The Woman in the Story Read online

  Ideally, you will find a strong story and create a memorable heroine to lead it. Take for example the following premise: “A female poet is on the verge of suicide when her estranged mother asks her to move in and take care of her.” Here, the poet is undefined, but she faces a tricky dilemma. Her already miserable life made even more so by caring for an elderly woman who could be responsible for her problems in the first place. Or is she getting a new chance to heal old mother/daughter scars and start again? In this situation, your job would be to develop a character that can make the unfolding dilemma as richly complex as possible.

  With the ever-increasing number of heroine-led films, we’re moving into an era in which the character and her situation are gaining supremacy over the concept. Take The Holiday and The Break-Up. In both films, there is no central irony or dilemma that has to be worked out; the heroine’s own self is the main problem. We want to watch the heroine dealing with her personal issues that sabotage her happiness. If there’s any irony in the story it arises out of a Conflict between what she thinks she wants and her actual emotional capacity to get it, over and above her external dilemma. In The Holiday, Iris thinks she wants Jasper. By switching houses with Amanda, a stranger she meets on a home-exchange site, she embarks on a process that will transform all her feelings about herself and her expectations of love. In The Break-Up, Brooke’s desire to make Gary miss her brings about an ugly separation. She eventually understands neither of them was ready for a committed relationship for totally different reasons.

  In both films, the story concept is compelling. There’s a fish-out-of-water aspect to The Holiday as both women swap houses, and a “how not to save a relationship” irony to The Break-Up. But I think that in both movies, the complexity of the characters has the edge.

  CHOOSING A CHARACTER

  As we all have to start somewhere, I suggest you choose a heroine now, begin developing her, and then move on to work out her story. I hope that by the time you’ve got to the last page of this book, your character and your story will have gone through a huge number of changes. You will have fresh insights, new inspirations, and, hopefully, bigger and better ideas. That’s the whole point of rewriting and development, and reading books like this one! So don’t fret if you have a tendency to be commitment-phobic with your characters when beginning a new story idea. Your heroine will grow on the job or fail spectacularly.

  If you’ve written many stories with heroines, you probably know that all your characters go through monumental transformations each time you rewrite scenes, sequences, or full drafts. A heroine can change her voice and her attitude from scene to scene. On a bad day, it can seem you are subjecting your character to a series of brain transplants or in a worse-case scenario, a frontal lobotomy. When your screenplay goes into a development process that has to take into account the creative input of others, the number of surgeons and diagnoses only increases.

  EXERCISE: FINDING YOUR HEROINE

  So why her? Why this strange female creature lurking in your subconscious? I’m sure there are many others suitable for the job of leading your screenplay, so what is it about this one?

  Let her tell you. She’s got to fill out the Application Questionnaire for the Role of Heroine. The purpose of this exercise is to bring your heroine into existence. She’s not carved in stone, and you may yet trade her in for a different model. During the remainder of this book, you will get lots of chances to develop her characterization. See yourself as her coach on the job!

  APPLICATION QUESTIONNAIRE FOR THE ROLE OF HEROINE

  1. What is your name? Any nicknames? How do you feel about your name?

  2. Why do you want to lead this screenplay?

  3. What do you feel you can bring to the role?

  4. Why would audiences like you? For your strengths or your weaknesses? Why might they dislike you? What’s your dark side?

  5. Give me three reasons why I should give this job to you and not to anyone else.

  6. What are your personal goals and objectives for the future? Do you expect to achieve any of these during this screenplay?

  7. Are you married, single, or divorced? If married or single, are you happy about that? If divorced, what went wrong? Are any issues from your past relationship going to get in the way?

  8. Do you have children? If yes, do they live with you? Do you expect them to accompany you in this story? What childcare needs will you have?

  9. Where do you live? Describe your neighborhood. Why do you live there? Are you planning to travel or relocate in the course of the screenplay?

  10. Tell me why you think an audience would remember you.

  11. What are your notable achievements? Might the audience have already heard of you? Are you famous, or celebrated?

  12. Finally, if you were a flower, what flower would you be? Why?

  How was that? I hope you found a suitable candidate! For those of you who already know who your heroine is, I recommend you still complete a few “application forms” on behalf of other potential competing candidates in the waiting room of your mind. Sometimes the favorite doesn’t win the race.

  THE MEMORABILITY FACTOR

  So what’s going to make your heroine and her story stick out? Let me introduce you to a fun but highly important concept: the M-Factor.

  Your heroine’s M-Factor (shorthand for Memorability Factor) is the incredibly unique and unforgettable quality that has never been seen before. In the highly competitive industries of film and TV, and with all the proliferating new media platforms available, you have no choice but to make your heroine uniquely distinctive. The M-Factor will:

  Inspire your writing of the screenplay, causing you to jump out of bed each morning and race to the laptop.

  Make her stand out to script readers, who can only recommend her to the powers that be.

  Intrigue producers and make them sleep uncomfortably at night if they reject her or make them excited to be giving her a shot.

  Make an actress want to bring her to life.

  Make her reach wide audiences who will never forget her!

