What does this book talk about?#
This is a classic work that delves into the process of screenwriting for movies and TV dramas. The author reveals the key to creating captivating and emotionally resonant stories by detailing techniques such as plot construction, character development, and dialogue creation. It is also the book that enlightened me in self-studying screenwriting, with many points worth recording and reflecting on. I am sharing them here with everyone, and if you are interested in scriptwriting, I hope it can be helpful to you.
Below is a summary I have compiled during the reading process. It is not a verbatim translation of the original text. I have made some adjustments in wording and context for better understanding in the future.
Premise: The Purpose of a Play#
- Without a well-structured premise, no inspiration or situation can be powerful enough to lead your drama to a logical conclusion.
- You must depict what you believe in. Your premise should first be your own belief, so that you can wholeheartedly prove it. Perhaps your premise seems absurd to me, but you must prove that it is your truth.
- Not all examples have high literary value, but they have clearly defined premises, which are necessary for all excellent writing. Without a premise, you cannot delve into the characters.
- A premise must include characters, conflicts, and resolutions. If the premise is not clear, these elements will be unknown.
- The premise does not need to be a universal truth. Poverty does not always lead to crime. But if you choose this premise, it becomes the truth in your work.
- No part of the script can have an independent life; all elements should blend harmoniously into a whole.
Characters#
Framework Structure#
- Characters have three dimensions: physical, psychological, and social.
- Studying a character's personality, beliefs, habits, and morality is not enough. We need to understand why a person becomes who they are now. Regardless of whether it is voluntary or not, their personality will constantly change.
- Every action of a character is closely related to a specific moment in the past.
- The author must understand the three dimensions of the character, but it is not necessary to mention them in the script. These characteristics are conveyed through the character's actions. You must know every detail of your characters and understand how they would act in each situation. Everything that happens in your play must directly come from the character you have chosen, and they must have a strong will to help you prove the premise.
Environment#
- In fact, even a simple "yes" or "no" is the result of complex evaluations, adjustments, and examinations of our fictional or real environment, our mental or physical conditions, and our economic situation.
- Our thoughts are often influenced by the external world (or often influenced by the environment). The degree of influence is no less than the physiological reactions of our bodies. Just like those seemingly forgotten childhood memories, they are deeply rooted in our minds. No matter how hard we try to escape the influence of the past, train our nature, we cannot break free from its control. No matter how hard we try to remain impartial, these unconscious memories always influence our judgment.
- Characters are the sum of their own physical conditions and the influence of the environment they create.
Dialectics#
- The development of dialogue consists of three parts:
- First, a statement of a proposition, called the thesis.
- Then, the presentation of the opposite of this proposition, called the antithesis.
- Finally, to resolve this opposition, the original proposition must be revised and form a synthesis.
- These three steps have a logical law of motion. All things in continuous motion are constantly negating themselves. Through motion, all things will transform into their opposites, the past becomes the present, and the future becomes the present. There is no completely static thing.
- Change is the driving force that forces things to move, and the movement itself also becomes different from before. The past becomes the present and together they determine the future.
Character Growth#
- The character's position needs to be manifested through conflicts. The conflict starts with a person's decision, which is made based on the premise. The character's decision will inevitably trigger a corresponding decision from the opponent. These decisions keep occurring and drive the drama towards its ultimate goal of proving the premise.
- Characters need a lot of motivation before making decisions, mainly from the physical, psychological, and social aspects. Countless motivations can be created based on them.
- Only in bad writing will characters make changes that do not align with their characteristics.
- A good play often has tension that develops from one extreme to another.
Willpower of Characters#
- A character with weak willpower cannot continuously create conflicts in the play or sustain the story.
Plot vs Characters#
- Before constructing each situation, you should ask yourself (as the creator of the characters) three questions:
- What should I do?
- What should others do?
- What must be done?
- Characters are elements with untapped potential.
- Conflict is only needed when it can prove the premise.
Protagonist#
- The protagonist is the leading figure in any movement or causal relationship.
- The protagonist must not be without ambition. They must be eager to obtain something to the extent that they are willing to destroy everything or bring about their own destruction on the path to achieving their goals.
- Negative forces can become positive forces as long as they last long enough.
- The reason why the protagonist is the protagonist is not because they want to be, but because they are driven by their inner needs and external environment, which leads them to shoulder heavy burdens.
Antagonist#
- The antagonist obstructs the protagonist's progress, and the protagonist must use all resources to fight against them.
- In any play, the antagonist must be as powerful as the protagonist and have the same strong will.
- A play is a crisis from beginning to end, developing towards an inevitable conclusion.
Arrangement of Characters#
- Arrangement means to set up several clearly defined and determined characters in opposition to each other, and through conflicts, the drama shifts from one extreme to another.
- When watching a play, you must observe how each force in the drama is arranged. This force can come from a group or an individual.
- Every major transformation contains many minor transformations.
- If you are faithful to the three dimensions you have set for your characters, their words and actions will align with their personalities, and there is no need to deliberately create differences between characters.
- If there happens to be a conflict between these two characters and they try to prove the premise of the drama, the conflict will be more vivid and colorful due to the differences in their expressive abilities. This dramatic effect of contrast also depends on the characters' inner personalities.
- For any character, there are countless possibilities for growth. Without growth, the script will lose the initial opposition and the hidden attributes in character settings. Lack of growth also means a lack of conflict, and insufficient character arrangement.
Unity of Opposites#
- In nature, nothing is "destroyed" or "dead"; they are transformed into other forms.
- True unity of opposites can only be broken when one or both sides completely change their characteristics. In true unity of opposites, it is impossible to make any side compromise.
- After finding the premise, immediately verify whether the characters have such unity of opposites. If their "unity" relationship is not close enough and the opposition is not absolute, the conflict will appear flat, unable to be intensified, and unable to reach a climax.