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On Characters, Story, and Plot: Episode 307 of the Scriptnotes Podcast

By Staff · August 2, 2017

By: Britton Perelman

In episode 307 of the Scriptnotes podcast, hosts John August and Craig Mazin dissect one of the toughest aspects of screenwriting.

The topic comes to them by way of a listener question: ​How do you go about making the character drive the story instead of the other way around?

At first, it seems like a simple answer. But once they start discussing plot, characters versus characterizations, agency, and story design, it becomes a bit more complex.

But before we dive in any further, feel free to listen along below!

DEFINING STORYTELLING

To start, John cuts off Craig and says they need to define a few terms before they go any further. When talking about storytelling, it’s easy to throw around words like “plot,” “story,” and “character,” without using them properly.

The definitions given are as follows:

Character ​— A person/persona a writer creates that feels like an actual person. This term does not apply to everyone in a script who has a name, for GOOD COP #1 who only says a single line is simply a characterization, not a character.

Plot​ — A series of events that flow one to the next, with some amount of causality between them.

Story ​(according to John) — A sequence of narrative events that feels greater than the sum of its parts.

Story ​(according to Craig) — The phenomenon that emerges when a character moves through a plot.

It cannot be overstated how important it is not to confuse plot and story, for they are connected, but not interchangeable.

THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN CHARACTER, STORY, AND PLOT

Many writers get caught up in deciphering their plot, figuring out the plot points of their story when, in fact, that’s not what they should be focusing on at all. Every single story you love has a character at its center. Character should be the root of your storytelling, with everything else branching out from it.

To put it simply: character does not drive story; character is the story.

“The only interesting way to experience a plot is through a character’s movement through it, explains Craig. “That is the story.”

CHARACTER MOVEMENT & STORY DESIGN

But, even more difficult is the concept that a character cannot simply move through a plot. If a character only jumps from plot point to plot point, they’ve become a ​plot mechanic.

“Movement alone is not enough,” John says. “If a character is on a rollercoaster, they are moving. They can be on a rollercoaster that is sort of the plot of the story, but we’re going to be frustrated as the viewer because they’re not making any choices, they’re just on rails. They’re being dragged through the story.”

This is where agency comes in.

When creating characters, they must have have the ability to make their own choices. That can be difficult to execute when, in fact, you (the writer) are constructing the story and the character.

In order to create characters who move throughout a plot and are also the story at the same time, that have free will despite the fact that you are writing them … John and Craig explain that you must be able to shift your frame of reference.

SHIFTING YOUR FRAME OF REFERENCE

Craig uses two examples to deconstruct the issue of frame of reference — a story used in the TV show “Sherlock” called “The Appointment in Samarra,” and an explanation of time by the Tralfamadorians, the aliens in Kurt Vonnegut’s “Slaughterhouse Five.”

In “The Appointment in Samarra,” a servant sees Death at a local market and begs his merchant to lend him his horse so he can leave Baghdad and escape to Samarra to survive. Later that day, the merchant confronts Death about the encounter with his servant, to which Death responds, “That was not a threatening gesture, it was only a start of surprise. I was astonished to see him in Baghdad, for I had an appointment with him tonight in Samarra.

You, as the writer, must be Death.

“You know where people are supposed to be,” says Craig. “You know exactly what’s going to happen to them and they cannot avoid it because you’re writing it. But, you’re characters have no concept of this. They are, therefore, free to make choices.”

Similarly, going along with the “Slaughterhouse Five” example, you must be two things at once. You must be the Tralfamadorians, who can see all of time past and present, and see all of your story. But you must also be the character, who has no knowledge of what’s coming.

Writing becomes a constant exercise in shifting your frame of reference, your point of view, to better tell your story.

“So, at the core of this is a question of design,” finishes Craig. “When you say how do you go about making the character drive the story, here’s how:

You design a character, you design a problem that that character has — a fatal flaw, a primary challenge. You design a plot that will repeatedly test that character, that will force them to leave their comfort zone, that will force them to confront terrible truths, that will cause them pain, that will threaten to tear them apart. And the only way that that character is going to be able to survive is if they overcome what has held them back, if they overcome what is wrong with them.  And, in the end, success. Or, they fail. Either way; both are fine.”

“Your characters must have agency, they make choices but, in the end the movie that will happen to them must happen to them,” says Craig. “So part of what makes ‘characters drive story’ is the dramatic tension, and often the irony, that is connected to characters making decisions and then dealing with the circumstances of those decisions ​as you create them​.”

ALWAYS STUDY YOUR CRAFT

Finally, John and Craig tackle a listener question about whether or not you can teach humor. The answer is no.

But comedy writers, don’t distress, John and Craig quickly admit that, while you can’t “teach funny,” you can learn about being funny. To do this, you must do what all burgeoning writers have to in order to improve — study your craft.

First, learn the difference between physical/situational comedy and written humor. The former tends to work even when the TV is muted, the latter relies on dialogue.  Then watch your favorite comedies and take notes about what kind of humor is being employed at what moments. Analyze when you laugh, and why. Keep an eye on trends and stay up-to-date about current events.

“Comedy is like magic,” Craig says. “So somebody comes along … says pick a card, you pick it, and then he effortlessly pulls it out of your butt and you go, ‘how the hell did you do that? That’s amazing. It’s like magic.’ It’s not like magic. It’s actually the result of thousands of hours of practice.”

Practice, practice, practice. Like anything else, you have to work at the art of humor — and screenwriting! — to get better.