I

I Aristotle's Poetics
for Screenwriters

Storytelling Secrets from the

Greatest Mind in Western Civilization

I
d
!

Michael Tierno

~HYPERIONI
NEW YORK
 ¡,
,~
i
i
I Preface
I,
I
f, scarily enough, your screenplay happens to get read by
I a Hollywood studio, the story analyst will sum it up using
a "coverage" form that looks something like this:
•
Log Line:
Brief:
Plot Summary:
Comments:
Idea:
Story:
Charaeter:
Dialog:
Producnon Values:

Absolutely everythingsubmitted to a Hollywood studio

is boiled down to its bare merits and discussed using these
nine topics of analysis. The form allows a story analyst to
write a quick summary ofthe screenplay before zipping said
summary off to an overworked story editor, who sendsit to
an equally time-taxed studio executive. Based on this cov-
erage sheet, the executive decides whether or not to look at
your script. What the items on the sheet represent are the
no-brainer essentials of a screenplay-its idea, its stbry, and
XVlZ
xviii Preface
so forth. But you'd be surprised to find out that the criteria
Hollywood executives use to evaluate screenplays are exaetly
those the legendary philosopher Aristotle thought were the
nuts and bolts oL1ncient drama more than 2,000 years ago!
Aristotle carefully examined the fundamentals of dra-
matic story structure in the Poetics, which is still considered
I !
to be "the bible of screenwriting" by many Hollywood pro-
fessionals today. Sharing this view, 1 use the Poetics as a
guide to write scripts and make films, and haveused its
truths to analyze and write screenplay coverage notes as a
story analyst for Miramax Films. Since the Poeties has he!ped
me irnmense!y in both endeavors, 1 fee! obliged to share its
insights with anyone interested in writing better screenplays.
Don't worry,this book is not an academic study. It's an
introduction to tl1e Poeties ~imed specifically at scnienwrit-
ers, that seeks tobreak down many of Aristotle's brilliant
concepts ánd demonstrate how his techniques. of dramatic
story structure are still used in modern movies. 1 know how
hard it is to read the Poetz·cs in its entirety. There's that
translation-from-ancient-Greek issue, not to mention the fact
that many of the plays Aristotle refers to havé vanished or
are rare!y performed. Sorne of the conventions he describes
have no bearing in today's cinematic world, including talk.
of"dithyrambs" and other outmoded forms of dramatic writ-
ing. However, the Poetics is still useful to screenwriters be-
cause Aristotleexplained why well-structured dramatic
works affected audiences the way they did. He analyzed plot
devices, character, and everything you'd find in a Hollywood
I, Preface Xl'
~
story coverage sheet today. In fact, 1 think it's safe to say
I that Aristotle, besides being the greatest mind in Western
civilization, was the world's first movie story analyst!
¡
Aristotle's examination of plays. such as OedipusRex
demonstrates time!ess urnversal truths about dramatic sto-
rytelling. In analyzing great movies like Rocky and American
Beauty, I discovered that they followAristote!ian story stI'UC-
ture, which is not to say they simply follow a bunch of rules.
On the contrary, in. these works, the art of storytelling is
alive aIldfresh, and perhaps that iswhy they emergedlike
beacons from the cluttered marketplace. In each great movie
I analyze, the screenwriters an.d directors have understood
how audiences respond to drama, which is what the Poetics
is all about. This understanding is what makes c!assicfilms
time!ess and awe-inspiring.
The passages from the Poetics I cite in the subsequent
chapteI's contain the soundest principIes of screenwriting
technique ever articulated. What parentheticalemphasis I
have added or any rearranging I have done I felt was nec-
essaryfor the sake of presenting Aristotle's thoughts on dra-
matic structure as clearly and simply as he intended. You
will notice that throughout most of the book, I demonstrate
these principIes by citing actual movies rather than screen-
plays. I fee! that screenwriters must first understand how
drama works in great movies on screen before they can make
it happen on papero
A word about the semantics of the Poetics needs men-
tioning. When Aristotle says "tragedy," he means "serious
 Preface
xx
drama," so whenever you see "tragedy" throughout the book
(notably in the Podícs excerpts), it meansjust that-not nec-
essarily "tragic drama," in the conventional sense modern
viewers hold. In Aristotle's day, there was a hard-core split
between tragedy(drama) and comedy. Tragedy was about I
serious issues-the "tragic deed" and higher-Ievel person-
ages falling from grace. Comedy, aboutbuffoons and lower-
leve! personages that were not to be taken seriously,
amounted to a sort of "vaudeville." Aristotle informs us that
the sadder dramatic works are indeed the most potent kind,
a notion that carne to define classical "tragedy," as cham-
pioned by Shakespeare with works such as Hamlet and Kíng
Lear. But all of the principIes about tragedy laid out in the
Poetícs apply to most moviestoday, even comedies like Cal-
axy Questo.
And now the moment we've all been waiting for; ..
storytelling secrets from the greatest mind inWestern civi-
lization.
1
~
Ii INTRODUCTION
I" The Action-Idea
1
!
I Orestes is made to say himself what the poet
rather than the story demandso
_, "e ~~hat the story dema~ds" is a concept that should
Db;~;¡;¡';;-~:;;;';en;riter'swall. It's probably
the pearl of wisdom from '!he Podícs, which Aristotle gets
at in the aboye passage. Here, he's referring to the Greek trag-
edy Iphígenía ín Taurís, a play that he feels is flawed because
the author (Euripides) made the mistake of letting his own
agenda seep into the story rather than having every plot inci-
dent come together to create a tight unified structure. In fact,
the ability to plot well or create strong story structures is not a
minor talent, and according to Aristotleit comes with maturity:

o. obeginners succeed earlier with the Diction and

Characters than with the construction of a storyo

According to Aristotle, the ability to plot, or to create a

powerful structure, is. __the most
-~--~ -_..
___________ ~ ......-'·· important
·~_e.'~ .. aspect .._.__._-'-.__,
_ _..
·_,~._._, _"'_~",
of writing.
,~_

Good writers serve their stories; bad writers serve their own
;g:nd.:s.
Byth;;nd-;;rtlÜs ¡;;;;;k:-;;;;;II
~der;ttnd-;hiit's~;;:;'-=-
------- ...--
portant to say what the story demandso You'11 be able to judge
1
 ¡ Aristotle's Poetics for Screenwriters 3
2 Michael Tierno
¡
I for Jaws is an ACTION llpon which the entire story is built.
I We could reduce the ACTIONevenfurther to read, "stop-

I ping akil1er shark," an ACTION that is greater than any of

the characters in the story, even Chief Brady.
Your ACTION-IDEA should beable to move listeners
who merely hear it just asthey would be moved if they saw
an entire movie made fram your screenplay. It takes afull-
length rnovie to bring.anaudience to "catharsis," or pro-
. ......"..;..,..."....,,"-
~_o,"" ·,'_''''''~'''''"_~''''

found emotional release,but the ACTION-IDEA should be

~~_·"""'~<''-''=-<·''''''_"~V_~''~'"""",>,,,.,_~_

able to evoke a little bit of that same deep feeling on itsown.

. So, if your ACTION-IDEA must doall this work, itmust
be a simple summaryof a story, strong enough so that when
it's expanded into a complete screenplay, it will hold and
move a.n audience. Let's Jiow give tité ACTION-IDEAil try.

\ I Say we want to write about someone who likes cars.

That'SIlOt an ACTION-IDEA. Oby, how about sorneone
who not only likes cars but who likes them so much that he
steals thém. "Steals" is heder than "likes" because "steals"re-
fers toan action, whereas. "likes" refers to a state of inind.
But the idea of a hero who merelY steals cars isn't in and
01 itself capable of moving an audience to a catharsis. It
needs something. So, a better example of an ACTION-
IDEAwould read something like:

JJ~ THE ..lOE SCHMO STORY-JOE SCHMO

J~ steals cars to help kids in his neighborhood go to

college. but he eventually decides he's setting abad ex-
ample, so he goes to college himselfso that someday he
4 Miehael Tierno Arístotle's Poet;cs for Screenwriters 5

can get a real job and earn the money to put his kids
lhrough schoo!' Al college he slruggles lo lranscend his
SO 1.0., but instead of bribing teachers to pass his c1asses,
he decides to pass on his own merits, setting the ultimate
example tor his kids.
Bravo! We did it. We crealed an ACTION-IDEA suit-
able for building into a full-length film. And notice that the
what they pay foro A good movie reveals poignant tmths of
the human experience in either a small or big way, depend-
ing on the kind of movie it is.
Just hearing a good ACTION-IDEA can impart a small
feeling of eatharsis, but the bigger drawn-out one experi-
enced during a complete movie is more cleansing for the
human psyche, and even therapeutic. Bear in mind, a secret
.--_.-...... _ .

_ - -<~ ~ . ....
to understanding catharsis is that ...it doesn't happen
",·.,,,·....."'''....
,~~~_~· ...
at the ··~,="~~c~_ ·",;.""",,,,,,,,~_,,,",.,-,,,,~,·,;, -e'''~;'.~'''·'''''''''''''',,·,·"'·'''"~>

finishing touch was adding the fact thatJoe Schmo, the agent end of watching a. movie,
__.._.,_',.,....,.,.... __
but builds
...._"'." • ..
throughout
•.
the__.._,..
entire
=,....,.~""'-"'.;,~,"">4¡.; ,~'". "'.,.;".,.~,.-". ""_ .-",~""~r"~~'_;""-_..,._ ".v.~_"'_ _~."...".,,...,.,_,,~ _.~

of the action, got to make amoral choice, two important story ando fli1ll;q.FSgf~:!JltI:e cnd, giving the audience a final
"'~~l;;";~~''''"....'"' ""'-,.r<i" .... ~.~, '''''"''''''''''"''''''"'-''''''' ~'"- co "C~~'~c"""' _ _ "'_~ .",~_'_~'_'_'__~"<·~'_~'
Aristotelian concepts. Admit it, with Joe's decision to pass
college on his own merits to set an example, you can't help well-crafted story is needed to make an ACTION-
but feel for him. And that's what it's all about, getting the IDEA cathartic. Our task is to take our simple ACTION-
audience to feel and to conneet with your characters. IDEA and develop it into a fuIl-length screenplay, without
Of course, you might get cute and ask, "If the abandoning the essence of the original idea. So now, all
ACTION-IDEA is capable in and of itself of doing emo- that's left is for me to lead you to the master who can point
tional work on an audience, why make them sit through a the way. The task is easier than you think.
two-hour movie?" The answer couId be, "What else are we
going to do on Saturday nights?" The real answer is that
undergoing catharsis through a full-length story is a richer
experience than listening to the mere summation of a story
in a few sentences.
Aceording to AristotIe, catharsis (which literally trans-
lates to "emotional purging") is the whole point of dramatic
storytelli;;g:';;;:'"eÍif~';:h;t~~~ry single story event is working
to achieve in the audienee. Your movie should take the au-
dience on an emotional and psychological journey-that is
 1.

Let's Start at the Very

Beginning, Middle, and End

... a whole is that which has beginning, mid-

dle, and end.

T
o
bis quote from the Poetics has led to the common mis-
conception held by many screenwriters that the Poetics
preaches a three-act stmcture as the be-al!, end-all template
for a dramatic story. In fact, Aristotle never stipuIates three
acts, but he does taIk about two distinct movements in a dra-
matic story, the "complication" and the "denouement":

Every tragedy [dramatic story] is in part Complica-

tion and in part Denouement; the incidents before the
opening scene, and ... also of those within the play,
forming the Complication; and the rest the Denouement.
By)complication!r mean all from the beginning of the
""_"¡"""'~-¡:;'_~"''''''''''' .".,'''',.,,'''''''''''''''"'"----...--..---
story to the point just before the chanKe in.\!l.". hero'~
f~;~;;~~;·¡;yÍD~no;~:;;;t;;¡l'fr~~··;¡;~·b;~:.ing:f
•.,.."'",,.,', ..
,-"~,"' .. ~,."'"'''',...,.,'O_".>p"..... •.
~"'~ '-""".,....,._~=.',.''''. ''''''''".,~,~~."'._,,_~_
the
·_,..·~_,··~'''''''

change to the end.

<,.'-'<"''''~<.,.~"~" •.''",..''''',..,."'",,'1,.,,...---'''"''''._.

In einematic terms, the complication incIudes everything

that happens in the back story that pertains to the pIot, and
7
 Michael Tierno Aristotle's Poetics far Screenvvriters 9
8

continues through the opening of the movie until right be-
fore the change in the hero's fortune occurs. That said, how
does beginning,. middle, and end apply to story structure?
Let's go to the a.ctual excerpt:
Tiagedy is an imitation of an action that is whole
and complete Ín itself and of sorne magnitude ... a whole
is that which has beginning, middle, and end. * A begin-
ning is that which is not itself necessarily after anything
that he can usher in drugs, an action that sets the entire plot
in motion. But this action was muy necessary from his point
of view. In Dead Poets Society, Mr. Keating shows his stu-
dents old photos of now deceased students and tells them
"seize the day," urging them to take action before it is too late
and to follow their dreams. Nothing in the plot has caused
Keating to challenge his students in this way. Because this
kind of inciting incident is not caused by anything else in the
plot, yet sets the entire plot in motion, I call it _a_..."first """
cause"
__ "..¿,~~",,'~. 0',,,_ _, , .

else, and which has naturally something else aftú it; an of action. These inciti!,g insi<!~!lts in TIe Godfather and Dead
,,·'''·'"''.·.. . . ..,-=, , ""
~_C ,·d''_'''~,

end is that which is naturally after something itself, either Poets Society are perfect examples of first causes of action. ,,
as its necessary or usual consequent, and with nothing It is important to understand that tJ:te.ª:~t5'.ª1!~e.?faction
i '~"''"'''-''--'''<-.".,.,.
11-e
else after it;and a middle, that which is by nature after must occur after the moviebegins, not in the back story. But ;;,z.J:'::j.,
"'"'~~,.,." ..., _. __ -'_ ,-- .' '""... ,~.,,,.·~.~,,~»,,,-,,,,·",,~ ... ·,,,.~~_w<_,,~,,,,_,., ..., " ,""', ; . o', . , ," ,_, , .... '"~...... ..

one thing and has also another after it. A well-constructed the fi~stCa;:;se'~f acti~n mnst happ~';:~~rIYlr;'thtn:;~'y¡e,be- !h. ,. e:
"~"",~ ,_""_."'-''''''~"~''''' _ _ ~r,....",~""",,,,,,,.__ ,"

Plot, therefore.cannot
. " "
either begm' or end al any point
,', .
cause it must be solely responsible for setting off the chain of
one likes; beginning and end in it must be of the kind events that drive the plot. To give writers sorne space to work
just described. with before the first cause of action kicks the plot off, Aristode 1

offers us a tool ca.lled the ~~~Io~." A prologue connects lh¡@~"l

In other words, it is the plot action that has a beginning, the back-story part of the complication (e.g., what happened
middle, and end. The plot's beginning "is riot necessarily to the hero before we meet him) to the "front story" (story af-
after anything else"; that is, the beginning of the plot action ter the movie starts) and otherwise sets the stage before the
------~,_.~--_ ,-,.""._-_.--',-,.
cannot be caused by something outside it. It starts up by itself.
.ji[sL!:.\!g~!'<l.[~~!i()~"happens.
.'
In " '''-''--~'-'~''.',"",.
TIe Godfather, the wedding
It's a self-initiated action, a virtual "big bang" that sets the en- sequence creates atmosphere, introduces characters, and pro-
tire plot in motlon, that can be committed by either the pro-
vides a tranquillead-up to the gunning down of the Don. Ih!;," 1\
tagonist or ant~gonist, and that is an act of pure will. For
n_~~()"§",sgmltb.¡§,fimt.sª,J!ll"~,"gfi!sj;jQQ.,9,Sf.\!r§.'.~5"re_~~~t~-' 1h&
example, in TIeGodfather, Sollozzo tries to kili the Don so
.~.e_:~II1~~~!,~':,()i.!h~.p'!2.~_~~ªefu:!~d"ºy~4ristg\k~ This middle ()¡¡; n gtJ í
is completely driven by the first cause of action and naturally , Vrv , '._'
*Emphasis added.· All such emphasis in italics in the."excerpts has been
added by the author throughout the book, unJess otherwise noted. follows after it in a cause-and-effect manner. And just as the
 i
t
Aristotle's Poé'tícs for Screenwriters

I
10 Michael Tierno

first cause of astíon is a dynamic jolt of energy" that drives the

middle of the story, it builds to create a "secoí;ld cause of ac-
tion" which í~,~J~.t~;1i~~I-pl~~~~;;:;t"~Tth~~~tó;:Y;~~·cÍbri;;gs
;;;-i;;tºJ¡:;;d~ndll'i¡nent:'~;Z~;~d;;-;;~;;e;~;rt:>--~>-- .. '-,
"_"'-'-,",;..-- -~-'--'~'<'"' ~'.'''''.';'''':'~-'.' ..'-,. '--'-""~."re~~-", ......._.__ ~~~.._........ ~.~......l

For example, in The Godfather, the middle of the pldt

terminates wheÍl Michael becomes Godfath~r . This change
ín !lis fortune ptarks the beginning of the dellouement, dur-
ing which Micli.ael has enemies from within hi~ family killed.
The denouem~út continues until the last fraIIl.e of the movie;
it's not just a fi.i)al punctuation; it's an entire~nal movement
It takes time. ~d like the triiddle, it naturally unfolds in a
cause-and-effeCt way. But Aristotle is veryspecific about
what must happen in this denouement and \varns us not to
screw it up:

Therellre many dramatists who, afterjgood Com-

plication, f¡¡jl in the Denouement. But it is necessary for
both points;of construction to be always duly mastered.

