Day Nine: Positive/Negative
The transition from the initial notecards to an actual outline frees the mind to focus on smaller details. Rather than trying to create something whole cloth, I have a framework to then add things like stakes, conflict, and turning points. Today, I want to dive into turning points and make sure I am keeping them in mind while I go from notecard to notecard.
What’s a Turning Point? Let’s consult Robert McKee again.
“Within a scene, the character acts on his Scene-Objective by choosing under pressure to take one action of another. However, from any or all levels of conflict comes a reaction he didn’t anticipate. The effect is to crack open the gap between expectation and result, turning his outer fortunes, inner life, or both from the positive to the negative or the negative to the positive in terms of values the audience understands are at risk.”
A man asks out a person they are interested in. There are multiple outcomes, but the one he is hoping for is positive. By the end of this scene, either it will end on a positive note, or it will end on a negative one. Now take that and expand it. Throughout an act, an audience should go on a rollercoaster ride of negative and positive outcomes. If it’s all negative, then it feels akin to trauma porn. It’s why I think people are responding to negatively to a film like Blonde, with many people feeling as if the artists behind it are reveling in the pain. That’s because there is no levity, no moments of positivity to balance it out. On the flip side, if all the scenes are positive, and it all works out for the protagonist, then it feels too easy. The third act, and the catharsis won’t feel earned because most people buy into the idea that change happens through struggle.
We need a balance. And notecards help. While I am going from notecard to writing out the outline, I can easily see if the scene ends on a positive note or negative. I can then look at the big picture, the entire act, and see if I am leaning too much in one direction. This helped me clarify my first act, specifically scenes that I didn’t have a firm grasp on quite yet. For example, I know Charles is going to bump into his wife and that conversation is going to be a negative one. To hit that harder, I need him to feel good before that conversation. So his moment walking around the Capitol building is going to be a positive one. He feels energetic, he feels special because the Republicans want him to lead the charge, so he’s empowered and feels he has earned it. And then, WHAM! His wife is there and it all comes crashing down.
Now the scene that follows is also a negative one — he decides to double back and discovers his wife is cheating on him. That’s bad. And that’s okay, because it inspires the next scene that will be a bad decision that will make Charles feel good at the moment. It’s a short-termed positive, but a positive nonetheless. While we want waves in positive/negative charges, this does not mean you need to immediately go from one end to the other. Positive/negative charges, for me at least, keeps in mind how the audiences are going to receive the text. Twists occur when we go from one to the other. We start on a negative place and then realize something good is happening, or vice versa. A character is on top of the world and then it all comes crashing down.
Today, I started outlining the second act, so I am keeping track on whether or not I am creating a rollercoaster ride for my audience. Am I being too easy on my protagonist? Am I hitting adversity too much in certain portions and need to find levity somewhere? Are the major moments of tension undermined by being too hard on my protagonist? Would it be better if the protagonist walks into a major moment of tension unaware of it? These shifts are a fun notion to add to your outlines that were only possible because I’m not as focused on figuring out story structure.
Alright, onto the next notecard.