelsea’s hospital room and makes an audible gasp when he sees his daughter. He walks over to her bed while sobbing. Chelsea opens her eyes and starts screaming and flailing about when she sees Kyle. Kyle doesn’t know what to do. The nurse comes into the room and flashes a concerned look at Kyle while she tries to calm Chelsea down. Once Chelsea stops screaming, Kyle starts to grill the nurse about Chelsea’s condition from the accident. The nurse is annoyed at Kyle and tells him that Chelsea was fine before he came into the room. Chelsea picks up on the energy in the room and starts to have a violent tic attack to Kyle’s dismay.Scene 2:
A. Current Scene Logline: After the funeral, Kyle returns to his home for the reception.B. Essence: Kyle aimlessly floats around his home as he mourns his wife.
C. Brainstorm list of possible challenges.
Goal: For Kyle to get through the reception with little drama.
• He pours Tequila into a large glass to drink.
• He stumbles over to the couch and sits down.
• He starts to violently cry.
Needs: For the reception to finish as fast as it can.
• Kyle’s mother and sister try to calm Kyle down.
• Chelsea sees her father crying and she runs out of the room in despair.D. Quick summary of how you will write the scene differently with the new challenge.
Kyle pulls up to the house and he and Chelsea get out of the car. People have already gathered and Kyle looks like he is dreading what is to come. He walks into the house and gives polite nods to some visitors. He makes a bee-line to the kitchen to pour himself a large glass of Tequila. Kyle’s mom eyes Kyle as he walks into the living room with his drink. Kyle plops down on the couch and takes some more sips. He starts to cry uncontrollably. Kyle’s sister sits down next to him to try to calm him down. Kyle pushes his sister away and says he doesn’t want to calm down. Chelsea comes into the living room and sees her father crying. Alarmed at what she sees, she runs out of the room. Kyle’s mother follows her. -
Deb’s Challenging Situations
What I’ve learned that is improving my writing is that there is a focused and specific way to add challenging situations to my character(s) in each scene. Look specifically at the character's Goal, Needs, Values, and Wound and brainstorm ways to challenge them in each area. Finally – look for any physical challenge that could charge the scene. From these lists, you should be able to find a few gems that will challenge your character and make the scene more dynamic.
Current Scene Logline: Encouraged by Lisa, Gabe easily finds a secret door that leads to a tunnel where a mysterious typewriter is hidden.
Essence: Looking for evil and finding it.
Possible Challenges:
Goal – To satiate his burning curiosity over an old mystery.
– Someone discourages him from pursuing it – saying it’s a hoax or a wild goose chase
– He thinks it will be a waste of time
– Something bigger demands his attention
– He doesn’t have the confidence to find it.
– He feels obligated to honor the wishes of Vance – who wanted to keep it hidden
– He vaguely remembers the situation in which it was hidden – and realizes this might unearth something evil.
– He doesn’t want to upset the deceased wife over the issue
– He is suicidal and mentally doesn’t have the energy to pursue the mystery.Needs – To impress others with his Observational Skills: he notices subtle details that others might overlook.
– He overlooks a crucial detail
– Someone else notices something he overlooked (he feels outshined)
– He’s embarrassed by misinterpreting a significant detail
– Lisa fails to be impressed
– The stress of the situation dulls his skills
– There is a misleading clue – perhaps some sabotage
– There is something “high stakes” about finding it which challenges his normal level of precisionValues – the Sensational
– He finds something – but it’s like a Hiraldo Rivera thing with an empty chest.
– A red herring leads to a dead end.
– He has an ethical dilemma because Vance doesn’t want him to unearth it.
– He’s disillusioned and doesn’t think there’s anything sensational anymore – it’s all smoke and mirrors.
– The excitement and dramatic revelation puts him in danger – it’s a risky environment
– If the story got out that he was pursuing something as outlandish as a haunted typewriter, it would tarnish his reputationWound – The severed relationships (especially with Lisa) he left behind when he joined the army. His perception of missed opportunities.
– He comes across an old photo of himself with the rest of the gang – before he left
– He sees a picture of Vance and Vance’s brother, Edmund, who was a victim of the typewriter.
– He has an emotional flashback of him saying goodbye to Lisa
– Old music reminds him of his past
– He looks at his reflection in an antique mirror and can’t believe how he’s aged
– Aaron continues to bring up the past – forcing him to look back at what he had forgotten
–Physical – Something happening in the office.
– Heavy furniture – he has to move it and is exhausted.
– Narrow passage – claustrophobic
– Poor lighting
– Dust causes allergic reactions or respiratory issues
– A crumbling structure
– He comes across a rat, bat or insectsQuick Summary of Revised Scene:
Gabe looks around the office for clues to where it might be hidden and notices photos on the wall of himself and the rest of the old gang… reminding him of the relationships he abandoned and the life he could have had. He also sees an old picture of the deceased, Vance, with Vance’s brother, Edmund, who was a victim of the typewriter. He has a quick, but fuzzy flashback of the disturbing event and realizes Vance might be right to keep the typewriter hidden.