In the deeouement, al! the plot action that got "wound An end is that which is naturally after something 1
\

up" in the middle unravels. For example, iilThe'Godfather, it~elf, ei~. er.. as its nec7ssary or usual consequent, and.·•• • j.
\

the denouement begins with the change in Michael's fortune, WIth nothing else after...,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,
it.
_.-.-",~' ='-""'''-,"",."-,~""",,,,,",
'.
which is the jolt that causes the unraveling.But what really
unravels in this denouement? Wel!, since Aristotle believed To summarize, let's touch on the key points of what
drarnatists must depict not merely life but t~6~~-;:~líif~-~f: constitutes a "beginning, middle, and end." The beginning
hero, what g;;~¡;;;;¡;:r'iip'~nd;n-;~;~¡~i~
____ : -, ,. ._ _.. . _
th~ ~~d;~~tcotÍ:-
. _._._
~ _.~ .'.,.-~ '_"_""_'"'O~:"_:"· ',.,,~,
of the plot action occurs soon after the movie starts with a
cern the hera's moral conflict that developed during the "first cause of action," which is a self-initiated, incitinfin-
-;tory"snuaaíe~owIiatwá;Mi~h~-;;f's;;;':-al;~~fli~t ¡~ih~ cident that is apure act ofwil!-nothing causes it, or makes
--~·""""~'-_~~~:C_"""'~
12 Michael Tierno

it necessary. This action heralds the middle of the plot ac-

tion, which moves forward through cause and effect, real-
izing the first movement of thed rama, or " l lcatlOn.
comp ""
The middle which naturally springs from the first cause
_________--'_, ":,-_.,_~~,_.,, ,, ~~~ •.~_..,~._,, ...._....,.-_'.__ , __ ~_.,..c""'''''' .._._.- __..•
of
-'-_~~,="....... _y •••• __. _ • • • , ••
Why You Want Your Movie
action drives the story until right before the change in the
<.~ . "~. _
. ,_~ .ly~"._,_,~,~~o,<, ....." "_~;"~__'=_'__'_"_''''=''''_'_...__ ., . ~0~ '._,'_ ,"_', _, e._' ".. __o.,' . "_", , _.' _. _.. . ,', '-"---"'.''''''''''~o'-'
to Be a Bomb!
hero's fortune. Th!~.•~~:nge is.the "secondcause~f~:!!on,"
;hidhb;g¡~s-t1-; den~~;;~~t:·~;·~~d·~ó~;;ent. In the
~---,~ _.. .." -._~...="-~..""

denouement the plot action that got wound up in the com- A tragedy, then, is the imitation 01 an action that
plication and .that centers on the moral conflict of the bero is serious, has ma¡r;nitude, and is complete in itself.
unravels. As a result, the conflict resolves and truth is
gained, whe~~;~li~~¡h;ili;me'orth~'~to~Wh~-ili~"~t;;;Y
c~ncludes, th; auclience mtl~tG;;;-'f~;-;;~rtain that it has
and that the plót action will not continue. Al! of these major
e are must be taken not to misread the eloquent but
unfamiliar language of the Poetics. If you quickly read,
"A tragedy is an imitation of a serious action, one having
points of dramatic story construction can be clearly deline- magnitude," you might say to yourself, "Yeab, so what else
ated in a simple ACTIüN-lDEA as demonstrated here: is new?" But then you might look again at this sentenCe and
say, "Wait a minute ... an 'imitation' of a serious action?

,,,
I@
. A
.,T':lEGODFATHER-Afteranatte ITlPtonDON
CORLEONE's Iife, MICHAEL, who had forsaken the
What is Aristotle talking about?"
Good question, because you'll see the word "imitation"
family Mafia business, killsSOLLOZZO and POLlCE CAp· used throughout the Poetics.. For the answer, we need to slow
TAIN MCCLUSKEY to Save his family, then takes over the down and deconstruct Aristotle's sentence a bit. We've al-
family business, kills alLhis rivals, SQan risesto the top of ready discussed that "tragedy" means all serious drama, so
the American Mafia, and becomes the new Godfather. He let's jump to a tougher concept, that drama is "an imitation of
then kills all the enemies he has inside his family. His tate a serious action," The stumbling block for a screenwriter at-
as Godfather is sealed. tempting to use this concept might be to think "imitation"
means a direct copy of something. Therefore, an "imitation of
Expressed properly, a strong ACTIüN-IDEA-with a be- serious action" could make him think he's supposed to mimic
ginning, middle, and end, a complication and a denoue- serious events as they might "really" have happened. Remem-
ment~is the best springboard for writing a screenplay, ber the scene in The Player when a Hollywood suit thinks he
13
14 Michasl Tierno Aristotle's Poetícs for Screenwriters 15

can copy newspaper events as they are, puttf¡em directly on scene work, more than ho',\' to have just one bomb explode
screen, and make a good story? Well, that's t~e wrong way to under atable. We need a way for all the action in our story
)go about drarn.atic writing. Any seasoned screenwriter or de- to be unified and to develop into "onebig idea," one single
lvelopment exic will tellyou that "reality" is óften quite boring connected story. The besfway to do this is not by raising
jand not dramatic enough to produce the kilid of engagement a bunch of little questions, but by raisinZ l developing,
..
.and ,;:,,«,,,,,,,,,,,"!>,.,,,"",.,,;c.~~.t"'':-1;;:''''!';;~'''":ci- ''''N'~'''-''_,",¡, -A~',,,,,.,.,,."""'{,.(,

!and emótion~lresponse your audience is loo)qng foro

..

answerirtg one central drámatic question in the. audience's

What Ar1stotle mean~ by "imitation" ifsomethingquite
~~""'''''''''''''''-~'''-'-'"-'''--'~'''-''--'<'''.'",,''''';~''''''~'~''+'''AI''-'-i:,":~"~""'"¡"S"'''''''''''''''''''-'')'''''''',,,,''r::'''h~\'''C~'''~'';'¡'''''~:'~'~""""~""i-"""'''._"'-"~~'-''''''''''"'_
l brain. So, let's see how Dead Poets Sociely planted its bo,:,!b.
different from'J)1st copying real-life events. Por him, the word ~'"'''''í;; this movie, events ;l'e chosen and shaped to raisethe
"imitation" réfers to how the "imitative arts"<such as painting, question, "Will the boys leárn from Keating to live life to
music, and dtama really work. These arts re;i:reate reality but the fullest and follow th?ir dreams, or will the soulless
must be deli\ierate!y ordered and shape th~resulting lIlake- schoolníasters win and turn the boysinto life!ess drones?"
believe worldto
",. induce emotion
,', . in'-..their audiences.
-: __,,',. Viewers _._~,,,,·,.,.~,",4""'"·''' This question takes us all the way through the story. It keeps
are goingto~?':V y?ur,~tory to have ~. fai~<~.2~~!_~L~.~E~i:. the audience interested in.the outcome and contributes to
fi~~'.'. i~ii;~tt4~i~;;'~~d':d;~ii~~;-fó~g';;'it mo~~_~!!!:.~ its ability to experience the.\'imitation" of emotions it wO)1ld
'f~~t'ili~A a~;i~;~~;~'::i~i;~;~;;~-;ff~~ti~~ly;h; the audien~e-' fee! if threatened by a realsoulless schoolmaster. In fact, it's
_, ...... ,'.. : ,,:.',..• .' ,,',,',', . . "0' ,:/.:.:. ,..:__....,,", ..._.\..O"··~'-i,'.~",',.,.,. :.,,>,\,..,•. _.,.,_c,""·': ",' .,_c. '"O- "" ....,.'. _' .... ". _., .."""",,:_:,:,:.:,.•,.•,.• ,~.,,_ . '''' ",-o <:.' . ,-'.- .-i.:. ~.. ,.~,~._ ..........

'responds "Ú)lÍtatively" aswell, as ifto real events, their.b.r.~ns a goodidea to state the ACTIüN-IDEA in a way thati.m-
.' . "", :... .' <.-.,--:'.:.:: ,.. -""0.', .""",-. ""', . ~'." . -",.' ,:" ,'" ,- " " ".,•.,,'.,.."'., , ,"-.. "'"'".~.~.,,, -<-" .',-. ,-...,.,.)
aroused to astate ofactibn. . - plies a central dramatic question:
" P~rhaps jNfr~d Hi;~h~~ck said it bestwhen he claimed
that if a bombunder atable suddenly explodes out of no- •
,,,
f@ .,DEADPOETS<SOCIETy-prOfessorKEAT-
.

where in a movie, it's not a great ,:,!ovie. That is, the audi- .• ING inspires young students to live for their

ence needs tI) know beforehand that a bomb is under the dreams, which causes them to start a poetry society. One

table and that it is about to explode. This information ac· boy, NEIL, defies his FAl'f:lER and takes up acting, then kills

tually puts their brains into a state of action by raising the himself when he's trans'ferred to military school, which

tense dramatic question, "Whenis the bómb going toex- causes KEATING to getfired. The boysstand on theirdesks

plode?" That the characte;;·ili~~~~i~~~,.;;;;-"~;:;;;;;~-~fth; andhonor their teacher,as'he exits.

.>"",/~.,;,"''''~~.}''''''. ,.'. , . , : : ' . ' ." .' '.' . . .
bomh engages the audience's attention and compe!s them to
heightened mental participation in the story action. The whole design of Dead Poets Sociely raises the central
But werieed to know how to make more than just one dramatic question beautifully, using a very strong first cause
16 Michael Tierno
of action. When Keating takes his students to look at 100-
year-old photos of deceased students and conveys his mes-
sage to them, "Carpe diem" (seize the day)~take actionnow
to live life to the·fullest-the "bomb" is clearly planted under
the table. The .audience is hooked as it begins ticking .. ~
AlI ihe scenes that follow are connectedto this cause of
action, through what Aristotle refers to as "probable" or
"necessary" incidents that help move the plot along and
develop the central dramatic question. Each scene arises
from the previous scene in a way that plays to the audience's
mental participation and focus, and dramatic "imitation" of
action succeedsin provoking an emotional response. Keating
doesn't just say words to inspire the boys, he makes them
rip pages out oE books and stand on their desks to read
Whitman (in "real" life, an inspirational teacher might not
be quite so dramatic). These events eventually spur the boys
to form their own Oead Poets Society. They hide out in the.
woods, where they write and read poetry aloud, bang
drums,play saxophones, dance in circles, paint their faces,
and invite girls to read poetry. The action develops as Knox
tries to date Christine and gets beaten up by her boyfriend,
and Todd throwshis desk set off the roof, in symbolic de-
fiance ofconvention and orderliness (and his parents).
As the story moves on, the bomb ticks louder. The
serious magnitude of the action in Dead Poets Society builds
to a peak when Neil gets the lead in the school play, setting
his sights on an acting career. But Neil's father is going to
make sure bis son becomes a soulless master of the universe
Aristotle's Poetics for Screenwriters 17
and pulls him out of school, enrolling him into a military
academy. Because he sees no other way out of his situation,
Neil shoots himself. The bomb has exploded!
At this point the audience is asking, "Now what's going
to happen to Keating and the boys?" Even though the action
has now gained serious magnitude, the central dramatic
question is still hanging. When the boys are forced to play
Judas and blow the whistle on Keating (blaming him for
causing Neil's suicide), the glorious answer is prepared: The
boys stand on their desks to honor the fired Keating, despite
the old schoolmaster's threat to expel them. This final action
is one that might never happen in "real" life, but it sure is
a great "imitation" of life that induces deep, cathartic emo-
tions in the audience. And itbrings home the boys'-and
the audience's-emotional journey.
Write your screenplays to raise, develop, and answer
one central dramatic question so that your reader or audi-
ence will stay hooked. Hopefully when your screenplay is
covered, the bomb of your central dramatic question willbe
heard ticking in the story analyst's head as well. And some-
day that ticking will furn into the ringing of a cash register
when you fina11y sell your script. How's that for a serious
action with magnitude!
 ,'3.

