How to (re)write or analyze a script faster? (part 1 : theme & hero)

The key point is to maintain a map of the three narrative pillars to keep an overview of your story : theme, caracter and plot.

Theme + character + plot = story.

Writing a story is about linking the plot to the character's psychology, around a theme.?

• A story is the initiatory journey of a?character:?it's the?dramatic arc (the unconscious logic of the character).
• The character's choices lead to consequences: it's the?plot?(made of events, twists, conflicts and fun).
• Character and plot have only one function: to develop the?thematic debate?of the story.

I created this "Narrative Wheel" to synthesize the causalities of a story into a single mind map :

The wheel is read?from the inside out?(from the theme comes the main character's arc, from his or her choices comes the plot); and from?the right to the left?in a clockwise direction.

1) A THEME to rule them all

The raison d'être of a story is its theme. What aspect of the human condition are we inviting the viewer / player to think about playfully? The theme is the chemical ingredient that underlies the development of the characters and the plot, just as carbon is for life on earth. We don't like moralistic stories without conflicts between characters who all have the same opinion, do we? That's why the?theme?of the story must be broken down into?four complementary?and opposing?philosophical values:

• The?positive value?(in?green) is the value that your hero must spiritually move towards in order to solve his problem and change his wrong way of behaving. Often called "the theme", this is?the end?of the main character's journey. That's often what you believe in as an author.
• The?contrary?(in?yellow) is the opposite of the positive value. The main character?begins?the story with this value deeply embedded in him/her.
• The?contradictory?(in?red) is the value that destroys the interest of the positive value. Often, that's the value defended by the main opponent.
• The?Trojan horse?(in?purple) is an?ironic value?of the theme, which often occurs near the end of act 2. Not only the hero has not yet fully understood the interest of going towards the positive value, but he is tempted by a simple but fallacious solution. It is a kind of pact with the devil, a desperate act.

Example: If the positive value is "freedom", the opposite can be "confinement", the contradictory can be "alienation", the Trojan horse can be "soft dictatorship" or "the illusion of freedom".

These 4 values are marked by?4 colors?in the?main character's arc?and in?the plot?on the wheel. These are moments of?thematic debate?that the character will face in the course of the story. Everything that follows is a dramatization of these four values of the theme.

2) The main CHARACTER's dramatic arc creates emotions

The design of a story begins with the dramatic arc of the main character. What does this character want? What will he or she face and learn?

But first, let's make it simple and efficient :?main character = hero = protagonist.?John Truby's approach (Anatomy of the Screenplay)?is an effective tool?to characterize the psychological evolution of a character. The arc of a character is made in 7 steps, reflecting our daily human condition facing a problem to solve?:

1. The initial problem (weakness and need): the character is confronted with an unpleasant situation (or more). But not just any problem: it's a metaphor for his greatest?psychological?and?moral weakness.
2. The character's?desire (or want)?to solve her/his problem,
3. A great?opponent, who opposes the character's desire (step 2) and reinforces his problem (step 1),
4. The?plan?imagined by the character to bypass the opponent,
5. The point of no return, which is the last step of the plan. Either the character succeeds or fails.
6. The character's inner revelations (self-revelations). What did he understand about himself, after all theses confrontations with the opponent ? These revelations,?psychological?and?moral, must be a clear metaphor of the theme's positive value.
7. The?new equilibrium?shows how the character's daily life has changed (and how necessary it was to solve the initial problem in step 1).

In the next episode, we will look at the third pillar: the structure, often called... The plot!

Jér?me Genevray / Writer ("La Nuée / The Swarm" on Netflix), Narrative Advisor (Ubisoft & more).