  But wait a minute, you might be thinking. How can I know this when she’s only just got the job? You can’t. Not fully because what a director and actress bring to your heroine’s M-Factor are vital to the process. But as the screenwriter, you get first shot. So the sooner you find her M-Factor, the sooner your writing will be reaping the rewards.

  Despised, Admired, and Memorable

  To find the M-Factor of your heroine, first step back a little. Brainstorm some heroines you know and place them under the following categories:

  The most despised

  The most admired

  The most memorable

  It’s a fun exercise and better to do in a group. What you will come away with is a series of extremely passionate comments about which famous heroine falls into which category Try not to fall out!

  Here are some of mine:

  Despised: Annie Wilkes (Misery), Scarlett O’Hara (Gone with the Wind), May (The Mother), Joan Crawford (Mommie Dearest), and Vivian Ward (Pretty Woman)

  Admired: Scarlett O’Hara (Gone with the Wind), Deloris Van Cartier (Sister Act), Maria (Maria Full of Grace), Otilia (4 Months, 3 Weeks, and 2 Days), Precious (Precious), Elizabeth (Elizabeth), Elle (Legally Blonde), Ripley (Alien Trilogy), Jackie Brown (Jackie Brown), Clarice Starling (The Silence of the Lambs), Nazneen (Brick Lane), and Grace Augustine (Avatar)

  Memorable: Scarlett O’Hara (Gone with the Wind), Dora (Central Station), Precious (Precious), Erin Brockovich (Erin Brockovich), Bridget Jones (Bridget Jones’s Diary), Ada (The Piano), Fausta (The Milk of Sorrow), Edith Piaf (La Vie en Rose), Lee Holloway (Secretary), Jane Tennison (Prime Suspect), Thelma and Louise (Thelma and Louise), Julia Child (Julie and Julia), Nanny McPhee (Nanny McPhee), Celie (The Colour Purple), and Marie Elena (Vicky Cristina Barcelona)

  As for my “despised” heroines, there aren’t too many If anything, the majority of the ones I’ve listed are the main antag
onist in the story, not the lead role. This is because of the strong tendency to make heroines very sympathetic. Compulsive heroes like those of Citizen Kane to There Will Be Blood are rarely women, as I’ll talk about later in the chapter “Unsung Heroines.” And why is Vivian in Pretty Woman here? “Despised” is probably too strong a category, but in my opinion, she is essentially a “fantasy” heroine…a too beautiful “tart with a heart” who finds a super-rich soul mate. She just isn’t real!

  Scarlett O’Hara from Gone with the Wind, with all her petulance, self-seeking, feistiness, determination, and positivity comes into all my categories. She would make a nightmare sister, a worse friend, and, as she says herself, a terrible mother. If I had to choose one of her qualities or vices that stood out, it has to be her selfishness. Scarlett O’Hara makes a mockery of the term dramatic arc. She goes through lots of changes, more external than internal, but her fighting (selfish) spirit is never crushed. This is her admirable quality and key to her survival. selfishness makes her determined and indomitable, from the beginning to the end of a three-hour movie.

  With your “memorable” group of heroines, now find the one dominant quality that really stands out. This is probably her M-Factor, or pretty close to it. You might need to brainstorm around all her other character traits. Here are some of my suggestions as to why some famous heroines are memorable:

  Bridget Jones: blundering neurosis

  Precious: survival against the odds

  Erin Brockovich: gutsy tenacity

  Lee Holloway: contented masochism

  Amanda Woods: high octane vulnerability

  Vera Drake: misguided generosity

  Julia Child: bubbling positivity

  Jane Tennison: gritty loner

  Nanny McPhee: stern healer

  Marie Elena: unboundaried passion

  And some lesser-known heroines from world cinema:

  Maria (Maria Full of Grace): determined risk taker

  Fausta (The Milk of Sorrow): acutely fearful

  Anais (A Ma Soeur!): dark for her young years

  It can be a great idea to rent out films from much earlier decades, like Gone with the Wind. Actresses like Irene Dunn, Mae West, Lana Turner, Greta Garbo, Bette Davis, Doris Day, and Marilyn Monroe frequently played heroines with the M-Factor. But these stories were created in eras before feminism, and their stories can reflect limitations in women’s lives in those eras. Being “spunky” or a “femme fatale” was often the only personal agency these women had!

  It’s really simple. Your character’s M-Factor is her defining and standout quality. You could call it her essential self. It’s the reason why she will be memorable.

  The M-Factor Equation

  Here’s a really simple equation to find your heroine’s M-Factor. Treat it like poetic math!

  M-Factor = [your heroine’s compulsive need

  + most shocking/difficult trait] × charismatic or endearing quality

  Let’s put it to the test with one of my favorites, Dora from Central Station. Dora’s work as a letter writer for the illiterate (whom she calls “trash”) is jolted when the mother of Josue, a nine-year-old boy, is killed. Dora reluctantly agrees to help Josue find the father he has never met. Let’s find her M-Factor. First, I would say Dora’s most compulsive need is being a loner and baggage-free. Her most shock-ing/difficult action or trait is deceiving her clients by not sending their letters after being paid for writing them. Her charismatic quality is her sharp tongue.

