More for Forest People (complication)


In the early moments of writing, it is important for the forest person, who does not have a written outline as a guide, to keep on track. This may be easier in the first act than later because there are definite moments to establish early on:

Moving from the hook, go immediately toward your focus on the hero and look for a complication that will cause the hero to act or react - and in turn lead to the commitment to action that we call "the hero's call to action." The complication, therefore, is related to the dramatic spine of the story in a way that the hook really doesn't have to be.

The complication in The Graduate is when Mrs. Robinson makes her move on Benjamin: "Take me home." In Fargo, it's when the anti-hero has the possibility of cutting a deal that will relieve the financial burden that motivated his scheme to hold his own wife for ransom. In Chinatown, it's when the real Mrs. Mulray shows up, proving that the "Mrs. Mulray" who hired Jake (the hero) was an impostor.

Each of these complications moves the story closer to the moment when the hero has to make a decision: Benjamin decides to begin an affair with Mrs. Robinson, the anti-hero in Fargo learns he must go through with his scheme after all, and Jake commits to making the investigation that will clear his name.

Each complication leads directly to the hero's call to action.

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MODULE 5: SCREENWRIGHT: the craft of screenwriting

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