 Drama: April 04, 2012 Issue [#4938] |
  Drama
This week: How to Set up the Opposing Action Edited by: Joy  
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The young man or woman writing today has forgotten the problems of the human heart in conflict with itself which alone can make good writing because only that is worth writing about, worth the agony and the sweat.
William Faulkner
The subject of drama is The Lie. At the end of the drama THE TRUTH -- which has been overlooked, disregarded, scorned, and denied -- prevails. And that is how we know the Drama is done.
David Mamet, Three Uses of the Knife
"He wanted all to lie in an ecstasy of peace; I wanted all to sparkle and dance in a glorious jubilee. I said his heaven would be only half alive; and he said mine would be drunk: I said I should fall asleep in his; and he said he could not breathe in mine..."
Emily Bronte, Wuthering Heights, Ch. 24
"I love you," someone says, and instantly we begin to wonder - "Well, how much?" - and when the answer comes - "With my whole heart" - we then wonder about the wholeness of a fickle heart. Our lovers, our husbands, our wives, our fathers, our gods - they are all beyond us."
Tim O'Brien, In the Lake of the Woods
Hello, I am Joy , this week's drama editor. This issue is about creating the opposing action against what the main character wants.
Note: In the editorial, I refer to third person singular as he, to also mean the female gender, because I don't like to use they or he/she.
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Welcome to the Drama newsletter
If you obtain what you want easily without any problems or antagonism of several people, you probably won't have an exciting story to tell. On the other hand, if you desire something and someone creates an obstacle on your path or tries to stop you in some way, you have a story. The weight and the intensity of the opposing action decide the strength of the plot and the depth of your characters.
In Othello by William Shakespeare, Othello has a happy life with Desdemona, which he desires to continue, but Iago's jealous actions work against Othello's desire. Thus, the characters in the play act or react to each other continually.
When creating a story or a play, it is easy to conjure up an elaborate character and give him a strong desire; however, if no one or nothing opposes him through an action or a series of actions, the story's plot falls flat. What the protagonist wants and the opposing action against what he wants creates the central conflict. Without conflict, there is no plot, no suspense, no drama.
The plot and the depth of the characters depend on the opposing action because the inner qualities of the characters are made visible through the workings of its opposition. Due to this, motivated action and reaction occur. Thus the protagonist's and the antagonist's characters are revealed, especially if they can judge themselves and self-discovery and self-realization can occur.
In Othello by William Shakespeare, Othello wants a happy life with Desdemona, but because of jealousy, Iago's actions crush Othello's desire. Accordingly, all characters in the play act or react to each other.
The rule of thumb is, the intensity of the opposing action has to, at least, equal the intensity of the desire.
To set up the opposing action, asking several questions about and around the protagonist's original desire and writing definite scenarios for those questions can help the writer to choose the strongest and the most suitable opposing action.
As an example, let's think of a simple desire. Let's say a character wants to put a pool in his backyard. The questions to ask could be: What kind or shape of a pool? Would the topography of the place support an in-ground pool? Would the construction of this pool be allowed by the town's building codes? Does the character have enough money? Is this pool needed for something other than recreation, like the rehabilitation of a mild stroke victim? What can the hidden difficulties be during the construction of the pool, such as a dishonest contractor, faulty materials, or construction problems? Are the neighbors okay with the existence of this pool?
From these questions, we could come up with the opposing actions of a nasty neighbor who is jealous or unreasonably afraid for his small children or pets falling into the pool, and then we could add to it the town-code limitations and the involvement of police. We could even escalate the level of the clash from verbal altercations to vandalism to schemes of vengeance, since each action causes a reaction of the same degree or of higher intensity.
Using this method, even with a simple desire, the more we think, the more we can come up with questions, answers, and a central opposing action.
Opposing actions also happen to a lesser degree in each sequence, each scene and even in each beat inside a scene. The trick is to take the time to ask questions no matter how trivial or disconnected they may seem to us at first. If at the end of our brainstorming, we still find some of the questions unimportant, we can just discard them.
A productive pastime for us writers could be to jot down simple desires and ask questions about them. Perhaps one of these exercises can lead to a dramatic conflict and a serious story.
Until next time.......... 
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Your Drama Newsletter Editors: NickiD89  Fyn  Joy
Thank you for reading our newsletters and for supplying the editors with feedback and encouragement.
 This Issue's Tip: Make sure your main character grows at a steady pace, especially if he will evolve from one end and change to the opposite, such as from hate to love.
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 Reading Recommendation: A book with drama
If you have a recommendation, a few words on a book or a product review, send it to me or to this newsletter. I'll highlight it here.
billwilcox
Great newsletter, Joy. Poetic justice gives the reader a feeling of satisfaction that the 'bad guy' finally got his 'comeuppance'.
Thanks, Bill.
Bad guys get theirs and good ones get cookies, so the writer gets kudos.
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pasta
This newsletter is informative and complex, thank you.
Thanks for the feedback, Alphabet2.
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"Monster Justice" [18+] by BIG BAD WOLF Feeling Thankful 
BIG BAD WOLF Feeling Thankful
Sometimes revenge is best served with a side of fries.
Some dish it is, too.
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