The Subjectils an Action

Not a Person

, , , the story, asan imitation of aetion, must

represent one aetion,

A
¿s~otle b,elieved thaba drama,tic.story mus,t ha~e unity
Ir It'S gomg to move an audlence and bnng lt to ca-
tharsis. He also knew that dramatic writers were often fooled
into thinking t!Iatbecauset!Iey used one hero t!Iroughout
an entire story, this alone.lmified t!Ieir plots. Screenwriters
make the same mistake today. But the appearance of Her-
cules in every frame of a movie about Hercules, according
to Aristotle in no way ensures dramatic unity:

The Unity
...,.... ".. .
'"'''':"=_'''~''~
of a Plo(
,,~
does not consist,
"-..•."'".,_" ..•.....,.,,.. ,'.,_",., .. ·-.-...
'"."_,~,~". •._,__ . ,_,.. ._...
,";,o~">'.T'"
as sorne sup:
< ....~_".. "',_,_. ,,_•• _'#co",," .-"'- . -,"

pose, in its having one man as its subject. An infinity of

__ '...;."_~'ri""~~_,,.,"".'O'-"......,,'........-"_,_..,,;.• ~.;..,,<,_."'_,_,~'"~.""_" .•.",._" .. _,",.~,.,_."'""

things befall tha! one man, sorne ofwhich it is ímpossible

to reduce to unity; and in like manner there are many
actÍons of one man which cannot be made to form one
actÍon. One sees, therefore, lhe mistake of all lhe poets
who have written ... similar poems; they suppose lhat,
because Heracles was one man, the story also of Heracles
must be one story.
19
20 Michael Tierno
,~!i,~t?~!;. ..i~~!~ts ~h~t in~ llnifi~d dralllaticsto!Yth~.§!!k:
~l~:~!~.,~~.~,:.~~on:~~t· ap~rs~n .. By presenting one strong
unified action fro;;;'á' he~~'slire, you depict the hero. For
example, if on a job interview, a potential employer asks you
to teIl him about something that depicts "you," you'd teIl
him about something significant you'd accomplished. This
would "sum you up" better than teIling him a million an-
ecdotes about what yourpersonality is like. Screenwriring
works the same way: You write a single unified acrion as a
"through line," which becomes the story's subject. Then a
hero takes the lead in that action, which has a "oneness" and
connectivity so elear that Aristotle compares it to a statue:
In the other imitative arls (like sculpture] one imitation
is always ofone thing, so in poetry the story, aS an imitation of
action, mustrepresent one action, a complete whole.
When we see a statue of aman, it's easy to see what
the one whole thing is ... a statue. That's how tight and
unified a story's acrion must be. But while a statue is frozen,
a story moves through ti.me, so for acrion to be unified and
form a "whole," its incidents must have what Aristotle
termed a probable or ~ecessary.,- --.,,'"'----_.,-,
~~~s~~;~d:~ff~~t~o~~~;;t¡~~~._
..-
In writing an Odyssey, he did not make the poem cover
al! that ever befel! his hero-it befel! him, for instance, to
get wounded on Pamassus and also to feign madness at
the time of the call to arms, but the two incidents had
Aristotle's Poetícs for Screenvvriters 21
no probable or necessary connexion with one another-
instead of doing that, he took an action with a Unity of
the kind we are describing as the subject of the Odyssey,
as also of the [liad.
Homer chose for the "subject" of The Odyssey an acrion
in which each incident foIlows the previous one in a nec-
essary or probable way and at the same rime causes the story
to go forward. Such cause-and-effect linkage makes the story's
acrion coherent in the same way a statue's parts fit together to
form one image. However, there are key differencesbetween
probable cause-and-effect incidents and necessary ones.
Incidents of necessity always happen afler a given cause
of acrion and propel the story forward. For example, if you
came home and found your house broken into and robbed
you would always caIl the' police; calling the police is an
acrion that necessarily foIlows the incident of discovering
your house robbed. As we discussed previously, The God-
father's inciring incident is SoIlozzo havingthe Don shot,
j which causes Michael to kill SoIlozzo and Captain Mc-
Cluskey. SoIlozzo's action causes or makes it necessary for
I Michael to kill SoIlozzo and McCluskey in the restaurant..
Probable dramaric incidents also cause the story to go
forward but are only likely to happen. They aren't incidents
of dramaticnecessity, in terms of how the eharacters view
thei;··~;:~~::ti~;;:;.'F~r example, in Rocky it makes sense that
after Rocky gets a shot at the boxing crown, Mickey begs
him to be his manager, but this didn 't have to happen. How-
22 Michael Tierno Aristotle's Poetics:for Screenwriters 23

ever, notice th~t this probable incident caUS~$ the story ac-
tion togo forward: Mick~y trains Rocky, w~ich causeshim
to last15roti~~s. RockYitaking Mic~ey O?ialso helps the
audience like~~ckY, andsince Rocky is our/hero, we have
to likerim irt!?rder to~are ahout~hat h~ppens to hiIh.
RockY'$relati?nship withAdrienne is similarly construded,
in that their courtship is a sequenceof prob"ble events.
Because Rpcky uses lIlore probable inci~ents thannec-
essary ones its chain of cause~and-effect events' feels looser
than The Godjaiher's, butit's still a tight, U1üÍied plot. Leú
take a look at'its ACTION-IDEA.
1 or necessary relatiolfship t6each other ~!,l~.E~H$"e.Jh!?,I~§~
, to. move forward. Rocky dating Adrienne, Paulie puttingad;'
~~~R;;~k;;;;;~b';,Mickey training him__all of these incid~Ilts
are prob~le and cause ROFky to grow, and drawhim closer
tohis change in fortune. ~fact, !~!:~,"~~.~.~.~~2~~.~S~?,~
does; Itdepicts th~ trapsf()rma~on of a hero's fortune'<lIld,
.' "-"'~"''';"<_'''''- -'-~."'~'::"",'"_,:",'''''';!'''-~'-C';''''''''>~~'''~:''''''~'~-'''''''_-t~"\;,,-,-,,,··_r., '<"-'·";"·',"'"'_">'·":__"~'_'"':,","O';"_''''~''''"'~~'~-.o= ~··'':tt-~'
the b0xÍrlg match with Appllo Creedis the supreme way it
finally happens for Rocky;
Aristotle tells us that ,,!h~,.P,~?~,.s,~,P~~.,~!,S,2.~ghUhe!.it
y~utookaWllY anf~~e irtcident, thewhole would literal!Y.--
~oil~p~~': ••••. ~u •• , ••,.,••• "'''''''",''''''~'''-'''''''-'---''--;-

'.,'"""' '"',.-,'''
~.
.A'J~ RPCKY-ROCKY desires tobe mor~!!ian a bum ! [The plotshouldh'ave] its severa! incidents
,~ frqrrÚhe neighbClrhood and tries to acc;Oinplish this I closely cónnected that ,the transposalor withdí:awal 0['
'J ,',:, ,,' " ", ':':',",-

inmany '¡'~~s. He gets offered a chanceto fi9!itthe champ .

i' ,,:,,' ,',
I anyone of themwill disj6inand dislocat" the whole. For
APOLLO CREED, ahd decides he only wantsW last fifteen

rounds tcf'prove- he's no! a bum. Hetrains fÓfthe-match

¡ thatwhic~
i
makes no .R~tce~tible J~rer:~. by
ence.or absence is no r~alpart of the whole.
it~yres-;
,,>-' ......-"'""'~_¿,,;"'~=
_ _ n...;;,.-_""...;.,.......,-~ __,..,.~~,",__ ..
.O ••• _ , _ ....._ ,,_»..,;.-"~-~

an"d does',kistflfteen r6unds. \::-,,-:<-:

There is another impol't~nt passage of the Poeticsthat

,: ' , , '
The boxilfg matchbecomes an imp~rtant goal for
Rocky__if hewins, he proves he's more th~ a bum,but
everything tháthappens in the plot is abotithim becoming
more than a l>1llll (his ultimate goal).
Roeky IlDéonly has Rstrong plot, but if also develops a
great characte,ro fulfilling two essential critera for moving an .
audience. A tight plot need not be like a predictahle row of
dominoes knocking each other down. It'smore important
that the incidénts that form the plot have either a probahle
pertainsto developing tight, unified dramatic action:
From what we have said it will be seen that the.'·
poet's function is to describe, not the thing that has hap-
pened, but a kind of thing that might happen i.e. whaE.
is possible [or like Jife] as being probable oÍ" necessary.
Here, Aristotle reminds Us that making a plot action unified
requires not only that theindividual incidents be connected
24 Michael Tierno
!
1
through probable or necessary cause and effect. He insists
that the entire chain of plot events must form a story that
seems "probable" or "necessary."
For exampk, the incidents of The Godfather and Rocky
have an overall, archetypallogic to how theyare connectéd.
The ~v~nts that unfold giv~th~ ~ppearanc~that ther ~opld
.. ~~~r~:~RE~i,~.:ili~~~t~9:.·\\,?rídthey.r~~~;~e~,?;.·.~tl~;st
th~!.,,~~~~.Er,?~~!rh;ge~e; Ih~t'~.b~c~\,~.,~.g??~L?r~~~~
stori~sde?ict uni~e~s~s of hulllan lives" and actions. For
exampYe;·i~"Th~~'G;dÍ~th~;:·~;;';th~-ki~(r.:;r;;;;;;-M~hael
Corleone is, it makes sense that he reacts in the way that he
does; ~ence the events that occur in The, Godfather would
"always",?r "necessaril( h~ppen i~thatst6l"Y;ó~id."o;;t
l~ast th~)''''ócld~'p;':;¡;abiy''''happ~~.B~t;~;;¡¡·b~wreal
life doesn't happen in a tight, unified cause-and-effect man-
ner the way movie action happens. Howev~r, movie stories
must present a believable world based on an imaginary chain
of events. This is the paradox of screenwriting.
The lesson Aristocle teaches us is this: ~~~,~,coX?);i.r .•
AC~ION-IDE~ th~ dri~~g f?rcebehind every scene and
t¡;~su¡)JectófX?~i,~i?,!X;·Kii~~Y9Eii~~~~E~~~i~~;E:~~••
l~ad i~ ~uch, a. tightu~ified l'ht a~tion, which is both logical
~nd c¿inp~Ü;;;g,~~d ;6~'li ;;;;:';k:¿;"the kind of script Hol-
lywood movie executives will definitely notice. And who
knows! Maybe your screenplay will be an pffer Hollywood
can't refuse. Which means you can break in without h~ving
to sever any horses' heads, because like s~tues and story
action, Hollywood fol!< like their horses to remain unified.
4·
Forget Sub-plotting-
the Best Plots Have
One-Track Minds
The perfect Plot, accordingly, must have a sin~
gle, and not (as some tell us) a double issue.
A ristocle's Poetics can't teach you to write all kinds of
• screenplay plots, just' the ones that work. As we have
seen, effective plots are uJiified-they have a single, not a
double, as Aristocle puts it, "issue." That is to say: no
sub-plots. Aristocle argued way back ~¡';~;;"'~h;~";;;i~-;~b~'
p¡':;;';; abad technique in dramatic writing, and it's still
abad technique in screenwriting. While it's easy to see
how The Godfather has a "single issue" plot (the war
waged on the Corleones), you could be fooled into think-
ing that American Beauty has many "issues," or sub-plots.
It doesn't. It contains a single issue, one unified action,
and no sub-plots. AlI the action, no matter how many
characters are running around performing "sub-actions," is
related through either probable or necessary cause and ef-
fect. This is important, because as Aristocle warns us in
this famous passage:
25
26 Michasl Tierno
Episodic [pIols] are lhe worsl.I caIl afIol episodic
when therfis neilher probability nor necessity [causality]
in the seqt¡ence of ils episodes.
Th.e "s.ing.·.I.•.e.•· • issue" ae.•.t.ion. thal ti.e.•·.S A.m~.rt. ·. 'can Beauty.. to-
gelherl; simPlr lhis: Thépereeptionof beauly and thel'ffeet
it hason ped~le's lives i~ anaetionin whi;h al! lhe .ehar-
aeters. in thei~.()wn way partieipale. Rieky Filz eomments on
this "~ingle iss~e" when he shows Janey afIoating bag and
reeounls how;this image prompled mm to ~ealize thatthere
is so mueh bé<lJ.lty in the worId, he feels astJ:¡ough hishearl
may burs!. T~s single issue, the pereeptionof beauly, with
the longing ar1~anguish it entails, beeomes.tl1e story's "one-
traek mind."~ the eharaelers are driven Jiy lhis mindse!.
.. .. " .
Lesler ehasesAngela, Janey goes for Rieky, Angela wanls
Lesler,Leste..:~ wife Carol hooks up with ~uddy, and Col-
onel Fitz kissé~ Lesler. Obviously, a unifiedchain of evenls,
, Fór the r~ford, there is sorne separatecause and .effeel
in thesub-aeti()ns of lheseeondary eharaelers going on, bul
lhese sllb-aetipns converge lo make the slqry ONE COM-
PLETE AC1JON. AH the aetion eonneets lo Lester, the
hero who lakcs the lead; For a demonslration of how this
works,let's fit"l review ils ACTION-IDEA:
JJij AJYlERICAN BEAUTY-LESTER, a middle"
1~ aged man, whose wife and daughterthlnk he's a
loser, haslost all desire for Iife, LESTER gels infatuated
with sixteen-year-old ANGELA, eausing him
Aristotle'sPoetícs for Screenwriters 27
smoke pot, and work out~::He eatehes theeye of his neigh-
bor COLONEL FITZ, a Nen-Nazi homophobe. After rejeet-
ing a sexual advanee fron1.\he COLONEL, LESTER almost
has'sex with ANGELA bu{léarns she's a'.yirgin, decides not
to havesex with·her, a'nd:regains hisc:lignity. ThenCOL.,
ONEt FITZ murders him,~nd in his dying momentsLester
rea'Hzes the beautyof jusfbeing alive.
Am~rican Beauty usesinformation shown in the Sllb-
aelionsof the plot lo feed lhe audienee informalion about
whal Lester's going lhroug.h and why. Aristotle teaehesus
lhat while an audienee can, automalieal!y "get" lhe selup (a
man in mid-life crisis ehasing a teenagegirl), there. are detiUIs
aboul this aetion that an <ljdienee can't assume, ~:,}lt?1:
enee needs to ?erive infoI1ll¡ltion.ab~ut the sE~~iiie~_'?L
Whaf;'~;:i;i~;t;;;;w;9ti.;~;'~rthi;'·.i.J~~;tio~,~?-W.~'~_
i;~-;-;;th~~'~h~;~~;~~~:A~Ari;¡;ífl't~ii~"~~;" ". "''"c"-
.~~c_.,~""~,,,,,.,<,,,,?,,,,,,,,",J'''!\,~ .,,'i""'~'··';"'''".' "-,.. .;'""
, A tragedy, lhen, isthe imitation of an aclion thal
serious, has magtrilude,.~nd is compIele)n ilseIf.
, In olher words, whaleverinformalión isn't universal (that
whieh an audieneeean "Mt" aulomatieal!y) must be abl~ to
be deduced from lhe slor}' world through events ín that itory
world, even if this infoITIÍation comes through sub-aetións.
For example, a big cause6f Lester'sinfatuation wilh Angela
get fired, is the f~el th~t his marriage has. diéd. But what waS the
28 Michael Tierno
I Aristotle's Poetics for Screenwriters 29

nature of this love Lester lost, which is causing his crisis?
The audience can't know what he lost; this cause of the
action must he fed to them. This is done through Janey and
Ricky, their young innocent love providing a model of what
Lester once hado Ricky'spersonality, his very "being" pro-
vides the audience with information that helps it imagine the
youthful spirit Lester had, that's gone. The .details relating
to what causes Lester's mid-life crisis, like what he's lost,
must he telegraphed to the audience through minor scenes,
such as Lester huying dope from Ricky as he fondly remem-
bers his teenage years, when he flipped burgers all surnmer
in order to buy an eight-track player. The actual i;"cidents
of the story must convey the nature of what's "causing" the
character's actions: You have to "show it" ,lJ,Q.tjusU,cll.it..
. -.,,,-.,•. ........ '.'
""""'.',,",.. ~,,~.,~,,- .•. """'."_,'c'_ ~.'~'" ."".,.*,~
deed resolves aH the action in the story and makes it ONE
COMPLETE ACTION in a very concrete way.
American Beauty has no sub-plots, only sub-actions
driven by a single issue and thereby connected t~i¡:;~h~;~;~
action, all of it ultimately forming ONE COMPLETE AC-
TION, which is neady resolved by the murder of the hero
at the end.
Abandon the concept of sub-plots, structure your
screenplay as well as American Beauty is structured, and you
may end up with a cinematic beauty, and maybe evell an
Oscar.
,~.<""" .~

To furtherunderscore how American Beauty's plot has

a one-track mind, consider how aH the characters "share"
in Lester's murder: Carol brings home a gun and charges,
into the house, ranting about "notbeing a victim," as if she
were whipping herself into a frenzy in orde~ to kill Lester.
Then she discovers his body and guiltily hides her gun.
Janey and Ricky were in the house and had previously talked
about killing Lester. And Angela, who is I()oking into the
bathroom miITor when she hears the shot, was "involved"
by mere virtue of her beauty, which caused Lester's re-
awakening and set off the chain of events that eventually
leads to his death. Finally, there is the colonel, who actually
kills Lester. So every character either contemplated Lester's
murder or had sorne causal relationship to it. This tragic
 5·
Plot 15 Soul

The firstessenti4l, the lije and soul, so to

ofTragedy isthe Ploi; and that the Characters
come second-comp4re the parallel in painting,
where the most beaiitiful colou1'S laid on 'Ilfithoutor-
dérJunity] will nof~ive one tkesame pleasure d& a
simple black-and-white sketch oJa portrait: ,
',',:.:' :::-, -'.,.o.. :':.: -:'."
.. . . ' . .

