The Four Pillars of Dramatic Writing (for novelists too!), Part One

November 7, 3:11 PMDenver Writing Community ExaminerJett Farrell

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Simple plot... complex character.

First off, a word of encouragement to those tackling National Novel Writing Month; readers may notice there will be a lot of content aimed at novelists this month. However, today's topic is sort of a hybrid that can be applied to nearly any narrative writing style, and can be especially helpful for writers fidgeting through the first weeks of  a new story.

I was most fortunate during my time at the University of Colorado at Denver to have learned under Craig Volk of their College of Arts and Media. Volk is an award winning playwright, a screenwriter, and teleplay writer with an extensive career on shows such as Northern Exposure, The Adventures of Sinbad, and Higher Ground. Followers of this column will catch that I've mentioned him before, and foremost would like to issue a special thanks to him for allowing me to share some of his unorthodox gems of writing knowledge. The four pillars of dramatic writing is one of those gems.

The concept is simple, but requires some retooling of writing vocabulary before tackling. First off, the definition of story and plot must be revisited. According to academia, story tends to be described as the series of events in a tale described in chronological order, while plot is the series of events arranged in such a way as to show their significance. According to Volk, a plot is indeed the series of events that occur in a narrative, but story is something else entirely. The story is what you walk away with after the credits stop or you turn the final page. It is the comment on the human condition, sealed in the mind of the viewer by a crystallizing image or moment after the climax of the story. It is the heart and the reason for the narrative to be written and the thing that keeps churning in the mind of the audience after they've completed the plot. Again, this may seem a bit lofty compared to the academic definition, but the analytical and writer's approach are not always the same. For the writer, discovering this connection between the story and the audience is key.

With this vocabulary in mind, here are the first two pillars to keep in mind for dramatic (and narrative) writing:

• Images over Ideas: While novelists can stretch this a bit further than scriptwriters can, the importance of the image remains crucial in any narrative medium. Ideas can seem far more tantalizing to many authors, but ultimately it is the images formed for the eye or in the mind, not an agenda or concept, that will usually get more mileage with the audience. Drama has always been a rather poor arena for preaching. With fables being an exception, stories that preach tend to please a like-minded audience but leave a sour taste in the mouth of those the author is actually trying to convert. What story does do well, however, is raise the right questions, questions you want your audience asking to lead them to their own conclusions and consider your point. When peeling through the start of a new work, set aside the ideas for a bit and search for an image. Search for a story that spins from that image, then leads to another, and another, and another.
• Simple Plot, Complex Characters: In this day and age, especially in film, we tend to put a lot of stock in plot. Did a story have a startling twist at the end? Was the plot a roller coaster of flips and loops that left us on the edge of our seats? Plot can certainly be fun, but there is a cynical truth every writer has to deal with: at the root, just about every plot in existence has already been done. The majority of the clever devices we find in film and writing these days can trace their origins back to the three great literary sources: Shakespeare, Greek Mythology, and the Bible. Americans especially are growing a bit callous when it comes to plot: "Oh yeah, kind of like in <insert film here>." Certainly have fun with plot, but it is unlikely you're going to find anything as original as you think you will. Even The Matrix was made up of plot devices that have already been in existence, just placed in a unique setting. Where originality comes in is characters-- not two dimensional avatars in the world of your plot, but complex individuals who face difficult decisions, have hurdles to overcome, who have strengths and weaknesses. Slumdog Millionaire did not win a world wide following because of its plot... The beauty and heart of that story is in its characters, in Jamal's lifelong struggle to be reunited with the woman he loves and overcome the circumstances of a tragic, complicated life. We laugh with characters like these. We cry when they experience the depths of despair and rejoice when they triumph. Put the majority of your efforts into developing a complex character, and the plot will follow. In a fashion, find a unique character and follow them around with a pen and paper.

In part two, we explore the other two pillars, delving deeper into the importance of character and other keys for the foundations of solid dramatic and narrative writing.