What'cha, What'cha, What'cha want

Hello Screenwriters!!!

Not long ago I became stuck on a script. The lead character, Tong, was in the middle of his seven trials. The problem was, I was already near page one hundred and Tong had four trials to go before the final act; the showdown with the evil Warlord. The script was going way too long.

I was stuck.

What was I to do? I decided look for answers in books on writing, so I bought the screenwriters bible and dusted off a bunch of my old writing books. I read, and read until-

Epiphany! Tong had never clearly stated his goals!

This is important because, having your lead character tell the audience what they want, gives the audience something to root for. We want the lead character to succeed, be it saving the world or finding true love.

So what did Tong want? To defeat the Warlord? Yes, but that wasn't his true goal. Then it occurred to me, Tong just wanted to be good at something. You see, all his life his father had told Tong, he would never amount to anything, that he would fail.

The movie starts off with Tong messing up big time, that is when we learn about Tong's troubled relationship with his father. This was a perfect place in the script to let the audience to hear Tong say, "All I want, is to be good at something."

Once I established Tongs goal, "He wants to be good at something," and Tongs fear, "That he will fail" then the ending became clear.

Tong didn't need to finish his Seven Trials!

By not finishing his seven trials it would make the towns folk doubt Tong, this would feed Tong's inner most fears; that he would fail. Throw in the sudden arrival of Tong's father and we reach an emotional low point where all hope is lost.

Now I can cut the final four trials and get straight to the showdown!


What does you character want? Has you character clearly stated their goals? Have you given the audience a clear reason to root for your character?

Once I established what Tong wanted, the script became clear. Tong may have been battling the Warlord but his real opponent was his own fear and doubt. In order to win, he would have to believe in himself.