He notices that these and other photos, in their own way, point to an enormous bureau and bookcase. Lisa thinks he’s on to something and encourages him to move it – maybe there’s something behind it. It’s to heavy for him to move. Lisa gets Aaron to help. Aaron makes fun of Gabe, telling him as they move it, that he hopes this won’t be a Geraldo Rivera moment with Al Capones vault. Gabe tells them both to be quiet because he doesn’t want to upset the deceased wife, Mama Lee, with their snooping. Aaron makes a ruckus and Mama Lee comes in. She laughs at them, saying it’s all a hoax and Gabe should feel foolish for believing anything Vance told him. They finally get the bureau moved and there’s nothing there. He’s embarrassed and the brief excitement he felt comes crashing down in disappointment. Lisa notices a rip in the carpeting and pulls it back to reveal a trap door. He feels outshined that he didn’t notice this himself… he crawls down – the others follow him into an underground tunnel.Current Scene Logline: Gabe, Mama Lee, and Lisa find an old journal which reveals the motivations of the malevolent force behind the typewriter.
Essence: Digging into the past is painful
Goal – To satiate his burning curiosity over an old mystery.
– The journal is missing pages and incomplete
– She wrote cryptically
– There’s lots of irrelevant details that have nothing to do with the typewriter
– It’s full of conflicting accounts
– The journal is illegibil – the writing is smudged or faded
– It’s written in a foreign language
– The journal laments about regret and lost relationships – inciting Gabe to reflect on his own wounds
– There are warnings in it about pursuing or using the typewriting which forbodes danger.Needs – To impress others with his Observational Skills: he notices subtle details that others might overlook.
– He overthinks and misses the obvious
– The other women are also very skilled at observing and beat him to the punch
– He’s mentally exhausted and doesn’t have the mental capacity to discern any clues
– He’s emotionally distracted by Lisa, who he is falling for again.
– He’s not familiar with the shorthand that’s used in the writing
– The ladies put pressure on him to discern the clues and this makes him shut down.Values – the sensational
– The journal is mundane with nothing to help them
– It provides contradictory evidence
– He’s disappointed when he finds out that the author is someone he knows – who isn’t sensational at all
– There are a lot of confusing details
– The journal warns of real dangers –Wound – The severed relationships (especially with Lisa) he left behind when he joined the army. His perception of missed opportunities.
– There is a mention of Lisa in connection with Vance – Lisa plays it off – but Gabe is too consumed with the typewriter to notice.
– The journals narrative parallels his own life – left someone behind to pursue a greater cause, drawing painful comparisons to his decision to join the army
– Regretful Tone: The overall tone of the journal is filled with regret and longing for what could have been, which resonates deeply with his own experiences and makes him reflect on his choices and their consequencesPhysical – something happens either while they uncover the journal or while they read the journal
– Someone has an allergic reaction to dust or mold
– The landlord comes in to force Mama Lee out of the house
– There’s a power outage and they can’t read the journal.
– Fire alarm goes off
– A burst pipe and flood
– It’s super hot and the a/c is broke
– The security alarm is activatedQuick Summary of Revised Scene:
It’s super hot and the a/c is busted. Lisa is flirting with Gabe and distracts him from focusing on finding clues. They find the journal – but at first it seems mundane with nothing to help them. It’s also disappointing to find out that the author is Mama Lee’s mother-in-law. Again, Gabe’s distraction keeps him from realizing that the writer of the journal is very important. The overall tone of the journal is filled with longing and regret over things that could have been. Finally, he comes upon a passage with warnings in it about pursuing or using the typewriting which forbodes danger. But there are pages missing and there are smudges and faded writing – making the narrative incomplete. They must go and talk to someone else to fill in the blanks. -
Chris:
LESSON TWELVE: Creating Challenging Situations.
What I’ve learned that is improving my writing is that it’s important not to collaborate with your main characters, but to make life hard for them and to challenge them in different ways.SCENE 1:
Set-up: N.Ireland, 1977. Edna is a widow in her early 40s. Her 16 year old son Terry is in trouble with the local paramilitaries who’ve run out of patience with his casual thieving and disrepect. A young para thug warns Edna: “Get Terry out of the country within 24 hours, otherwise he’s a dead man.”
a/ Current Scene Logline: Edna must try to persuade local paramilitary thug Martin, that her petty thief son Terry is a reformed character and should not be run out of town.
b/ Essence: protect her son at all costs.
c/ Possible challenges:
1/ Goal — try to persuade Martin that Terry is a reformed character so that she can get the ulitmatum lifted.
2/ Needs — protect her son.
3/ Values: Love, life and family above party loyalty and political allegiances.
4/ Wound: Her husband, Terry’s father, was murdered a few years earlier because of his political views. She was irresponsible when she was Terry’s age, but those were different times.
5/ Physical: Martin is physically imposing and is threatening deadly violence against her son.
OLD VERSION
Martin corners Edna on the street corner and tells her: your son has 24 hours to leave the country, otherwise he’ll be killed. She tries to plead for leniency.
