Write My Life

Screenwriters are always learning new things. It’s become apparent that no screenwriter can ever know everything there is to know about format, story structure, character development, etc. So we always look to learn more. Books, magazine subscriptions, podcasts, seminars, dvds and blogs. There are two reasons we search these things out. Obviously we want to be better, we want to improve our work by finding little bits of advice that has helped others. The other reason would be to have a legit excuse to not be writing while feeling like we are.

I won’t deny being propelled by motive #2 quite often. But in doing some of the said searching last night I started to think about my own story.

In the 3 act structure of life - with me inching toward speeding toward 30 – I’m entering (or likely knee deep in) act 2. I’ve kind of established who I am, for better or worse. My likes and dislikes are what they are. My problems are what I’ll be struggling with until the end. My goals have been set and I’m on my journey.

I found this in reading one of my favorite Screenwriting tipsters (William Martell)

ACT TWO IS QUICKSAND

Act Two of your script is a constant struggle… and whatever your protagonist does only makes it WORSE! Gets them DEEPER into trouble. Because Act Two is quicksand – the more your protagonist struggles to get out, the deeper they are pulled into the quicksand!

In THE BOURNE IDENTITY Jason Bourne is found floating in the ocean with no memory of who he is. The central conflict/question for Bourne is “Who am ?” – that’s the question which propels the story. It’s not a question with a simple answer – you can break it up into a series of questions… each a step to the answer of the main question… and each providing further questions. Part of Who Am I? is his name. When Bourne goes to the bank and opens the safety deposit box, he finds a passport in the name of Jason Bourne. Now he knows his name… but the passport includes a new question (his address – What kind of place to I live in?) And the safety deposit box contains a couple of other great questions – a gun, money, other passports. These serve to ask the question “What kind of person am I?” The film is filled with questions – What kind of person has a bank account implanted in their hip? “How come I know the best place to find a gun is the cab of that truck?” Here’s where the quicksand comes in – the more Bourne learns about himself, the more dangerous he becomes to Treadstone. The people who KNOW who Bourne is are the same people who are trying to kill him. Every clue he finds to his own identity takes him another step deeper into trouble. He can not find out who he is without putting his life in danger. The more he struggles to get out of the quicksand, the deeper he is pulled into the quicksand.

The more Bourne finds out about himself, the less he likes himself and the deeper in trouble he becomes. It’s quicksand! Remember that the important part of Act Two is the conflict, the struggle. The scenes that set up the conflict and resolve the conflict are necessary, but the audience came for the conflict. While the protagonist is struggling, his life is interesting… and entertaining.

I guess that makes me feel better. Things seem to be going right according to script.