What is the premise?
Download 0.98 Mb. View original pdf
|
| Casablanca 21 Ilsa and Laszlo enter Ricks. They are the outsiders who will shake Rick out of his steady and masterful but unhappy position. Tootsie Michael's agent, George, tells him that no one will hire him because of his horrible personality. This prompts Michael to put on women's clothes and tryout fora soap opera. 5. Desire The desire is your hero's particular goal. It provides the spine for the entire plot. In our discussion of the seven steps in Chapter 3, I mentioned that a good story usually has one goal that is specific and extends through most of the story. To these elements we must add one more start the goal at a low level. One of the ways you build a story is by increasing the importance of the desire as the story progresses. If you start the desire at too high a level, it can't build, and the plot will feel flat and repetitious. Start the desire low so you have somewhere to go. As you build the desire over the course of the story, be sure you don't create an entirely new desire. Rather, you should increase the intensity and the stakes of the desire you start with. Casablanca Rick wants Ilsa. But as a love story, this desire is blunted because Ilsa is also Ricks first opponent. Bitter at her for abandoning him in Paris, he first wants to hurt her. With Rick's desire for Ilsa frustrated, the story shifts focus to someone else's desire Laszlo's wish to get exit visas for himself and his wife. But the writers make Rick's desire clear early on, which placates the impatient audience during Laszlo's actions because they know Rick's desire will takeover soon enough. The waiting makes the desire percolate and boil. Near the end of the story, Rick comes up with a second, conflicting desire, which is to help Ilsa and Laszlo escape. Having such a conflicting desire early on would give the story two spines. But when the conflicting desire comes near the end and remains hidden until the last moment, it becomes both a revelation and part of Rick's self-revelation. Download 0.98 Mb. Share with your friends:
|