After a week or so off for the holiday, I went back to what I’ve written here and found that I was thoroughly confused. On the one hand, I had spent several weeks writing about the four different types of stories - Building Up and Tearing Down for a Change Character and for a Steafast Character. Then, I ended the whole discussion with my last post which basically said that all Change characters describe a process of Tearing Down, and all Steadfast Characters describe a process of building up. Another meeting with Chris cleared all that up, and I hope I can communicate it well here…
The Building Up and the Tearing Down concepts are all about Justifications. There are two ways of visualizing this - one for Change character stories and one for Steadfast character stories.
First, the Change character story. Imagine a wall with four rows of very large bricks. It’s so large that by the time you put up that fourth row of bricks you can’t even see over to the other side. You can’t hear anything, you can’t see anything - it looks like its just the wall.
Now, if you’re this character with this wall in front of you, it seems like it has always been that way - you don’t realize that there is something behind it.
But there is something there. And its causing problems for you. You can’t see what it is. Instead, all you see are the Symptoms of the problem. The stink of something unseen! And that’s what the you react to.
As a Change character you are forced to tear those bricks down. It’s only once you clear all those bricks away do you finally say, “Oh, this thing again.” You are now faced with an inequity that you had previously justified away. You had completely forgotten about it - but it really never went away - only your awareness of it went away.
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4 responses so far ↓
1 Chris Huntley // Jul 8, 2005 at 1:45 pm
Here’s a clarification that I think works well with the current analogy.
The MC smells a stink but looks for it everywhere EXCEPT behind the wall…because it’s a WALL. Plus, he has become so accustomed to the smell that he only notices reactions to it, not the smell itself. This is the state of affairs BEFORE the story starts.
ACT ONE — The IC comes in and starts pointing or poking at the top row of blocks. Eventually, the top row is knocked off (BECAUSE of the IC’s presence).
ACT TWO — The MC still cannot see anything and basically uses that as a rationale that there isn’t anything there even though the IC’s perspective indicates there is. However, the MC notices that the smell is a bit stronger–again, as much or more because of reactions to it than direct assault to his nostrils.
The IC points and pokes and the eventual collapse of the second row of blocks occurs.
ACT THREE — More stink. More noticeable to the MC. More pointing and poking by the IC. Bye-bye third row of blocks.
ACT FOUR — Big stink. More noticeable to the MC. Final removal of last row of blocks which reveal the source of the stink (MC Problem).
CLIMAX / Resolution — MC believes he is part of the problem and changes. This isn’t necessarily a conscious realization or choice.
The downside of this simple metaphor is that it implies that the four rows of blocks (justifications) are the same. In fact, each one is as different from the others as the items in a quad are different from one another. That’s why the four acts aren’t four repetitions designed to wear down the MC. As each “excuse” is debunked or disproved, a new and different one comes to the fore.
2 Andrew Hull // Jul 11, 2005 at 8:30 am
There is a question at the end of this. I was watching an episode of the West Wing that I believe is a very good example of the change character. The ‘Noel’ episode follows one of the characters through a post-traumatic stress syndrome counseling session. Through a series of flashbacks, the character at first denies and then finally excepts that a traumatic incident (being shot) has altered his behavior in ways in which he could not see.
My question is this, does the character in a change story always react with hostility to those who begin the process of breaking down his walls. Are there other reactions? In the episode above, the character questions the legitimacy of the condition, the intelligence of the counselor and the integrity of the interviewer. As well, Scrooge is also hostile to all who try and show him what he is missing (his nephew and Marley).
Are there other reactions, though, besides hostility? Examples?
3 Jim // Jul 11, 2005 at 9:22 am
I would think there could be any number of reactions. More often than not, the character probably will react with indifference. If someone brought up some observation about something you were doing wrong or brought up a sore subject, you’d most likely just ignore it - and go on justifying.
Luke in “Star Wars” doesn’t react towards Ben with hostility. He whines about how he can’t go, and how his uncle his counting on him - but not hostility.
So I think it’s more important that the irritant from the Impact Character is actually in your story - the reaction to it is left up to your imagination!
4 Chris Huntley // Jul 11, 2005 at 11:23 am
The way your MC reacts to the IC depends on your MC’s nature. Sometimes an MC might be defensive, other times hostile, hopeless, in denial and unfazed, dismissive, fearful…what ever you feel is appropriate for the character. Typically they go through a series of reactions as things get closer to the heart of their personal problems.
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