~at plot action must beunifie<i, 1

N o",that we know
• . want to turn rou 011.to a core aspect of what is reallr
behindunified plot actien. Until n~w, JOU mighthave
thoughtthat plot-driven lll0vies and character-driven mo.vies
are mutu. Ir exclus.ive. B..11..t Aristode te.aches how plot.. . and
al.

.' .~ _ _ _ ::,' _ _. _ "~ _ _ _ _ _ : :~c

character work together VI'0Y berondjust the technicall~gic
of necessar.y and probable incidents. He tells us whYiwe
botherto link action so~ghdy. When Aristode insiststhat
randomcolors won't giv&ia spectatoras much pleasurer a
simple I:>!ack-and-white sketch of a portrait, he's not ch?os-
ing his Inetaphors lighdr:He impliesthat the unítr ofaplot
thr~u9iI. (;~usall~ re1ated i5§id~lits f6tW~tEe;m;;g~··;:;r~h;';:··"
~anbeing;!Thek~yí~ t~ha~ethe ~l~t ~;ti~~ c~nn~ct~d to
J:~.,,,~<"_ ..:, .~' . .,",--,-,:"",~"","., . ~:,"':f."";:;""'.;~"""""'. ~'__"::';"''''''''''''''''rc",,=",,.•,,%,,,,''.'''Y',~;:T:''''''''":~ "-~"'-""'_"'-"'"";"',~":''''''.","11'·''~';'>01_~~'~.'''''''''"''''
the deep desiring soui ofyour hero. This is what he means
"'''''''''',_,,+'.. '.'';;;i.'":''''''-.c''".",,,,,_~",,,,''''''':''~'';'''''''-:-''''-~:'''''_"':";<o~~:¡\.'"''''''''''''''~''''"~'''''"~_''''''''':'.
in the Poetics quote abo.ve, which 1 like to' parap},rase
31
 Il
32

i
Michael Tierno

down t(j "plotis ~O~I,"" When a strong desire of a hero

r
,.~
.. ,_ .. " .. ,.,-:.. ,.,.: ',- ',' '... _·_ .._.,.:.,r'__

relates to al! of the action, then the plot can depict a simple
__ __

':""'-""¡',..:. ,-,,,,,,:,-..-,'",.".
",·'c·,-,·· - :_,,_,_..:_:":"_"""':"': " .. >,'"

"portrait" of the hero.

'.c.:,:"_;·.,;_;,_4'"_,~ .,~,,,,.,, ._",,.<F""'O-~,;;.,c_,,':""""_'"~~''''''''''--

_,·~,_.::"_._C_-.:i:~.:'·'·"~-""_-;"~-'c-r"'_:_,_". "_"'''~_"._''~;'~'r'_~·'''''''''~·=·
I 6.
. ;__.",:.,_.,,,,,,,,:,::,..
"",~/.,.,:,:,:",::, ••.,., ,:, .•,.'_,.;,..,,,,,
.'._._.,,,~:,,,,_,,:,.,,,"'L,·

The action of Rocky is connected to Rocky's desire to The Ends Are Always in the
make more of his life. He dates Adrienne, argnes with Means of the Plot
Mickey, and attempts to save a twelve-year-old girl from the
streets. Then he learns Apollo wants to fight him, and
Mickey trains him for the match. Rocky confesses to Ad- So that it is the aetion in it, i.e. its Fable or
rienne that he can't win the fight, but only wants to last Plot, that is the end and purpose of the tragedy;
fifteen rounds so that he'll know he isn't just another bum and the end is everywhere the chief thing.
from theneighborhood. With this great line of dialog and
in a stroke of screenwriting genius, the story's action is gal-
vanized and its dramatic unity becomes crystal clear, because
the hero's desire. has been stated. It'~ importantfortheau-
A ristotle calls the plot the story's "end" and purpose,
because to him, "plot is soul" and it's the plot struc-
ture that arouses emotions from the aud;~~~~.'When A;i~:
_"",.",;"",",,,",,,,,,-,,,.;.-,.-;.;,.,,,,,.,."N"~''''''"''·'¡''';_''''f<''''~i·,§\.~~."""l'''''Vt.. <,,,=,,,,.,,,",,,,,,,,,,:,,.,,,.. ·",,,.',,,,,,,,,,,,, ~'~'"~,..,..,.,,,.
dience tb understandthe emotiond" ;;;~~;;i;g,.~tili;·;~t¡~; totle uses a term like "end" to describe plot, he's saying that
","". -,...--'_,.,-,",.'...-".•-.... -''''.''''"-.,,,-, .. "-'.,--./.. ·",.~~·.·""",·,·'·'j~"''';;';"'';"'"'''''¡~'m"'>'''''''''''<''C.'"",,""."",,\,><,,,,,,<\,,,·t"'~¡;""""'<;."',*-';''''';'''im,)..'''''''''''''''''=·~
for the hero, which, to be moving, must be connected to a the ACTIÜN-IDEA, or plot, must always be in your mind's
, strong, .~ing1e.·aesr~eSfth~'he;~;~·~oul:'ln'fác¡;theer;;~ti;~;r. eye when you are writing scenes. In other words, writing a
,'·.·:,.,.,.-.<,-" .... '~ ..._., .._.;,:,.;-..'.I."}.-,,",,:.;<"<,.,.:,,,,.,,,-,,"",,,,,>,,,,.!,:"'_,,..,'C,,",,,;,.,,,,-~.,,,."""',,,
experienée the audience éan get trom a movie will be akin plot is more thanjuststitching scenes together. For example,
to the hero's emocional experience, a good rule of thumb say 1 wanted to build a tree house. The visual image <if the
for the screenwriter. tree house wonld be my "end" or finished product, and
In Rocky, when the movie final!y cuts to the boxing ring everything to build this house would be a means to this end.
for the final action sequence, the finale is completely charged In al! the activity of cutting down trees and hammering wood
by the movie's ACTÜN-IDEA. Every punch Rocky throws together, I would be thinking about the final product of the
and receives is connected to every story incident that pre- house. This image wonld serve as a point of focus gniding
ceded it and is emotionally linked to his desire to become the activity.
somebody. pearlY',.Ro(k):~~~<;!-:ives. ~,:?/~jl§,Rlºl.¡md Plotting a script requires the same kind of foens froma
not from its spectacle (the visuals of the fight). And that is writer. For an example of this, let's examine The Breakfast
what makes it a cinematic masterpiece. Club, starting with its ACTlüN-IDEA:
33
40 Michael Tierno

remain in theaudience's brain and be usedto develop the

story's magnitllde and emotional impact onthe audience. It
accomplishes this without adding anything that needs to be
focused on in terms of basic plot lineo Jus~ like a heart is
always present in a living bodYi strong scenes that happen
in a movie always stay present in the audience's brain and
impact everything else that happens.
Keep theplot a simple ACTIüN-IDEA. Add scenes as
organs that develop its emotional impact on the audience,
without complicating it. Otherwise, you might add extra-
neous "organs" or scenes to it, and your plot will grow a
hand out of its head, causing your screenplay to be targeted
for termination. And that's gotta hurt!
8.
The Four Species of Plot
There are four distinct species of Tragedy ...
first, the complex Tragedy, which is all Peripety *
[reversal offortuneJ and Discovery; second, the
Tragedy of suffering ... third, the Tragedy of char-
aeter . .. The fourth constituent is that of "Specta-
ele," exemplijied in The Phorcides, in Prometheus,
and in all the plays with the scene laid in the
nether world.

A ristOtle tells us there are four "species" of dramatic

story. For us, this breaks down into four different
types of dramatic movies.

1. Complex (containing a "Reversal of FortunefDiscov-

ery"). Examples of complex plots are Angel Heart and
Rosemary's Baby. These movies are the kind where a
E!21~~~~~"~~,~"~,~~.\iV~"'~~~é'~~~~,,;yhE(f}¿vr"~~-:k;"'~'"~~~~~~,",.[e!:~~,~,~".&.i,~~:~"c<
from extremely (Tood to extremelv bad instantly (or the
•. ,,~ ,,,,,,,,,",,,,,,,,,,,,,,_
~"""_,;,.""~,_"_""",',., . ,_";".",_.",'»',,.,.. "_,_,,,,q,.(''¡;'¡''''''''''~'=!~!,}<""""~".,."~.,,,,~.,,,,, ,,,,,,.~,,.n,':'~''->:''''"''",~=~",.~,,,,,.,=,,,,.~_,,,

opposite), based on a discovery or recognition. The rec-

'" .-"-·"':'·"··"·'_":'·'·';··-~.c· "'''C{''·~'':'·'''''í'''''~P'''~'~'''"'<''v'''''''''"''''''''.'''''''''''''''"'.'_"'P""~·;"'A-""C~,="c,~~~'~'~"~···""·"'''''''~ """"",éC'''''"''Y'''-''
ognition invo ves a switch from extreme ignoraJ:.1ce to
;~' .• --" '·"~',-,."~",.··,.".-",,,c, ,.,.:",,,,,.,·,C~'_"-_"', ,-,.'.> .~.".,","c;>~:;,,: . '''';'~,.-,,: """'"'~'\''--;<~''l ...:.~",;,;.. "",~"-,,,,~,,,,,,,'''''~-''''''''''~''''''' 'i'i,·<F'-··-'.f""~~"""-'

*Peripety -means "the change of the kind described from one state of
things within the play to its opposite."
41
42 Michael Tierno
,~~~!~?~~: This type of plot isAristo~e's favorite,and
will be the principal sort of plot that we'P study through-
out tlrisbook. ..
It's~orth menti?ning thatAristotle also describes
what hecalls the "simple" plot:
~lots are eilher simple or complh, since tile
actions lhey repreSent are natUrally ()f tbis twofold
desc¡-iption. The action, proceeding jnlhe way de-
fined~s one conti[luC)us whole 1 call~imple, when .
lhe c~nge in lhe ~ero's fortunes takesplace without
fa r~versal of fortuneJ or Discovery;ándcomplex,
whehit involves o"e or lhe olher, or ~olh.
Clerh i;i~ day in the life of a young'§onveniencestore
derk \Vh~has to show up to his boriIl~ job on his d~y
off and9~al with allthe irate custo[llers that coIIle in.
It'$ a story that uses,the degrading environment of the
lower l~v~l "slacker'>type jobs to evo~e the gloom that
Arnerica'syouth feels toward the co~g reality of the
work w()l"ld that awaits them and is ~J~ood example üf
a .simpleplot.
2. Tragedyof suffering. Aristotleteaches us that aUgood
tragedyhas suffering, and most gooddramatic movies
containscertain amount of intense rhysical or mental
suffering~. or both. Some movies co.~tain suffering to
such a gegree that it would seem as iflhe sufferingwere
Aristotle's POEdics for Screenwriters 43
the Ycry soulof lhe drama. Ingmar Bergman's workin-
volves so much psychological suffering on the párt of
thesharacters (and aUdience) thathis stories coul3be
called "tragedies of suJfering," Aristotle might saythat
in Bergman's work, "s.uffering isthe·.soul." You n¡ight
want. to check out some of his masterpieces on vigeo-
tape, works like Persona, Críes' and Whispersand , "
nroitgh a Glass Darkly.
3. Tragedy of character. Mike Lei~h develops hisplots
throllgh improvisationswith actors. The reslllt is liy,ely
char.a.cter studies tha.!. beco.me films like Naked C.a.'·.r.. ~er
,'o , ' - " , , ' " , , ' :
Girls, aIld Secrets á1ld L.ieS. Thes.e.films are more in
. •••.t.• er-
ested in. developing theinuances. ofcharacterization~and
rela~onships in a looselyplottedway that emph~sizes
personality and character traits.
4. Spe~tacle. Moviesofspectade areyery abundant ittto-
day's cinema. The most recent example of such a [ll~vie
is Moulin Rouge. StaIlley Kubrick's work also thrives on
spectade and visual atmosphere, especially 2001. S~ec­
tade refers to the effect of the vi.suals,that
.is,thecos-
.
turnes, the scenery, and the actors.This brings ton#nd
the term "mise-en-sceIle," which is French for "putinto
a see:ne." Everything that isn't plot, character, chal'acter
thought, dialogue, Ofmusic track, is rnise-en-scene.Re-
melllber, spectade ir(;cinema is not just mis-en-$g~ne;
sound effects, for example, playa huge role in today's
44 Michasl Tierno Aristotle's Poetics for Screenvvriter~ 45

spectade-driven cin"ma. Try and imagine Jurassic Park
without its brilliant sound e!fects. This is of interest to
screenwriters because they need to have an understand-
ing of the power of the medium they are writing foro
Their tme medium is the printed page, which is a fright-
fully reductive way of representing the richest, most lav-
ish medium of all time, the cinema.
That said, it's important to note that all four species
of drama can be used together in the same work, as
Aristode reminds us:
one film is Titanic, a complex drama complete with a re-
versal offortunejdiscovery, spectade, and su!fering.
So you may want to combine all four species of drama
in your screenplay. The point is, you should know which
one or which combination of them you are· using and what
kind of dramatic e!fect you expect to achieve if your screen-
play is to survive in the process of Hollywood selection.

The poe!'s mm, then, should be to combine

every clement of interest, if possible, or clse the more
important and the major part of them. This is now
espeeially necessary owing to the unfair criticism to
which the poet is subjected in these days. Just be-
cause there have been poets before him strong in the
several sPecies of tragedy, the critics now expect the
one man to surpass that which was the strong point
of each of his predecessors.

Although Aristode tells us that we might use all four species

of drama, he reminds us not to feel obligated to do so. It
seems in his day critics were pushing dramatic writers to
create plays with every kind of pleasure in them, which he
thought was undue pressure. Indeed, most mortals are lim-
ited in the kinds of stories they can write, but a great ex-
ample of a movíe that does use all four species of drama in
 g.

What the Poetics Says

1bout Epics Uke
Lordof the Rings

There is, however, a differenw in the Epic as

compq,red with Tragedy.
". "

A.'.. ~~nre.u
g p
ccor•. d.•·•. i.•.n .to An
•••.. stode, . •.• e•.. •ic poetry•. •.l.·.•.s.•·.a .• nto 1ts•. e1.f.
andhas ,ts own set of lessons forwntmg.What Ar-
o istode me<ms by "epic" is a.~aITated stqry like Homer's The
¡liad, orThe Odyssey:

[1'lie poet] lll~Y eitln'f(l )speakatone moment in

narrative and at another inan assumedcharacter,as Ho-
mer does;or (2)one mayremain thesame throughout,
without anY such ehange;Of (3) the inIitators may rep-
resent the whole story dramatically, as though they were
actuallfdoing the thingsdescribed.

