The Anatomy of Story (48 page)

11. Opponent's Plan and Main Counterattack

Just as the hero has a plan and takes steps to win, so does the opponent. The opponent comes up with a strategy to get the goal and begins to execute a line of attack against the hero. I cannot emphasize enough how important this step is, and yet most writers are largely unaware of it.

As I've already mentioned, plot comes largely from reveals. To get reveals, you have to hide the ways the opponent attacks the hero. So you want to devise a detailed plan for the opponent with as many hidden attacks as possible. Each of these hidden attacks, when sprung on the hero, is another reveal.

KEY POINT: The more intricate the opponent's plan, and the better you hide it, the better your plot will be.

Casablanca

■ Opponent's Plan Ilsa tries to convince Rick that she left him at the station for good reasons and that Laszlo must escape Casablanca. Major Strasser's plan is to pressure Captain Renault to hold Laszlo in Casablanca and intimidate anyone, including Rick, who might help Laszlo escape.

■ Main Counterattack After Rick turns down Laszlo's offer to buy the letters, Ilsa comes to Rick's and threatens him with a gun. Strasser's main attack occurs after Laszlo inspires the Frenchmen in the bar by having the band play "La Marseillaise." Strasser orders the bar closed and warns Ilsa that she and Laszlo must return to Occupied France or Laszlo will be either imprisoned or killed. Later that night, he has Captain Renault arrest Laszlo.

Tootsie

As a romantic comedy and farce, each of Michael-Dorothy's opponents has a plan, based on who they think the character is. The plot is ingeniously constructed, using an escalating series of attacks by these opponents: Dorothy has to share a room and bed with Julie, Dorothy has to take care of Julie's screaming baby, Julie mistakenly thinks Dorothy is gay, Les proposes, John forces himself on Dorothy, and Sandy is enraged at Michael for lying to her.

This cyclone effect is one of the pleasures of the farce form, and
Tootsie
gives it a strong emotional impact that is missing from most farces. Michael's gender switches are playing with people's feelings of love and screwing them up at a faster and more complicated rate. This is great writing.

12. Drive

The drive is the series of actions the hero performs to defeat the opponent and win. Comprising what is usually the biggest section of the plot, these actions begin with the hero's plan (Step 10) and continue all the way to his apparent defeat (Step 14).

During the drive, the opponent is usually too strong, so the hero is losing. As a result, he becomes desperate and often starts taking immoral

steps to win. (These immoral actions are part of the moral argument of the story; see Chapter 5.)

KEY POINT: During the drive, you want plot
development,
not

repetition. In other words, change the hero's action in a fundamental

way. Don't keep hitting the same plot beat (action or event).

For example, in a love story, two characters falling in love may go to the beach, then to the movies, then to the park, and then out to dinner. These may be four different actions, but they are the same plot beat. That's repetition, not development.

For the plot to develop, you must make your hero react to new information about the opponent (revelations again) and adjust his strategy and course of action accordingly.

Casablanca

The unique feature of Rick's drive is that it is
postponed.
This is not a sign of bad writing. It comes from Rick's character, his weakness and desire. Rick is paralyzed by bitterness and the belief that nothing in the world has value anymore. He wants Ilsa, but she is his opponent and is with another man. So in the early and middle parts of the story, Rick speaks with Ilsa but doesn't actively try to get her. Indeed, he begins by driving her away.

This postponement of the desire, though required by Rick's character, has a cost. It results in lulls where audience interest flags. Laszlo seeking exit visas from Ferrari, Laszlo at the police station, Laszlo seeking exit visas from Rick, Laszlo with Ilsa, Laszlo escaping from the underground meeting—all are deflections from the hero's driving line.

But postponing the drive also has two big benefits. First, the writers use Laszlo's actions to build the epic, political side of the story. Even though these actions have nothing to do with the hero's drive, they are necessary in this particular story because they give Rick's final reveal and decision worldwide importance.

Second, by waiting so long to show Rick beginning his quest, the film gains the advantage of having the climaxes and revelations fall quickly one after the other.

When Ilsa comes to Rick's room and declares her love, Rick finally acts,

and the story catches lire. Of course, the great irony of Rick's sudden burst of action is that he is really raking steps to make sure that he
doesn't
get Ilsa. The change in the main character's motive and goal -from wanting Ilsa to helping her and Laszlo fly away together—happens just after Rick begins his quest for Ilsa. Indeed, much of the excitement of this final quarter of the film is the result of uncertainty as to which of the two goals Rick is really seeking.

KEY POINT:
This uncertainty between the two goals works only because it exists for a short time and is part of the big reveal in the final battle.

