Integrating and Expressing Character and Theme

 

NOTE: This is the outline for my most recent episode of the Every Day Is a Story All Its Own Podcast.

I offered many more examples during the podcast (available at the end of this post) and talked about applying some of these concepts to plotting murder mysteries and stories with complicated plots like Needful Things. 

·      There is no real drama unless you have situations that push the main character to the extreme frontier of his nature. —Elia Kazan’s production journal for the film East of Eden

·      This builds on the episode “Fundamentals of Character”

·      Poor writers identify with a single character, which makes the character the author’s “mouthpiece.”

·      Dull, explanatory speeches. Didactic storytelling.  

·      Reminder. A person is what they DO, not what they SAY. Action is Character (closing the gap)

·      Exercise: Start with a Theme

·      Step 1. Write a concise, one-sentence description of your Theme (this can be a maxim or other saying or phrase).

·      Step 2. Restate your Theme using David Mamet’s notion that all stories are a movement from a Lie to a Truth.

·      What Binary best expresses your Theme: Good/Evil, Rich/Poor, Warhawk/Peacenik, Contentment/Ambition

·      Who is the Hero/Main Character that best expresses the Theme through Action? That has a gap to close.

·      Their Circumstances (how they behave in the Where because of the What/Main Problem) should be intimately tied to the Theme through the Inciting Incident (Call to Adventure)

·      The Hero shouldn’t be so Good they are beyond Temptation. (flaws) hamartia: to miss the mark (cf sin)

·      Create a character continuum

·      The Hero must be in the middle; they are the character with whom the audience should most closely identify.

·      After answering the Call to Adventure, the Hero moves in both directions through their changing Circumstances. Rising Stakes. Navigating Wants and Needs; their desire to get from where they are to where they want to be (the gap).

·      Decide what other primary/secondary (at least 6 to 8 to start) character types you need to fully express/explore the Theme as you tell your story. ANCHOR THE EXTREMES.

·      Characters on the extremes are pure Archetypes (NOT stereotypes: you must still know their Wants, Needs, Gaps).

·      Think about it: Do you identify with a completely good character like Glinda or Yoda or with a character as dark and evil as the Wicked Witch, Sauron, the Queen of Hearts, or the Emperor? Of course not.

·      Identify with all of your characters—strong writers “become” the characters as the dialogue is written; they understand their Wants, Needs, Motivations WITHOUT JUDGMENT

·      Each character a distinct, identifiable voice that conveys their background and life experiences, which link to Theme

·      Han Solo is interesting because he is, in D&D terms, True or even Chaotic Neutral. [allows for mini redemption arcs]

·      Wagon wheel diagram (the center hub is your Theme; the rim contains all of the characters from the continuum; the spokes are direct connections between each character and the Theme [i.e., how that character represents/expresses an aspect of the Theme]). Ask:

·      How do my characters collectively express different aspects of the theme?

·      How do they help and hinder each other? (Hero’s Journey)

·      What are their familial, sociopolitical, economic relationships?

Examples for practice:

·      Wizard of Oz (Wicked Witch, Dorothy, Glinda), Lord of the Rings (Sauron, Frodo, Galadriel), Star Wars (Emperor, Luke, Yoda), Alice in Wonderland

·      Lie to Truth in Wizard of Oz (and Alice): the wider world is not always better than your little patch of dirt