In the.• •·•. epic genre, a nar.I'.a.tor can sW1.·•.·tch back and fQr.•.th
between n~rrating the story("once upon a linIe ....") ~lld
" , " : o" , ' , ' - - -. .', "",'.-'

using thei"firstperson," 'YWch is assllnllng tlIe voice <tlld

point of yiew of tlIe hero. or an epicpoem can lock iiIto
one of these two modes of storytelling<tll the way tlIro#gh
47
48 Michael Tierno
the story. Epic poems can also be acted out dramatically on
stage, like tragedy.
Movies often use such techniques from ancient epic po-
etry; consider how Charles Dickens's novel Great Expecta-
tions became the David Lean moVie of the same name, The
movie opens. on a shot of the physical novel and we hear a
voice-over ofPip, quoting from the novel and telling us how
he came to earn the name Pip, and so forth. Lean connects
some of the narrative dots by using Pip as a "narrator,"
combining techniques from both tragedy and epic poetry to
depict fictÍon.
In some ways, a movie is a play on the screen (hence
the term "screenplay), but the cinematic medium has huge
potential for elaborate and exotic locations, from the bowels
of the Titanic to the center of a meteor approaching the
earth, as in Armageddon. In fact, Armageddon recalls ancient
epic poems, containing multitudes of peoples, great wars,
and so on. Part of the reason such works belong to the
spoken epic genre is their scale, which made them ludicrous
on stage. In short, epic stories didn't lend themselves to the
staged dramatic medium and were best if spoken by a nar-
rator.
Whenwe think of "epic" movies, we think of them as
grand and sweeping, depicting not so much an everyday
reality but an exaggerated reality or fantasy. Even if an epic
story tells of a realistic period, ir still uses a sweeping mode
of presentation. Epic cinematic storytelling might rely on
Aristotle's Poetics ·for Screenvvriters 49
spectacle and visual effects, as well as flashier editing and
sound design, but also take place over long periods of time,
while dramas work better with compressed time:
[Epicaiso differs from tragedy] in its length-which
is due to its action having no fixed limit of time, whereas
Tragedy endeavours to keep as far as possible within a
single circuit of the sun, [24 hours] or something near
that.
The best tragedies take place over a single day, as in
Oedipus Rex. This makes the plot events more intense, giv-
ing the change in the hero's fortune· the greatest magnitude
and the audience the biggest rush. It's easier to make a story
"one complete action" and uniIY all irs incidents through
causality if the story happens over a day, or close to one
day. Some movies compress time to less than twenty-four
hours, like American Graffiti. Butgreat movies like The
GodJather II span decades. The GodJather II is a fusion of
tragic and epic storytelling, with an emphasis on tragic. Also
in tragedy, Aristode tells us to keep "improbable" deeds
(unrealistic ones) outside !he play (in back story). But this
doesn't apply to the epic:
The Epic, however, affords more opening for the
improbable, the chief factor in the marvellous, because
in it the agents are not visibly before one. The scene of
50 Mi-cheel Tierno
thepursujiofHectorwould be ridieulous()rt the stage
the Greel>shalting instead of purstIing mlll,and Achilles
shaki~g m~ head to stop them; but in thepoernthe ap-
surdity is(jverlooked;
Epícs, .h<lpause theyiwere narrated, aJJ()wed. wrít$rs to
use anYÍmpr()hable story$vent they GouJd (ireamof, hecause
the "ªgents"were urtseen. Personany, 1 still prefer lfl0vies
that makeo/~ use mYÍrI1agírtatíort(líkeThe BlairJYitch
Project) arty day over seeirtg a gazillíclU speqí<il effects thrown
up Ort the ser~ert to mOVe me. Some of th~ JÍmítatíOlis Ar-
ístodei puts?n tt'agíc storygrew out of hís concemabout
whatcouldhe dorte on$tage versus what couJd be done
througp nar~\tíonin epícs. You cart't re-sr.eate the Trojart
War on stag~the way you cart íf you have ~narrªtor merely
t<llk about it
These lÍrnÍtatÍorts have vanished off th6faceof theearth
for th~ modern screertwríter. 1 am cortvincedthat Hollywood
cart a1ul wíÚre-create a~y farttastícal reality ever penned íf
ít feel. the st()ry wíll make a great movie and a large profit.
.It seemS thatthese days, "the bígger the better."
For a gr¡"t exampleofart epíe movie,iwatchLordofthe
Rings. Specíal effects keep gettírtg better,ªrtd there ísIloth-
írtg h(}ldírtgproduGers back from puttínggteat epíc master-
píeces cm thescreen. So ír your wísh is fot~pícs~rtdfantasy,
knock yoursW out-llonywood digs blockbusterepícs!
However, beadvised, screenwriters who.wríte Hollywood
epícs mnstremember that whíle they may embellish epíc
Aristotle's Poetics tor Scieenwriters 51
. stories ínways that they cart'tirt straíght drama,epícs"Ild
dramas share certairt structllral requirements:
'1'he eonstruction ofits..• ..•[epic]storiesshould elearly .~, ,."," ~ .. ".-.-:",.""",.",.,,:.,.~'(""-'"
likethat of a drama; thel~houldQe based on a single \
;.,1'< ••..., ..,.".,'"•. ~"''',".:.''. ,•.' "~',"'!,',-~,"""'~",o,c'>~,",.,""'~,,,..-"<"""'_,,:~.,
.• ,~_;~_",,," . ""~""""',_ "
actión; one that is a complete whole in itself, with a be-
""-"""''''¡i"Y:;'''~''"J'",''~O<'''~'''''''~''''''~'.o"."",<~.~"''';iV;'~i,'~".""."-,:."""''',,,,,,,,<':",,r.,,,?-,,.,-,.,,..,.-",,,,,,, ~~..~"'.. ,~
ginning, middle, and end, so as toenable _~-". ..v.v-~~~ to'
'i,q".;"..~,,;,,;i;"~::·¡:""'''''>'_'.'''"'-'''!''''4';''~'"'\ _~".':'·9., . ,,",,,,,.",_;,,,:;_,,,;,,,,,,,,, ;,.';',:.>'.>.'" ~;'"<"""":'.=' ,.e.""" ';:." ... ~. , . '. - .,~'~-.,~.~'
proC!uce)t,~~p_1!:!,1,R~gp~I~J?I!'.~~1!Ie_,~"Üh_<4I.Jh!c.,Q.Ig~~~~~
._,;.,,,.,,,,:,.",.,''","',., ...
unityof a living creature;
"",.,' ","<"__.""'..... '"'<"''''.. '''·"..~':'.'''",,;_;_<e'''''.''''\''.''''
Thíspassage ís not merely a refresher on dramatíc uIlíty,
ítlets usknow thaLeven a great epíc screenplay must have .
the "dramatíc unity of a livÍttg creature." This even goesfor
puJling¡rn epic story frOIllgístory anddramatízíngít forthe
screen, líke Done With theWind:
Nor should one supppse that ther~ is anything like>
them [a story which is a.natnrally unified action] in our,·
usual histories. Amstoryhas to dealnot with oneaction,
but with one period andall thM happ~ned in that to one
or morepersons, how~verdisconnected the ,several
events may have been. Jú~t as twO events may take plac~
at the same time, e.g. the sea-fight off SalanIis and the
batdewith the Carthaginians ín Sicily, without converg"
ing to the same end, sO ·a!so of twoconsecutive events
one may sometimes co~~after the other with no one end·
as their common issue.Nevertheless most of our epiei
poeis,one may say, ignore the distínetion.
52 Michael Tierno
Sorne bad ancient poets had no regard for creating a
tight plot when depicting history beeause they were fooled
into thinking that because events had a "unity of time" (were
about a historical periQd and followed oneanother chron-
ologically), this· meant that there wasan automatic dram'atic
unity t~ thoseevents. In an epic story, you can have multiple
story lines but (hey must al! have the same end and resolve
the same issue. A recent example is the epic movie The
Mummy Returns, which has three separate plot lines moving
through it, but th~y all converge on the ret~ of the évil
mummy and the ~~bsequent w¡¡~~~;;dT;;ttl~s~ausedby him.
But remember, this strUcture differs from more somber, re-
alistic tragic structure.
Epic movies can have filler episodes surrounding the
main action for embellishments, but this doesn't stop the
story from being mostly about one action:
~-._--~-----~<., . ,.,..,-,.._.
~.~.~~~,
Herein~ lhen, lo repeal whal we have said befare,
we have a further proof of Homer's marvel!ons superi-
ority lo the resl. He did not attempl to deal even with
the Trojan war in its entirety, though il was a whole with
a definíte beginning and end-through a feeling, appar-
ently, that it was too long a story to be taken in at one
view, or if not thal, too complicated from the variety of
incident init. As it is he has singled out one section of
, --~'-~~~~-~-'- , --
the whole; many of the other in~idenís; however, he
¡;ri;;~~_·;:~·:~- episodes, using the Catalogneof lhe Ships,
for inslance, and other episodes lo relieve the unifortnily
Aristotle's- Poetícs for Screenwriters 53
of his narrative. As for lhe olher epic poets, lhey treat of
I
~ oneman, or Qlle period; or e1se of an action which, al-
though one, has a multiplicity of parts in it.
This is probably the best advice for a screenwriter looking
to adapt a book intoa screenplay. Aristotle tells us that even
thoughthe Trojan Warnaturally had a beginning and end,
Homer singled out one section of it and made one complete
aetion of it to depict the war. He added other kinds of scenes
as episodes to break upthe monotony, but The Odyssey has
a simple ACTIüN-IDEA as narrative glue. Le!'s take a look
at Aristotle's definiiion of The Odyssey'sj\CTIÜN-IDEA:
A certain man has heen ahroad many years; Posei·
don is ever on the watch for him, and he is al! alone.
Matters at home too have come to this, that his substance
is being wasted and bis son's death plotted by suitors lo
hiswife. Then he arrives there himself afler his grievous
sufferings; reveals himself, and falls on his enemies; and
lhe end is his salvalion and their death.
Aristotle informs us that this ACTIüN-IDEA, which holds
together the massive poem The Odyssey, is all that matters
and everything else is filler:
,-,~~~'_--"----"'"
Tbis being al! lhal is proper lo .lhe Odyssey, every-
thing else in il is episode.
54 Michael Tierno

Tlalrrative epic poem allows formoreJicense to thrOw

m direcdy related to the ACIION-IDEA, but la.
a simple <\d'I'IOl'~-llDEA still holds it aJItogether. $0 no
malttej' howi!lavish and grand-sweeping ariiepic you want to Destipv Is an Accident
write, relneliib'~r lo consider the fundamentals of dram~tic V\laiting to Happenj
otc,rvlldlinlJ' 'A.I"íst'ltle teac:hes us, in get your epic
on ........ ...' .i ~'1
Even matters ~f chance seem most marvello1fs if \
r
:~:~~e~t:OI~: :r~;a~;~~::{ t¡s;;nn~; ~;:~; t j
mei.mzng. ' '

.A
,. nstode's favonte pl~!, OedipusR~x, about.wh~thap­
is
pens when you trytoescape destmy, as Oedipuslearns
tbe hard way. All bise~orts to escape bis predicte~fate
(that he< would kili bisfatherandmarry bis mother)lead
him closer lo fulfilling tllis destiny.• Many of theeventsthat
happen.in Oedipns Rex a~pear to be chance incidents.How"
'ever,as Ihe plotunfolds, itbecomesclear tbat thes~inci­
dents . are anything butphance. Oedipus fulfills his <;l;stiny
and loses bis eyes because he didri't regard the god~'pre­
dictiori as a senous factQrin shaping his life.
/ Heignored destinY.And while you might thin~Ihat
modero audiencesare t?O sophistifated to desire the;9ues-
tion of destiny tobe ad~ressed in movies, thinkagai~J"iEven
chance incidents in Th~Blair Witch Project feed i~~othe
"meaning" of what's gqing on, namely, that there r~~ly is
an .evil Blair Witch lurking in the . dark Maryland ~oods,
55
56 Michael Tierno
messing with the students. It's not a coincidence that those
fihu students lose their map and fipd Josh's ear after he
disappears. It al! starts to form a definitive "meaning," as
Aristotle says.It's not a good meaning for those film stu-
dents, but it's certainIy a "marvellous" one for the audienc'e.
The theme of destiny also pops up throughout the hip
film Pulp Fieti01z.For example, when the drugdealer shoots
and misses Jules, Jules interprets this fluke accident as a sign
from Cod to leave crime. He discusses his newly awakened
sense of destiny .lo Vince as they drive along, but this notion
is smashed whefl their car hits a bump, causing Vince to
accidentally shoot and kili Marvin in the hackseat. Now
events are portrayed as pure accident, almost in response to
Jules's earlier encounter with "destiny."
Story incidents that happen by chance are another build.
. ing block of action, connecting the action through cause and
effect the way incidentsof necessity and probability do. In
Pulp Fietion, the appearance of design in the story's chance
elements allows Jules t<y read his luck as destiny, although
he also witnesses Marvin's luck run out because of a fluke
accident. But perhaps, unlike Oedipus, Jules will go through
life with rus eyebal!s intact, spared from his own violent end,
.which would come about if he ignored the "signs." IfJules
had continued bis criminal behavior, he would havé de,
served whatever misfortune that would have then followed.
This is his one chance for salvation. Don't forget, as we are
watching the ending of the movie, because of its non-linear
chronology, we have already Seen Vince (Jules's partner)
Aristotle's Poetics tor Screenwriters 57
getting killed by Butch the boxer, in another chance inci-
dent. This information (that only the audience knows) leads
the audience to "agree" that JJlies should heed the sign and
leave the life of crime.
Pulp Fietion is not a classical take on destiny but con-
nects story incidents of chance, necessity, and probability in
a way that enhances the story's ACTION-IDEA, as well as
its unique hipster sou!. The fluctuation between chance el-
ements and fate allows viewers to make up their own minds
about destiny. This is why the movie is much more than a
"cool flick" about two hoods spouting jive. Its structure
makes it a masterpiece, and earned Quentin Tarantino an
Oscar for best screenplay.
Evoking destiny
-~.~~-_ .. ,
by using the tools of chance, destiny,
.-- ...
necessity, and probability to form ONE COMPLETE AC-
TION is a provocative way to shape screenplays. Shape
yours this way, and someday you may be strutting down the
aisle to accept an Oscar for your screenplay. And that would
be no accidento
 11.

Keep It in the Family ...

The Tragic D.eed

once "'ftched aCNN reporter ask amilitary old-tim~rto

l.definnvhat the"centej(!f gravity" fOjwinnin~a war,s.
Hecouldn'tanswer the reporter, but lfel! in 10'le withthe
concept of "centerof gravity" as an analogy for an importmt ·
aspect ofwhat Aristotle teaches us abOtlt dramatic storyand
screenwriting. !he.centerof gravity in dramatic story issim-
.L", ',~.~"~~"",.~,.•.,,,,,;-.,~_,,,,,,,,,.,.""""'''''"''''-Y!'''''~'"''''':'''''':.~~
:"",,,,,,,~,,:,,,,,,,,,:-,,,,,,"<,,,.,~,,,,_~",,,,~_,,,,,,,~=,,,~,,.

pIe: It's ~aned thetragicd~ed. The tragic deedis the~.ost

¡ntens'~:-h;ribí~'thi~g'th;;happensin ~e story.!t usuanyi~
caused bythe hero, or h~ppens to the hero, andit involy~s:

an action of a des~ctive or painjU! nature, such aS·

murders, tortures, wou~dings, and the like.

It's agood idea to _ statethe

' r...
tragic deed
".
in the ACTIQN;
__
,,,,>","",~ ..:n~~~~"""~_. ,~~~."~""",....,~~··"" v~.,",,..,.,-,~_.~.