D/ Summary of how I’ll write the scene differently.
Martin comes to Edna’s house looking for Terry. She pretends he’s not at home but Martin barges in anyway. A casual search of the house reveals no sign of Terry (but we know he’s hiding in the attic, and listening to everything being said). – increasing the PHYSICAL challenge, and the suspense.
Edna appeals to the generational connections between her family’s and Martin. No dice. This isn’t Martin’s decision – he’s just the messenger. VALUES.
She reminds Martin that he and her husband were friends, but again this falls on deaf ears — Martin tells her there is no room for sentimentality in the current conflict. WOUND.
Martin leaves and Edna goes up ino the attic — to discover that Terry has gone: he has squeezed through the skylight window. She knows that Terry is a loose canon and now in great danger — physical.
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Yvonne – Challenging Situations
What I’ve learned is that this class gave me my biggest “aha”
moment and the hardest challenge, because I’m still struggling
with protecting my characters.SCENE 1:
CURRENT SCENE LOGLINE: Marilyn, who suffers from low self esteem,
has had several major setbacks recently in her life and shares a
story about non listeners and suicide with her reading group.ESSENCE: Contemplating suicide, Marilyn secretly hopes her
friends will rescue her from herself.LIST OF POSSIBLE CHALLENGES:
GOAL: Use her story to bring attention to her problem.
-Her six friends spend more time sniping at each other
than paying attention.NEEDS: To garner empathy from her friends.
– Takes the blame for her husband’s behavior so
doesn’t get it.VALUES: The opinions of her shallow friends.
– The story reveals her friends shallowness and they take offense.WOUND: Her friends oblivious reactions to her story.
-They ignore her situation.PHYSICAL: Something happens during the reading.
– Marilyn drinks to much and reveals secrets about her friendsQUICK SUMMARY:
Marilyn’s attempt at sharing her problems through a story is not
successful in the way she hoped. After an evening of drinking and
sniping at each other they all cheerfully leave Marilyn to her destiny.SCENE 2:
CURRENT SCENE LOGLINE: Reporter Kelly has manipulated a ride with
Detective Rick after a meeting with two suspects, O’Neil and Angela, and
they discuss the case.ESSENCE: Kelly seeks information about Rick’s interest in
Angela as she is jealous of her.LIST OF POSSIBLE CHALLENGES:
GOAL: Kelly wants to blow up Rick’s interest in Angela.
– Kelly shares negative information she has learned about Angela,
but it backfires on her.NEEDS: Kelly wants to be back in Rick’s life.
– She makes a play for Rick, but he rejects her advances.VALUES: Saving Face
Kelly is humiliated and will retaliate later.QUICK SUMMARY:
Reporter Kelly makes a pass at Rick hoping to revive their old romance, but is rejected.
She is humiliated and reacts by revealing negative information she has picked up about
Angela. This scene created friction between the two that continues through future
scenes.-
This reply was modified 1 year ago by Yvonne Arnett.
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This reply was modified 1 year ago by
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Firdaus F Bilimoria Challenging Situations
What I’ve learned that is improving my writing is the potential of using more extreme character actions and traits to heighten the drama and conflict in the scene and the story arc.
Scene 1:
A. Current Scene Logline:
Rafael and Marianna run into two escorts who previously worked with Marianna in a brothel before she was rescued by the police.B. Essence:
Marianna is shocked to the core when she meets two escorts from her previous life as a victim of a sex-ring, when is with her new love Rafael, and just beginning to believe in a happy future with man she loves and who loves her back. This meeting not only resurfaces all the old trauma but has the potential of destroying her new-found happiness.C. Brainstorm list of possible challenges.
– the two escorts are jealous and resentful of Marianna’s new life
– the two escorts play with Marianna and hint at her “naughtiness” with Rafael
– they implicitly threaten Marianna
– Marianna is humiliated and threatened, and reacts defensively
– Rafael sees another side to Marianna and is confused by her behaviourD. Quick summary of how you will write the scene differently with the new challenge.
All of the listed challenges can be incorporated into the new scene to make it more powerfulScene 2:
A. Current Scene Logline:
Rafael is having lunch with Marianna when Rafael’s boss Charles runs into them.B. Essence:
Charles can tell that Marianna is not of the same social strata and therefore not an asset to Rafael’s career at Charles’ firm. Also Charles intuits that Marianna has some emotional baggage or trauma that may result in “complications” for Rafael and the firm.C. Brainstorm list of possible challenges:
Marianna says something innocently that Charles intentionally misconstrues as inappropriate
Charles asks Marianna about her background and Marianna is awkward in her response
Charles signals to Rafael his disapproval of Marianna even though it is not his place to pass such judgement.D. Quick summary of how you will write the scene differently with the new challenge.
All of the listed challenges can be incorporated into the new scene to make it more powerful-
This reply was modified 11 months, 2 weeks ago by Firdaus Bilimoria.
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This reply was modified 11 months, 2 weeks ago by
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