■
 Drive Steps

1. Rick recalls his time in Paris with Ilsa.

2. Rick accuses Ilsa of being a whore when she returns to the cafe.

3. Rick attempts to make up with Ilsa in the marketplace, but she rejects him.

4. Rick refuses to turn the letters of transit over to Renault.

5. After seeing Ilsa, Rick helps the Bulgarian couple win enough money to pay off Renault.

6. Rick turns down Laszlo's offers for the letters. He tells him to ask Ilsa why.

7. Rick turns down Ilsa's request for the letters, and she confesses she still loves him.

8. Rick tells Ilsa he will help Laszlo escape—alone.

9. Rick has Carl sneak Ilsa out of the club while he talks to Laszlo, who is then arrested.

Tootsie

■
 Drive Steps

1. Michael buys women's clothes and tells Jeff how tough it is to be a woman.

2. He lies to Sandy about his newfound source of money.

3. He arranges to do his own makeup and hair.

4. He improvises to avoid kissing a man.

5. He is friendly to Julie.

6. He lies to Sandy about being sick.

7. He makes another date with Sandy.

8. Hle helps April rehearse.

9. He helps Julie with her lines and asks her why she puts up with Ron.

10. He lies to Sandy when he's late for their date.

11. He improvises new lines to make Dorothy a tougher woman.

12. He improvises lines with Julie.

13. He asks George to help him get deeper roles, now that he's learned so much as a woman.

14. Michael, as a man, comes on to Julie, but she rejects him.

15. As Dorothy, he tells Ron not to call him "Tootsie."

16. He lies to avoid Sandy so he can go to the country with Julie.

17. He falls in love with Julie out on the farm.

18. The producer tells Michael they want to renew Dorothy's contract.
13. Attack by Ally

During the drive, the hero is losing to the opponent and becoming desperate. When he starts taking immoral steps to succeed, the ally confronts him.

At this moment, the ally becomes the conscience of the hero, saying, in effect, "I'm trying to help you reach your goal, but the way you're doing it is wrong." Typically, the hero tries to defend his actions and does not accept the ally's criticism. (See Chapter 10, "Scene Construction and Symphonic Dialogue," for details on writing moral dialogue.)

The attack by the ally provides the story with the second level of conflict (hero versus opposition is the first). The ally's attack increases the pressure on the hero and forces him to begin questioning his values and way of acting.

Casablanca

■ Ally's Criticism
Rick is criticized not by one of his allies but by his first opponent, Ilsa. In the marketplace, she accuses him of not being the man she knew in Paris. When Rick bluntly propositions her, she tells him she was married to Laszlo before she met him.
■ Hero's Justification
Rick offers no justification except to say he was drunk the night before.

Tootsie

■ Ally's Criticism
When Michael pretends to be sick so he can ditch Sandy and go to the country with Julie, Jeff asks him how long he intends to keep lying to people.
■ Hero's Justification
Michael says lying to a woman is better than hurting her with the truth.

14. Apparent Defeat

During the drive, the hero is losing to the opponent. About two-thirds to three-quarters of the way into the story, the hero suffers an apparent defeat. He believes he has lost the goal and his opponent has won. This is the hero's lowest point.

The apparent defeat provides an important punctuation to the overall structure of any story because it is the moment when the hero hits bottom. It also increases the drama by forcing him to come back from defeat to win at the end. Just as any sporting event is more exciting when the losing home team comes back to win, so is a story when a hero the audience loves battles back from what seems like certain defeat.

KEY POINT:
The apparent defeat is not a small or temporary setback. It should be an explosive, devastating moment for the hero. The audience must really feel that the hero is finished.

KEY POINT:
You want only one apparent defeat. Although the hero can and should have many setbacks, he should have only one moment that clearly seems to be the end. Otherwise, the story will lack shape and dramatic power. To see the difference, think of a car barreling down a hill and either going over two or three nasty bumps or smashing into a brick wall.

Casablanca

Rick's apparent defeat occurs fairly early in the drive when Ilsa visits him after the bar closes for the night. Drunk, he remembers their romance in Paris and the terrible ending when she failed to show up for the train. When she tries to explain what happened, he bitterly attacks her and drives her away.

Tootsie

George tells Michael there is no way Michael can break his contract with the soap opera. He must continue to
live this nightmare as a
woman
.

Apparent Victory

In stories where the hero ends in greater slavery or death, this step is an apparent victory. The hero reaches the height of success or power, but everything goes downhill from here. This is also the moment when the hero often enters a subworld of temporary freedom (see Chapter 6, "Story World"). An example of a story with an apparent victory is
Goodfellas,
when the characters pull off the Lufthansa heist. They think they have made the score of a lifetime. In fact, this success begins a process that will end in the death and destruction of them all.

15. Second Revelation and Decision: Obsessive Drive, Changed Desire and Motive

Just after the apparent defeat, the hero almost always has another major revelation. If he doesn't, the apparent defeat is real, and the story is over. So at this point, the hero gets a new piece of information that shows him that victory is still possible. Now he decides to get back into the game and resume his quest for the goal.

This major revelation has a galvanizing effect on the hero. Where before he wanted the goal (desire and drive), now he is obsessed with it. The hero will do virtually anything to win.

In short, at this point in the plot, the hero becomes tyrannical in his quest to win. Notice that while he is strengthened by this information, he is also continuing the moral decline he began during the drive. (This is another step in the moral argument of your story.)

This second revelation also causes the hero to change his desire and motive. Again the story turns in a new direction. Make sure that all five of these elements—revelation, decision, obsessive drive, changed desire, and changed motive—occur, or this moment will deflate and the plot will flag.

Casablanca

■
Revelation
Ilsa tells Rick that she was married to Laszlo before she met him, which is why she deserted Rick in Paris.

■ Decision
Rick seems to make no clear decision, but he does tell Renault that if anyone uses the letters, he will.