IDEA soyou can keepthe center of gravity of your {t~!Y

-:-=-'-»-~~-~--'='-~7:·~'-~~'~'~'~~---;-,-"';"',·_-~---':,~~--·~,:--,:_"
in mind. Fór anexample of this, let's take a look a.t an
~,",.".",P,.~" . .: ,

ACTlüN-IDEA of another classic:

. .
A~ ROSEMARY'S BABY-ROSEMARY'S hus-
~ band makes a d~~lwith SATAN WORSHIPPERS to.;
haveher raped by the devil and breed his child, So that he
59
60 Michael Tierno
can advarice as an actor. Afterward, ROSEMARV tries to
discoverw~yher pregnancy is difficult, and what herweird
neighbors want from her fetus, until she gives birth to the
devil's childand decides to mother ¡t.
In Rosemary's Baby, Rosemary's husband (Cuy), after
slipping her sleeping pilIs, delivers her to the devil worship-
pers and offers her body to Satan, who impregnates her. No
two ways abOllt it, the devil having sex with Rosemary is
the tragic deed~ Aristotle emphasizes an important aspect of
what makes it so horrific:
In a d~ed of lhis description the parties musl nec-
essarily be ',either friends, or enemies, or indifferent to
one another. Now when enemy does il on epemy, there
is nOlhing to move us lo pity either in hisdoing or in
his meditating lhe deed, excepl so far as the actual pain
of the sufferer. is concemed; and the same is lme when
the parties are indifferenl lo one anolher. Whenever
.. . 'C_';i_~'~_'-.,~, •.
th~
" ~,,._._-
í lragic deed, however, is done within the family-when
¡'murde;:o;'lhe'I;keis dü;¡e(;,. ;"edilaled brolher on
t
brolher, by son on father, by molher on son, or son on
r
mother-theseare the siluations the poel should seek
afler.
Thal Rosemary's misery is caused by her own husband
greatly adds tothe pity and horror we feel forher. Ifa sleazy
pomo directortricked her, the scene wouldbe scary, but it
Aristotle's PoeUcs for Screenwriters 61
. wouldn't have the same magnitude. Thetragic deed always
illv()lves. the heroal1dso~ethil1g b~i;gdone' to the hero.11
.. give~.th~~t~~ ~~ight;~~·é~~¡;-;~. h6fd·;t·4o~~·a~d--k~~p-­
1;jr-th~~th~~'st~;;'~i;~~;'t~fl~~ti;'ga;~~~dit'¡¡k~"¡¡ttf~~~t~.
... ~,~ ú._.__•.,,'" .'.... ,.... ,• .•" •.,'.., ...,.,..... ".'. ,'.'. "",.. ;.-".'> " ..•.,,_.,.• ,. ;"•. " ,,'.. ~, "',", _'-, ;'-." ,-,'"".,"" . ' '·"'C"·.••.•. "'__"'-"''-'''',,, .... '~',..." ,.... ~.•.,.. , ,'" .,•. "·.-._e-,,, .,..'~" •. ~,~,,,'.'
elIites.
,~ <',","",'- ~ ,\ ~
TheoreticalIy, the tragic deed can happen anywhere in
the story. It can even happen in the back story, before the
actual movie begins, as in Oedipus Rex. Oedipus had met
his father on the road and kilIed him, without knowing.it
was his father. This deedweighs the entire story down
and ultimately connects to Oedipus blinding himself at the
end of the play. The physical pain Oedipus feels when he
gouges his eyes out matches his psychic pain. As Aristotle
teaches us, lhe tragic deed usually involves the hero ex-
periencing very intense physical suffering because of it.. In
ne GodJather, the tragic deed is that Michael must kilI
members of his family because they are lraitors. In Ti,
tanic, the tragic deed is Jack freezing in the icy Atlantic
waters as he props up lhe wood raft to save Rose. (Aris-
totle implies thal if the tragic deed doesn't actually happen
to the hero then it should, happen to a family relation or
to someone like farnily, as jack is to Rose in Titanic.)
l(eep~~tr~gic ~e~.dinthe farni1y, and use it as a strong
cen;~r·~f'g;a~;t;;t~ gi~~";~~;";~;eenplay rich, dramatic
depth. 11 can happen in the beginning, as in Rosemary's
Baby, or al lhe end, as it does in Titanic. JUSI make sure it
happens.
 1

Oops! 10(::auSecj'Mv Own

.Undeserved Misfortune
Again

/An imitalion nfl only of ai(ompletea(tion,~ut

als~ of inddents arousing pity~nd fear . pityis
o((asioned by undeservedmisfor;~une, andfear by
thatof one like ou~selves .. .. the (hange in the .
hero'sfortunes . . .iirtust lie notin any depravity,
bui in somegreatefror on hispdrt.

.' .h.~
T p.,oeties í.S so us.e.·.IUI to scree.n
. ·.writers. b.. ecause..·•.•.A,ri
tot!e explaíns whywe humansrespond/to draI)latíc
. .s-

story. B~sícally, we resp~nd to dramatic story when we can

relate to it. We. need tofeel.. that th~ 'lIlísfortune thehe~o
suffers •ís líke";;;"~;;:;:A~;p;~í;¡¡yin:é;' g~i;{g't;;';;;:~~;~"~;;;
~.....,...",..""",~,.;c',';.~v~,¡,.",,,~.';N"''''''.';''''''''?:''''d''~'%"'~""''''~?;<i'''''';''<~'''''''''::'-''+''''''¡'''''''''''<!'I';.:'',''!>"""'~i:¡"'~'''''~'(~'~:''''''''~''''''-'''':'!::'~'?7~'''''-''
píty and f~ar. We mustpíty the hero's misfortune andJeel
\:~,,,,,,_,,,,,,c,,,,",,,,,,,,":~,i't'~''-''\''!''"

deeply about ít, becausethat misfortune ís undeserved, and

_~,.,~""":::,,. . ,.,~.,,?'.'~\:" ',;~: _., _,.:.:." "")"""':_ '";~""'_'''·''F''··'·''''~''''<·';'''-~h''''''\'''''#'!<''~''·V~:
wemu$tfea~it coüld ha]Jpen to us. ~íty and fear are <tpart
~rth~·d.~.~;';;~ti'.;~;r~;.'p~thy·';~ f~.el ín watchíng ~'. .,~ood
',", :.,", -'.'._,','...........:
dramatíc story, be ít ~Qcky, The Godfather,or Amo/'ican
, " " , ' - , . '

Beauty;
Bu! how do we relate to movíe heroes when wedon't
fight ín gladíator arenas,~onsort with the devíl, or battle the
63
64 MichaelTierno
Evil Empire of the Death Star? The answer is that like he-
roes in drama, we make choices that cause our own misfor-
tune. We realize (after years of therapy) that we can't blame
anyone else for our fate because we ourselves have caused
it! No one was standing on the sidelines telling us' whai
choices to make. So because bad ~tuff ~appells t~ us asa
result of ~~r~",n errorsi~judgIllent,We~fte~-f~~i'fu;i~~;
'~~Il.miaro;t;,úa§:,,':lJ!l4e~e~~d.
,; ", ' " -."." .o~._·-·'·__
Take a quick hypothetical example: Jane tries to be an
actress, risks her wholelife on (his dream, and at fifty-seven
hasn't made it and has nothing. She has caused her misfor-
tune; she made a choice, an error in judgment, and kept
pursuing acting. But she doesn't really deserve such misfor-
tune either, because at the time she made her decision to be
an actress, she didn't know that she didn't have a chance to '
make it. Although she persists in pursuing her dream against
all odds, we still feel tl-lat she doesn't deserve her misfortune
and misery.
When misfortune that befalls a hero is both undeserved
and caused by the hero,it arouses "pity" and "fear" in the
audience. The hero must use reasoning (wrong reasoning),
because drama works by illuminating the plight of conscious
humankind. Despite the gift of creation that is our higher
mind, we humans still screw up our lives. Aristotle points
out that in drama, ~o~.5~llses of!!,!isfortune can't be deprav-
,/, .'''"''',,'''"'''''' .. ....
ity, because then the misfortune would be a result of our
'~;';;;:;'al nature and therefore not interesting. You can call
such bad judgment a "tragic flaw" if you like, but make sure
'-~
Aristotle's Poeticsfor Screen\Nriters 65
you understand that Aristotle is clear on this concept: It is
poor reasoning, not primal urges, that causes the hero's mis-
0t~rt;';;';e. . -.0 - . . . . , " , - . ,
o," T¡:;~ beauty of an error in judgment is that you can use
it to impact every single beat of the story, or just one time
to set th~ plot up. In Gladiatar,Maximus's~rroLor.'.'tragic,
,,·.·,···.~·,,···,_··,·,·.',-··n'·~""
flaw" i~hi~pride, displ~red when he refuses to honor Com-
'~~d~s,.·;h~·~~;3¡;;t;t~I~;';h~·th;;;;,;;:o-A;.;-¿rth~;;~oii!'Thi;
~;;o~ i~j~d~l1'le~;s~i~~lr~iTt¡:;;;~;~~t~o-th~~ lead to his misfor-
tune: Commodus has Maximus's wife and son killed, and
. Maximus is sent off to be executed; he escapes wounded, then
becomes a slave, a gladiator, and although he restores the
government to the people, he still dies. His pride, for which
you can't blame him, causes his downfall. Now in Maximus's
case, it's a pretty simple mistake. It happens once, and that's
all the story needs. But this error in judgment adds a rich,
tragic tone to all the misfortune that befalls him, preeisely
because he has actively caused his own fate.
Dramatic stories with happy endings use action based
on the undeserved misfortunes of the hero as well. The
obvious difference is that in happy dramatic stories, the hero
overcomes the misfortune, as in Racky. Rocky chooses to be
a thumb breaker instead of a serious boxer, but that's soon
fixed by Apollo, Mickey, and the Rock himself, who is de-
-.-----.,_.._~._~_.,_~_~' .... 'o, .", .,',- .~~.".~".~.~
termined to overcome his loser status in life.
Now let's turn our attention to actual misfortunes and
draw on an analogy from life once again. What makes an
undeserved misfortune weighty enough to carry a plot? If
66 Michael Tierno Aristotle's Poetícs for Screenwriters 67

you park your new RolIs Royce in a mn-down neighbor- 10. Having good tbings come too late
hood overnight and come back to find your window 11. Having no good things happen to you
smashed and radio stolen, is this an action on which you 12. Having good things happen but being unable to enjoy
can build a story? lt's a misfortune, it's (somewhat) unde- them
served, and it's caused by an error in judgment. Howe~er,
an ACTION-IDEA that will arouse pity and fear in an au- Undeserved misfortunes destroy heroes like Maximus in
dience must be based on undeserved misfortunes of g;reat Gladiator, ~-th~h~~~rc;;-~~;ili~~~~ -;~iiock;.Th¡
~key-¡;;;-you -aoñ<r]ustl;;~;;s-"the-;hok;;~rY-;;';;~; big
-",~ ..... ,~-""\-""""',,:' '-"'".--"~ . ,,": ,',.~~...:.::¡:,.•.-,,',' ..,-" -,__.'",_ "',' "."",.'<-_ ' .. J"_'."~""C·' ",." ".,,,,,,,,,,,;, c' ,. "-",,, ... ~.""''''''''''"'-~,,,__ .,,,

mag;nitude-on serious life-changing events that make you

,i1:~v" ~·,"N""""'~-'I'\."
..

feel glad it isn't you. (And because it's caused by the hero's undeserved event, y~u buildaU the significant sc~~~saro~nd
error in judgment, it éould very welI be you!) Here is a list ~S.~~~?:"~.~~~!:.~it~~~~~'""·''''''' ""0' ,
of undeserved misfortunes that Aristotle, elsewhere in his To do this, you can use a series of misfortunes, ones
writings, outlines as subject matters that arouse pity and fear from the twelve itemized aboye, in individua! scenes. Let's
in audiences:* see how undeserved misfortunes work in Gladiator, starting
with its ACTION~IDEA:
1. Death
2. Bodily assault or ill treatment n~ GLADIATOR-MAXIMUS, a brillianl Roman

3. Old age, illness ,~ general, refuses to honor COMMODUS, and is sen-

4. Lack of food tenced to die. He escapes execution, and becomes a slave,

5. Lack of friends a star gladiator, and returns to Remeto avengethe murder

6. Ugliness of his family by COMMODUS, He kills him in the arena

7. Weakness after being mortally wounded in the back by him. restoring

8. Being crippled Rome to the senate as he dies.

9. Having your good expectations disappointed

There are severa! undeserved misfortunes just in the
*The following lisl is drawn from The Therapy o/ Desire by Martha ACTION-IDEA: Maximus's family was murdered, he be-
~Craven Nussbaum (Princeton, NJ.: Princeton University Press, 1996),
p. 87, which cites the misfortunes that cause pity, as given in Aristotle's
comes a slave, and being a star gladiator wasn't afate to be
Nicomackean E/kics. desired. But again, tbis chain of events is set in motion by
68 Michael Tierno Aristotle's Poetics for Screenvvriters 69

his error in judgment, occurring when he refused to ac- of "strength and honor" that he utters in the opening scene
knowledge Cornmodus as Caesar, for which we can't blame as a general for Caesar. Because he suffers so much during
him and so we pityhim when al! these bad things happen the story, his life becomes a tragicdemonstration of this very
to him. Plus, because Maximus cares about his family and mantra.
refuses the advances of Lucilla, he seems honorable to I us, The tnistake in a hero's reasoning, leading to the hero's
andhis humanity makes him someone we relate too In other subsequent related tnisfortunes, is a great tool in building
words, he seems like us, in ourmost tragic-heroic image of story action and in conveying profound tmth to the audi-
ourselves, so we fear his bad fate can be ours aswel!. ence. But remember: Aristotelianprinciples are not rules,
The numeroustnisfortunes that befall Maximus serve they are starting points to understand how and why audi-
nOt only to propel the plot of Gladiator but to connect its ences respond to drama. Examining these principIes and
scenes thematically.For example, Maximus kilIs the barbar- how they work will hopefully give you a hanclle on how to
ians (death) and wishes to return home but can't (having apply them to your own screenwriting.
good things happen. but being unable to enjoy them). He May strength, honor, and peace be with you and your
refuses to honor Commodus and is sentenced to die (death), future audience!
but he escapes and is wounded (bodily harm). He then is
captured as a slave and trained as a gladiator, where he must
defend himself against further bodily harm and death. He
fights other gladiators, who also don't deserve their misfor-
tune, and has to kilI them (death). Finally at the end, Com-
modus wounds him (bodily harm) and then he dies,
returning to heaven to join his wife and child.
. Notice that in Gladiator, all the scenes are organic and
that they make sense in relation to the movie as a whole.
They are of similar tone and style and blend together wel!,
and they create ONE COMPLETE ACTION.
Even though the ending of Gladiator isn't really tragic
. because Maximus goes to heaven when he dies, the movie
itself is still a classic tragedy. Maximus lives up to the mantra
 13·

Howa Little Moralizing

Turned a Gladiator Gore Fest
intÓa Best Picture

Tragedy is essentidlly an imitation not of per-

sons hut action andlife.

n the movie Gladiator, Gl-'neral Maximus tells his troop~

I
• to "unleash hell" upon t1Iebarbarians immediately befare
his army's bloody clash with'them. This sequence proceed~
. Jike any gratuitous battle scene should-blood splashing,
. limbs flying, swords clanging. Then the action on the screen
.turns into slow motion, the pattle sounds dim, and the dol y-
fuI musical score cranks up, The music is sad rather thall
thrilling because the movieis commenting on the fact that
slaughtering these men raiseswhat 1 call a moral contradic-
tion: It is both right for Ma#mus to kili the barbarians, ap.d
wrong at the same time because it's just that-killing.
That is how a moral contradiction works in a dramatic
story; theh~r? is ~;igh;'"ío'-'t~;';~,,~~ti~~, and. ato the same ))
time th~;~;;~~;;;;thkg ~¿~any~;'¿~g;¡th'ili;t~~ti~~-:Thi~
';"_"""';"."""";"""""~"-="""'~";j.""':'"'''''''',,.,~.,, .. ;,-,.,·~.(,,,",·.~, . ,.,,...,,,:»,...,,';,...~.,,,,, . ,o,~""~P-""!-<."""_"""",,".~~""""",""",···',",,,=F_~
is a secret ingredient to dramatic story that the Poetics
teaches us to use, enabling the audience to see Jife imitated
through the life of a hero, who is morally compromised in
71
72 Michael Tierno Aristotle's Poetícs tor Screenvvriters 73

sorne way. Because Gladiator used this technique so effec- Maximus's actions, as we have seen, are inherendy "right"
tively, it won Best Picture at the 2001 Academy Awards, and "wrong" at the same time. That the gladiators he must
despitebeing very gory-a decidedly unusual vote by the slaughter in self-defense aren't al! enemies but have been
academy. victimized like himself, raises the same agonizing moral con-
In Gladiator, there .is no doubt that Maximus and his tradiction. AlI this "moralizing" helps us relate to the movie.
armyare right in attackihg the barbarians. Not only do we In our day-to-day efforts to survive, we all feel like the
hear Caesar say that they are savages, but we watch the real world is a jungle. In showing a human tendency toward
Germanianshold up the messenger's severed head and later violence and revealing this as a tragic aspect of human na-
send back his headless corpse as a response to Caesar's ture, Gladiator imitates life and makes a statement about the
request fora peacefuL surrender. But bloodshed is still human condition modern viewers can appreciate.
bloodshed, and the tragic batde plays asa dark comment The message to you as a screenwriter is this: Don't shy
on the way human beings get things done. To paraphrase away from using moral~ontradiction to spice up your
Caesar, the barbarians will have civilizationbrought to them. screenplay stories. The audience wa~ts t?~ee ripht and
.,
Ironical!y, d>e "civilized" ends of the Roman Empire must ~~ng addr~ss~d, b~c~~~~ e~eryo?e feelst~~t~!~:g~ts~t the
justifr their brutal means. heartofwIlatit ~~'to¡'~h¡;;;';;"::Andj~~tbe glad th~~ ;o~;;~
Aristotle knew that his audiences were interested in ;;'ot-geftingUpi~'¡1í~;:';:;';~;;'i;'¡g- and strapping on gladiator
moral questions, and when he told his students that tragedy gear for another day in the arena. Be glad that your own
is an "imitaH?Ilofaction aIld life," theyautomatical!y as- moral contradiction probably consists in competing with' an
sumed 'h~. ;;~lref~rringtoth~';:;;~;~-ii¡:e of7he~0.Wh~-;; associate for a promotion. Be glad-yes!-that after putting
~,".'.,_ .,.",.,,.':"..'. """t':: - '-"'_"_'~';"""H'._ A,_.''"".. ,•... "•..,.>"._."_._".'.=....-=".-_,,,."_.,,".,,.,...~=-''''''''~·
M¡n¡;imus washes blood off his hands after the batde and on the screenwriting armor of the Poetics, you can race out
stares into the bloodied water, the audience feels his anguish into the brutal arena of Hollywood and shout, "Bring 'em
for having to kilI the barbarians even though they are ruth- on!"
less savages.His moral turmoil helps the audience relate to
him even thóugh it might not relate to the specific situation
that he is in (i.e., slave-turned-glad.iator).
Al! the action that brings change in the story must raise
the central moral question. What brings change in Gladiator
is fighting and killing. Albeit those of a· brilliant general,
 lS.