  Dora’s M-Factor = [loner (compulsive need)

  + unremorseful deception of clients (irreverent action)]

  × sharp tongue (charismatic trait)

  Dora’s M-Factor = tricky old grouch! Dora is the dramatic and female equivalent of Carl in the animated movie Up. They share a very similar story, as old people on a quest with young children in tow. Dora, as an older heroine, is notable for her age and sex alone, but the fact that she’s unpleasant and clearly wounded makes her all the more fascinating. Remember, when it comes to writing heroines, whoever dares wins. The writers created a truly memorable heroine in Dora, and the movie and its creators went on to win countless awards.

  Let’s try one more with Scarlett O’Hara, as she’s so outrageous and another personal favorite.

  Scarlett’s M-Factor = [self-seeking (compulsive need) + outrageous manipulation (shocking trait)] × optimistic determination (charismatic trait)

  Scarlett’s M-Factor = ruthless prima donna! The success of Gone with the Wind is legendary. Like her or hate her, nobody forgets Scarlett O’Hara.

  Likeability

  One thing that jumps out is that the M-Factor has nothing to do with how sympathetic or how “likeable” your heroine is. This is not the place to worry about alienating the audience. She needs to be complex but not necessarily nice. Think about all the complex, dark, male heroes that have entertained and compelled millions to watch them in recent years. The more complicated, wounded, and alienated the better when it comes to men, it seems. The perennial problem for writers is fear the audience won’t like the heroine. Making the main character likeable is an issue for all writers, but it is more of a tricky issue when it comes to heroines. We’re encouraged either to generate huge levels of sympathy for a heroine in order to justify any difficult choices she might make or to make her as sympathetic as possible. It is very hard for writers to avoid this pressure.

  I’m going to talk more about this in the chapter “Unsung Heroines,” but in the meantime remember that a million heroines die the death of oversoftening every day of the year. They drown in the sea of forgettability because they simply aren’t complex enough. This doesn’t mean that your character has to be tricky, just as long as she isn’t too bland. Your M-Factor has to have the X-factor, basically.

  Remember Scarlett.

  In Search of an M-Factor

  An example of a heroine in need of an M-Factor is Fanny Braun in Bright Star. It is a beautiful film, depicting a sensitive and feminine exploration of love, but sadly Fanny is not particularly memorable. Why? In my opinion, Fanny’s characterization falls between too many stools; she isn’t nice enough, passionate enough, or dark enough. To be nicer, she should have been written to show warmth and care about her lover Keats. To be darker, she could have been written as a seductive waverer, the commitment-phobic female who isn’t going to let an ailing and impoverished poet change her life. To be more passionate, she could have been written as tossing her heart to the wind and not letting anything stand in her way of being with Keats. She wouldn’t have let him rot in a squalid London room all alone when he’s fighting tuberculosis. She would have put up a real fight to go to Italy. Bright Star is a true and tragic love story that reflects the stifling limitations and entrapment of women, but it is one of those films in which the male love interest, the sensitive Keats, possibly has more of an M-Factor than the heroine.

  A MEMORABLE STORY

  Once you have found you heroine’s M-Factor, you will eventually have to create a story that illuminates it brilliantly. An effective way is to put your heroine in a situation in which her M-Factor is sorely tested. By putting her under pressure, your heroine will learn which aspects of her personality help her and which aspects hold her back. Remember the M-Factor is not the same as a negative personality trait that has to change, but there is a good chance one element of her M-Factor will undergo a transformation. This is the side of your heroine that gets her into trouble, and that, nine times out of ten, will be her blind spot. By helping Josue, Dora gets a belated experience of mothering and opening up to an experience with another individual that she can’t control. Dora is still Dora by the end of the story, but she’s opened her eyes. I reckon she’ll still be grumpy. She’s not going to volunteer for a mission in a hurry. But she might think twice before not posting her clients’ letters again.

  Scarlett O’Hara’s M-Factor: By the end of her long story, during which she is sorely tested by poverty, civil war, and her own blind spot, Scarlett does
not give up her ebullient determination. She is never really going to be a truly altruistic being. But she might think twice about playing any more games with Rhett if she really wants to get him back.

  EXERCISE: YOUR HEROINE’S M-FACTOR

  Do the M-Factor equation in the preceding text, and see what you come up with for your heroine. Don’t worry if you surprise or even shock yourself. You can always change it when further character and story development generate bigger and better insights. Once you’ve found your heroine’s M-Factor, use it as a metaphoric touchstone. It will always bring you back to base.

  Wrapping Up…

  By now, you should have identified your heroine and have a good idea about her M-Factor. Now it’s time to think about the role choices your heroine makes in her life.

  GOING

  AGAINST TYPE

  Chapter 3

  Your heroine will have made certain choices about life when she walks onto page one of your screenplay (or not too long after, hopefully). It’s up to you to decide what those choices are and how they are going to either change during her story or be cemented in her sense of identity.