Member-only story
The Art of Dramatic Writing: Crisis, Climax, and Resolution
Once you’ve defined your premise and created 3-dimensional characters with a “Unity of Opposites,” how do you realize your plot on the page?
Point of Attack
At what point do you attack a story? People always say “start late, end early.” What does that really mean? What sets a story in motion? What makes a character act? What makes a character embark on a journey that will reward them or destroy them?
Necessity is what motivates. It’s the mother of invention after all.
Necessity is what initiates a story. A character must have a need. Something thing must be at stake. Something must be pressingly urgent and important.
The point of attack should be the moment when something vital is at stake. A character must need to act. To affect change. They must not be able to abide the conditions of their situation any longer.
The need must be expressed with the first line of the script.
From the very first moment a character comes on screen and utters a line of dialogue, they must be driven by their need. A character’s background, skills, talents, quirks, etc. must be subsumed to their need to change.