Whatever Causes the

Action Better Be Up There
on the Screen

The tragic pleasure is that of pity and fear,

and the poet has to produce it by a work of imita-
tion; it is clear, therefore, that the causes [of the ac-
tion that can arouse pity and fearJ should be
included in the incidents of his sto1).

A .
ristotle tells us that the "causes" of the action tIlat
ar?llse the a~di~nc~'spity ~~d fear mustb~;~cl~d~d
in the'~t~rY:Whatd"éshe ~e~?I;:; ~ ;'';;~h~ll, h~'~t~¡fu,g
"";;sUlatiilsn"t én;;nghf¿rtb~~n(_Íié;'éét;) hé"t;)ici;;that a
héro'sfortnne h~sre~ers~cl.1'hé a';dience must experience
a systematic buildup· through~'~tages," cul~inating inili;
herü's reversal offortune ina ~ay tbat arouses their em-
pathy.
--For example, take a look at Citizen Kane. The causes of
the action that arouses our pity and fear are simple, starting
with the first cause of action: Young Charles Kane is taken
from his home because of an inheritance that prompts his
mother to send him away with Mr. Thatcher, a guardian his
mother has· hired to raise her son. Charles's undeserved mis-
93

Michael Tierno
fortune affectsihis entireJife; he becomes controlling !;md
selfish a~ an adult and dies an old, lonely m¡m. Becausewe
understapd why he got th~t way, theplot arouses ourpity
and fear. For ~ristode, aU this is reve~led by a very sp~eial
definitioÍl of character:
Aiístotle's Poetics for Screenwriters 95
leads Harry closer to rus eternal rever~al of fortune (goil}g
tohell). But the fact lhat Harry realizes the moralimpli¿a-
lÍons of his actions help us feel for him.· We have seen that
he tmly regrets his hehavior and haveknown him to bea
I
moral character, so we relate to him.
To close, I'd like to sum up this chapter thus:

There.a.re in the na.lural

... ... . ....
.
order <if things..,..
. ..
lherefore'"
A plót must include causes of the actio~ that can arouse
twosause~ Charaelerand Though~-of their aelions,
thealldience'sdeepest pity and fear. T~is means theau~
and eonsequendy of their sueeess or faiIure . in their ¡ives.
dience must understand ~he hero'sthoughts and seethose

lhoughls beeomin~ aelions, whieh in tum reveal a moral

To Aristode, "charaCter" refers$tricd)' to the moral
quality (eharaeter) of thehero. This willhelp the audienee
quality of apefson revealed,through his or her thoughts and
to relate to the her'o and feel empathy tor him or her.·
the actiqns stfmming fr0I!l these thoughls.For exampl~, if
you plotito rop a bank, YQU must first "think" about taking
suchan;actio~ before PSrforming il. But¡fs the tho~ght
behind tllÍsaclÍon that reveals your "~haracter," isn't it? In
other words,if you arerobbing a bank to. pay for your
girlfriend's diémond neck1ase, you're a "badperson." BIj.t if
you're robbil}g. a bank too feed the homeless people,that
reveals adifferent "character." lt's thesamein movies:The
"thought" that leads w the key actions reveal.s the "ch;;ac~'~
t;;;;3{th~'h~r~ • ¡~"th'e'sIory··"i;;d '~u~t·. b.~~f~.~~t~;;ili~t .'
arouses~e ~~die~c~,;pitY'~;,~near·."··' . ...• . .
. Leésr~t~~~t'; A~gdH;~;~'-Harry hearsEthan teUthe
back stOry OfJIOW Johnny ate a man's heart.to steal russoul.
Harry's . "therught" or retnembrance .of this deed causes
Harry to vomit, telling us that he is morally repulsed,and
lhus his moral characteris revealed. This cause of action
118 Michael Tierno
acter Of Mike is on the bad sideof the "dividing line of
goodrtess," because he dumps Amánda for the wrong rea-
son: 1anting to have sex with as many women as possible
before; leaving cfor college.· Though he is unsuccessful· in
achie0ng this goal, he hasbeen braJlded as the bad guy in
our mirids, becáusewe're infiuencedwhen we learn his rea-
sons fór dumping his girlfriend. On;the other hand, Preston
(the hero) hasharbored a crush ortAmand~ for years. lt's
his inJ:locent beIief that he and Arnanda are meant to be
togeth9r thatri¡akes the audience ascribe a positive quality
to himand the~ctions he takes (e.g.,giving her a love letter).
The same goes for the other characters in the movie, such
as Keriny and Denise, who, after getting locked in a bath·
room, <Jjscoyerthat they are not so different ftom each other.
Throug;h th"ir thoughts we cometo undetstand Kenny's
childish, self,d~fensive actions and why Denise is so intol·
erant of him(he was meanto her in elemeniary school). In
other words, we are allowed to lookbehindihe personas of
all thecharacters, whose actions assume hUfJlor and pathos
as a resulto
Thus we se,e how, within the frameworkpfONE COM-
PLETE ACTI9N, the moral attributes of the "agents" re-
vealedthroughthe reasoning behind.their actions give your
story its ton". ,!n more simple terms: Pay at,ention to.,tqJl~
because it willenhance thequality of your screenplay. And
remember: lt'sthe thought behind the actions that count ...
25·
How to Cheat If YouCar'l't
Hire a Whole ChOrl..ls
The ChoruS too should be regarded as one ofthe
actors; it shoul4 be an integ;ral part of thewhole,
and take a share in the. action ...
• In Aristotle's day,staging a play üwolved usinga chorus
". line of paid actors and singers that would stand in front
pf the stage, .sing, and comment to the audience on the
action. This helped develop [the "magnitude" of the actio~
without adding extraneousinCidents to the ACTION-IDEA.
For example, in Oedipus Rex, the chorus makes a statement
after Oedipus is charged byhis subjects to find the source
, of the plagt¡e in the city:
CHORUS (Citi~ens of Thebes):
Sweet is the voiee of thegod, that sounds in the Colden
shrine of Delphi
What message has itsent to Theqes'! My trembling
H eart is torn with artguish.
Thou god of Healing, Phoebus Apollo
How do 1 fear! What has thou in mind
119
120 Michael Tierno Aristotle's Poetics'for Screenwriters 121

To bring upon us now? What is to be fulfilled shrink and the cops are a perfect example of "chorus" com-
From daysof old? menting on the action. The questions and comments of the
Tell me thís, O Voice divine eops and the psychiatrist help to validate and explain the
Thou child of Golden Hope reality of the Terminator's mission, of Reese's role, and of
Sarah's role in saving the future of the world.
The chorus here does not move the plot along but makes In constructing theACTION-IDEA of your screenplay,
moral comments on what is happening by raising questions. consider how using seeondary characters as members of a
This ancient technique is not used in modern drama, al- "chorus" might work to strengthen it. If you're into far-·
though modernversionsof it can be found. For example, fetched plots, a <:horus may be key in making sure the au-
in Something About Mary, the two guys who sit in the trees dience understands what in the hell is going on.
and sing about the action are as close to a chorus in Greek
theater as has ever existed in modern film. Notice how the
"chorus" in this movie makes appearances, comments on
the action, emhellishes its'meaning and emotional impact,
while not reaJly adding anything to the plot. Notice how this
"chorus" keeps JOu at arm's length from th~ action while
giving you a window into it. The viewer feels like a privi-
leged spectator andat the same time becomes better con-
nected to Ted the hero, who finally gets Mary. Something
About Mary is an example of a comical way to use a chorus,
serving the overall tone of the story.
Remember, the important thing in trying to use a mod-
ern chorus is to understand the chorus's job-to comment
on the action and to reinforce it in the audience's perception.
y ou can have all kinds of secondary characteis commenting
on the action. For a quick example of this, consider The
Terminator, where Reese is held in the police station and
questioned by a psychiatrist, who thinks he's crazy. The
 How to Create
.
Characters
.
..

;That Are Really

Re'i:!lIy ReaHy Alive

In the Charaetersthere are f01!crpoints to airT!

ato First and foremost, that,t~~ys1f.ªJLQ§goo4·;
Therewill be an ele'fTl,ent ofcharacter in theplay,if
(as hqsbeen observed) what a persortage says or
does reveal! acertai~:rT!oral purpose; and a goodtl -
emen( of charaeter, ifthe purposeso revealed is
good The second point ú to make them appro-
priate The third tS to make them like the real;:
ity, which is not thesame as their being good and
appropriate, in our sense of the térm. The fourth.ís
to make them consút4'¡¡t and the Same through-
out . .

ne of the many thiIlgs we can tha¡{k Aristotle fo]' is

O • his writings on how to create characters that se.em
both realistic and able to captivate an audience. First, make
them good enough that we'.can root forthem. Second, make
them "appropriate,"meaning give them characteristics that
make sense for the type of person they are. Third, make
them human-give them f!¡nvs or quirksthat make us believe
123
124 Michael Tierno
that they existo Finally, whatever characteristics you do give
them, make sure JOu keep them there throughout the length
of the screenplay. As Aristotle says, make sure they are "con-
sistently inconsistent."
,_,_0'-"""', _~_"~_•.•,.,__ ~ •••_,.., ,,"
In another passage, Aristotle elaborateson what líe
means by making a characer, realistic. Once again, he uses
painting as an analogy:
As Tragedy is an imitation of persons better than the
ordinary man',we in our way should follow the example
of good portrait-painters, who reproduce the distinctive
features, of a roan, and at ~e same time, without 'losing
the likeness, make him handsomer than he is. The poet
in like mannei, inportraying men quick or slowto anger,
or with similar' infirmities of character, must know how
to represent them as such, and at the same time as good
roen ...
Rocky, trying in a larger-than-life way to be more than
a bum from theneighborhood, is still oddly recognizable
as a regular guy. 'Lester Burnham from Ameriean Beauty is
the ultimate mid-life-crisis guy who eventually redeems
himself in declining to sleep with Angela. Even Michael
Corleone, the mafia son par excellence, appears noble in a
time of family crisis because he is willing to defend and
honor his family. In their actions and attributes, these
three characters illustrate the realism to ""hich tragic
drama, according to Aristotle, should aspire. Additionally,
Aristotle' s Poeticsfor Screenwriters 125
he gives us five principIes of life that we can use to create
character in our stories:*
l. Nutritive Life
2. Desiring Life
3. Sensitive Life
4. Locomotion
5. Capacity for Rational Thought
.Because these five principIes all belong to the makeup of a
real-life person's "psychology," they can be used to create
convincing three-dimensional characters. Let's examine each
. ane.
1. Nutritive LiCe. Do you wonder about your characters'
eating habits? Wouldn't that tell you (and your audi-
ence) a lot about them? Don't your eating habits saya.
lot about you? You should braill.storm as much as you
can to get a clear picture of what the eating habits of
your characters might be, to gather clues about who they
are. How do they eat, what do they eat? Do they think
about food a lot? What do your characters' refrigerators
look like? Not that any of this ever has to make it to
the page, but it's a window into their character. 1 mean,
when Rocky gets up at 4- a.m. and drinks four raw eggs,
*The following list is derived from Aristotle's other writings, mainly De
Anima (On the SouZ).
126 Michael Tierno
isn't that wQrth a gazillionpag~~_ºfp§}'Q!lplogical notGs
on hi ? That image isso powerful andevocative thit
lll
you know without furthGr elaboration that he is serious
abo\lt this bQxing match. Look at Lester B\lrnham. What
doeshe eat?iBy the endof his transformation from mi~­
erablé mid-life-crisis guy to seekerof eternal youth, hG's
blending ancl drinking hGalth drinks. What could telllts
more. about.· Lester's new attitude toward life? What
could:makeLester seemmoie human?
2. Desiring Life. At the heart of alIaction is the desire of
the .h~r() .. Ba~ic·h~~~~ci;;;;~;~;~;Uly'~;hi¡~;;¡Z~~';h~-' .
actets come alive on the screen. In1he Godfather, when
Michael Corleonegoes tO Italy and falls id love with an
Italiallwoman from the mountaills, does\l't that make
. him 'seem truly alive? It's a probable incidGnt that fIows
withthe action, iefIecting his deep coIIlIl1itment to his
Itali<ín "roots." In Gladiator, Maximus rearns to go
home to his family and,after they have been murdered,
to join them:in eternity. In 1he Blair Witch Projeet, the
kids' ambitidn to tape the Blair Witch and make a film
leads them to their death. Desiring is at the heart of
what it means to be a living, breathing human being.
3. Sensitive LiLe. It goes. without saying that our five
senses. are abig part oE being alive. If a human being
faces the prospect of losing sight or hearing, it's devas-
tating. In fact, alI of the five senses-sight, hearing,
Aristotle's Poetics for Screenwriters 127
touch,smell, arid taste--cdefine our lives at thG most ba-
sic leve!. Lester Burnham spends alot of time mastur-
bating, doesn't he? In fact, it's'how we are first
introdl.lced to him. Whai mOre do we need to sense thilt
Lestef is real and to "know" who he is? In cinema,
perhaps the most important sense in regard to character
development is. visual perception.Great screenwriters
know how to feed inf¿rillatión to the audiente through
the eyes of characters, such as when Lester sees Angela
at thepep 'rally and fantasizes about her. Shówing h6w
characters .actually see ihings with their own eyes ena-
bies. the audienc:e to experience "causes" of (he action.
It also puts touse a powerful aspect of thecinematic
mediulIl , which is the hero's literal point of view.
4. Locomotion. Carefully
......... ...•..
,"" - -
depictipg
-_
.•.... ,
movement is vital tó a -
- , ,
screenplay. For exampl~, 1he Blair Witch ~rojeet is a
i.~p~~tryóf rest and locomotion, in which thecharacters'
use of their eyes andears .ls also notably importaJ:lt.
Heather, the lead character in the story, spends a lotof
time rimning around, screaming, and trying to videotape
the ground in front of her. The lifelike aspect of alI the
characters is transmitted largely by their physical mo."e-
ment,as they trudge ihrough the woods.
5. Capacity for Rational Thought.Thinking. about the
mindand thought proc~sses of people can be a fun~ay.
to brainstorm charactets into existence, In Annie Háll,
128 Michael Tierno

Alvieis a rational man who has bouts ofirrationality.

This surfaces when a cop pulls him over and he tears
up his license. In Titanic Rose jumps from the lifeboat
to return to Jack,. a slightly more irrational than rational Dialog 15 a Pieee
act~but hey, thisis a love story, and romantic love ls of the Aetion
rooted as much in animal nature as it is in the higher
mind. (Rosels also slightly larger than life, and she's
being consistent with what we've seen of hú.) .. . thepoet'"!~tbe m?rethepoet ofhis stories
or Plotsth~-;:--h¿ v~;~~s,i~a;much as he is a p~;t
In summary,to create a real human beingforan audi- by vi;tu; of the imitati~;';lement in his work, and
ence you must have them do things that convince the au- it is actions that he imitates.
dience that they are alive, really alive, giving details that even
ike everything else in hissystem:_~ial,,-g, wh.ich Aristotle
a scientist like Aristotle would appreciate.
L
. calls "diction," should be part of the action. For Ar-
istotle it's more important to strive to build a tight structure
than it is to digress in the elfórt to compose beautiful dialog
.that isn't part of the main action:

One will have much better success with a tragedy

which, however inferior in these respeds [dialog], has a
Plot, a combination of incidents ...

Pve covered screenplays where the writers will start olf

with great· dialog, but by the middle of the script Pm already
bored. I later examine sorne of the mid-point dialog and it
seems of the same quality as the beginning dialogo What's
wrong? The same thing that's always wrong: The plot has
not been adequately built. Dialo~ is part of the action and
129
 Michael Tierno
130
gets its power frOln the plot, whose e/fect builds In a cu-
mulativeaswellas line~:way. Dial;g formsst~ryaction~rld
~erives lifeand energy fr~~" the action it helps build. tbis
is a symbiotic relationship. For a simple demonstration, iEl
say the line, "They're here," it's not agreat line of dialogo
But in Poltergeist, when it's theyoung child announcing the
arrival ofa house full of ghosts, it's brilliant, because it's
. concise but moVes usinto anew stage of the plot (we now
want to find out exactly wnat's "here"and why this child
,iSBO attun.ed to the new invisible guests).
Aristotle goes so far as to say that although dialog isa
building block of a drama, it can sometimes get in the way:
El<lb0rate Diction, h6wever, is requiredin places
where lhere ii no action, ~nd no Character 0f Thought
to be revealed. Where there is Character or Thought, on
the other hand, an Dver-ornate Diction tends to obscure
them.
Not only can elaborate dialog obscure thought, sometimes
dialog that. is "straight on the nose" can ~ina sce?e when
·~h~r~ct~~s s~ie~acÚy whatis on tlleir 'mind~~nd ¡h~;~ ¡;'-
no sub-text to fhat they are saying. In (;[¿di~tor, in the
scene where Maximus and Lucilla flirt in the garden, -Ve
sense an intense unstated sexual undercurrent to theír
words. But their dialog is not 'Ion the nose," it's what's
going on insidetheir minds that's intriguingto uso What's
not said, (jr the,¡nner thoughts of the characters, is often
Aristotle's Poetics fer Scre~n\Nriters 131
more dynamic to anaudience, so it'snot a good idea to
hav~ characters saying exaetly what's o?their minds butto "
'-;';~dialogto
i;Upíy ~ha¡they are think!Ilg·
That's.not to saythat c()nversational dialog isn't impor-
tant~audíences love dialog like that in ~uljJ Fietion ,or Night
on Eartn.I lóve dialog more than theaverage moviegoer,
and> myown scripts and films ate dialog heavy. However,
in even thi; most dialog-dependent sc~ipt like My Dinn~r
witn Andr~, t!le dialog is intrinsic to theaction~to the plot,
meaning,causality oE the incidents, amI dramatic unity. In
fact, sometimes plot actiondoes require that dialog be 'Ion
the ilose,"as in Gladiator, when Maximus gives his gladiator
team c1earinstructions on how tofight the coming onslaught
of enemygladiators. Aristotle stressesthe ÍJ.nportance oflan-
guage at every level of drama:
The Thought of the persons in a play is shown in
alI thafmust be elfected by their language-in every elfort
to pro~e or disprove, tú arouse emotioic(pity, fear, anger,
and tJ,>e like), or to exaggúate or minitnize things.
However, language can be tricky. If ¡¡ctions speak louder
than words, they can also speak better:
The only dilferenceis that in,ac§on the elfe~t has
to be,produced without~-"planatioh;whereas with the
spoken word it has to beproduced by the speaker, and
resuIt •from his language. What, indeed, would be the
132 Michael Tierno Aristotle's Poetics for Screenvvriters 133

good of lhe speaker, if lhings appeared in lhe required !i~re, dialog is a kind of fighl lhat uses infonnalion in lh~
lighl even aparl from anything he says? lasl slalemenl, and opposes il and moves tlie fighl forward.
I)ialog as dialectic is, in effecl, aclion. Compare lhe previous
Arislotle:s syslem of lhoughl indudes a concepl called exchange lo ~.er:e conversa,tion:
"~i~e.:~c::' Sounds like "dialog," doesn'l jI? Tha!'s because'
the lwo concepls .are indeed similar. Le!'s see· how they
JOE: We won'l make il because you drive like my grand-
work.
molher.
Firsl, someone makes a stalemenl, a "lhesis." Then an
BOB: I'm hungry.
opposing slalemenl is made,an "anti-thesis." These lwo
JO E: I hopethis car don'l break down.
slalemenls then coilide in opposition, forming a synlhesis,
",hich is kind of a"we slarl all over again" lhesis:
Obviously, lhis is more lypical of lwo friends lalking in thal

JOE: (THESIS) We won'l make illhere because you're driv- neither listens lo lhe olher. It's mere conversalion, and does

ing like my grandmother. nol move lhe aClion along.

BOB: (ANTITHESIS) Your grandmolher's dead. Of course, you can blencl dialetical and conversalional

JOE: (SYNTHESIS) Exactly! dialog any way you wanl:

Nolice lhal inthis exchange, joe makes a stalemenllhal JOE: We won'l make il there because you're driving like my
Bob is driving like his grandmolher. Bob doesn'l jusI re- grandmother.
spond, he uses the informalion conlained in joe's slalemenl BOB: Your grandmother's dead.

to make an opposing slalemenl, lhal Bob's grandmother "is JOE: Exactly!

dead." This is an anlithesis: Dead grandmolhers can'l drive. B o B: She is? I was jusI kidding.
Joe lhen lakes the mini-argumenl lha!'s laken shape and Bo B: Death is weird ... isn'l it?
"synthesizes" il inlo a new slatemenl, "Exactly," which dar~ JOE: Don't gel deep on me. I lhink we should start looking

ifies joe's real message, thal Bob's driving is falally flawed. for a molel.
Il's a fusion of lhe two ideas, thal Bob drives like joe's BOB: Yeah. Do you know anylhing aboul computers?

grandmolher, and thal joe's grandmother is dead. Notice .J o E: Keep your eyes on the road.
lhal what gels balted back and forth is simply informalion. B o B: I wilL Do you wanna drive afler lunch?
134 MichaelTierno

This exchange mjjees dialectical dialog with a mere conver-

~ation to help creare realistic dialog that moves ¡he aetion of 28.
. ' .
tbe story along bW allows a pause in it as welL
Dialog, is SOll1~times dialectic, sometimes conversation. Ifthe Pitch Doesn't Fill Me
"'_.-... ",-~ .•: __ •"':"""_"_"~:_""" __':'\';""' "__ ':'__ .,' ',"" -,," ---,--, -- ,-"- -,,- .__ ••.__e,-;,e;.._.._.. _.~ ...• ---- _., .-.•_._" .. t~
But it is always astion or part of th~, action: Do your best with Horror and Pity, the
to malee xo~r eharacte~s' languagederive itspo",er from the Movie Won't Either
sumulativ~whole9f the living plot. Yo';wo;:;¡t~regret it.

T~~, PI'!Lj"!ia,cts~QuldbesoJ,[0rrt~d. t~at, ...("{}erl;

~ith_~,,:Ls.:e"i1!r{~~~.!~ir¡'g~ t(lkPlac~, he whos.imply(
01
hears ,the account ,.,"'-'-"them shaU be fiUed
".-
with horrQ!...
-','",,,.,--,'.- ... " ...• -. .

and at the incideizts ...

'A'
•.,
ristotle tells us that tu;~;.~x.beiIlg.tol~ the,~asic plot"
listen,ers should be moved by it, just as they would be
. when watching it enacted 011 the s~;~en., What better wa~,
, then, to test whether your sereenplay is going to do what
you want it to do than toutter your ACTIüN-IDEA to
people andsee what kind ofteaction it gets? Dramatic story
is first and foremost an oratorical art; the ineident~ hay,,,. to
~.?ul1cd good to the ear. (and.rnind) if they' ar~'ioi~i to e;:~
. ter;~i~f~; ~ylength~fti~~.-· . ., ...."
. COI1~ider the ind~pend~~t-film success The Blair Witch
Project, where you never se~. the witch. That's because tp.'e
'makers of that movie had me insight to understand the ot·
atorieal aspect of dramatic storytelling. The incidents of the
movie sounded so gripping and scary that they spread over
the Internet like wildfire aIld later by word of mouth at
135
 Michael Tierno Aristotle's Poetics for Screenvvriters 137
136

colleges. It all worked because the hasic plot, or ACTION- information and entertainment. The printing press, hooks,
IDEA, of 'The Blair Witch Projeet was so strongthat people movies, and. TV are relatively recent developments in the
felt compelled to see the movie. In fact, they were scared human scheme of things. But how we appreciate the essence
before they saw the movie! of a story hasn't changed. We sound it out in our minds to
The Blair Witch Projeet had the luxury (as well as thé enjoy it. It's that simple. That's why if it sounds good to
genius) of using a mock documentary format whereby local people before we write it, it is. good. Saying your idea out
residents are interviewed about the legend of the Blair loud should produce whatever effect you want it to have on
Witch, who would make one kid face the wall while she screen, or on the page. This is why the "pitch" is so im-
killed the other and then kili the one facing the wall. Admit portant to everybody. Let's face it, the pitch is just the
it, you felt.something, even if you hate horror. That scenario ACTION-IDEA sounded out loud. And if yours doesn't
gets played out at the end, when it happens to the two grab people the way The Blair Witch Projeet's grabbed mil-
remaining kids: Michael faces the wall as Heather is killed. lions of fans, your screenplay won't either.
But the incident has already been implanted in our minds,
which makes the repIay of the incident at the end more
powerful.
To take another example, how would a teenager try .to
convince his peers to see Something About Mary? They
would retell the hilarious story incidents they saw. Or, con-
sider how many people walking the American streets today
can make other people laugh by retelling the incidents in A
Christmas Story? Haven't you done that? 1 have. 1 rememher
once 1 told my screenwriter friend the plot of .creen Card
(a couple has to pretend to be married so one can get his
green card, and they fall in love). He said, "Oh wow." He
was feeling the power of the whole story, just [rom hearing
its ACTION-IDEA.
_~.tol)' has always been an oratorical arto Long ago, peo-
pie sat around the fire, telling stories to each .other for
 29·

The Non-Linear Soul of

Quentin Tarantino

The Plot, in our present sens.e of the term, is

súnply this, the combination of the incidents or
things done in the story ...

•T· his ehapter will look at the. style of the highly original
screenwriter Quentin Tarantino. We'll examine a very
interesting aspect of l¡is masterpiece, Pulp Fietion,which is
its "non-linear" plot.Playing with a story's time line might
be something you want to think about when starting to bu¡ld
your screenplay's outline. This style of plot is veryprevalent
in today'scinema.
While the Poetics doesn't directly address time-bending
plots perse, it's not a big stretch fromAristotle's "arrange-
ment of the incidents" to the plot rearranging tl¡.at
characteriies many non-linear narratives. But it's important
to understand that non-linear plots are not composedof
simple flashbacks or told as memory or recollection. Their
chronologieal shuffiing must work to create meaning, and
jolts in the movie's time line must call attention to themselves
(and better be used for a good reason!). Now let's examine
a brilliant chronological rearrangement of plot incidents.
139
 Aristotle' s Poetics for Screenwriters 141
140 Michael Tierno

In the first scene of Pulp Fiction, we find Hpney Bunny for instanee, are portrayed most truthfully by one who is
and Pumpkin robbing a dinero The story moves on and feeling them at the moment.

different sub-actions with other characters occur, one show-

ing Vince gettingkilled. Then the story returns to a time Quentin Tarantino is great at ":hat he does because

when Vince andJules recover Marcellus's stolenmoney from there is an "authentic feel" to his movies: They seem to

drug dealers again. The action jumps right to Jules's speech, come right from his heart and sou!. Many people have tried

·which he quotes from the Old Testament before killing the to emulate his style, but the results have been weak. Not

drug dealers. This is the first time in the "chronological that Tarantino hasn't tapped into other films for his own

story" that Jules ¡aunches into this speech bui the second ideas, but he manages to blend his own kuowledge of other

time in the story we see it. This speech is the pivot and films and genres in a unique Way.
y ou, too, have to find your soul and tap into it. It might
handle of the whole non-linear structure.
In effect, PufJp Fiction takes the middle of .lhe chrono- not be quite as marketable as Tarantino's, but at the end of

logical story and slices it into the beginning and end of the the day, Aristotle would rather see youwriting something
powerful from your own soul than trying to reproduce some- .
plot, giving the movie a unique twist whereby banal con-
one else's cool style. As a story analyst, so would I.
versation (the funny dialog in the rest of the story) is con-
trasted with Jules's urgent renuneiation of his ,criminal life E<:lIl'.l.try to.second-guess what the Hollywood market is
J)()king for.1'1I telÍ you a I~ttlesecret that is not such a secreto .
and his quoting of powerful passages from the Old Testa-
In Hollywood,theydon't kuow what they are looking foro
· ment.
They kuow it when they see it. This is not to kuock Holly-
Perhaps the teason Tarantino is able to be convincing
wood, because, as William Goldman said, "Nobody kuows
· with his unique style of plot bending is because in all his
anything. Nobody knows a goddam thing." It's also not to say
writing he says what he really feels, from his own unique
go ahead and write something completely idiosyncratic, and
perspective. To understand what 1 mean, consider the fol-
wonder why a studio doesn't want to invest 100 million dol-
lowing Poetics passage:
lars to produce your fantasy. Instead you should attempt to
write from your soul and move an audience in a way that
As far as may be, too, the poet should even aet his
comes naturally, but you must have "moving your audience"
story with the very gestures of his personages. Given
as your ultimate end; everything else should fall into place.
SOme natural qualifieations, he who feels the emotions
Gene Wilder has been quoted as saying that his overall guide-
deseribed will be the most eonvineing; distress and anger,
142 Micháel Tierno

line fOI iul0""ing,vhat to write is simply this: "1 am going to

the movies tonig~t. Would 1 want to see this?" •. . .'3 O •
Regardless o~whether Y',lU write drama, cOIpedy, horror,
science fiction, 0I action, find out what you wrte best, arid If Your Story Were a
guess what-your range is probably limited. \'ve talked tp Musical, Where Wóuld the
professional scre~nwriters who have said thatthe kinds of Numbers Be?
scripts they writéaren't what.they'd wanted to Write. lt's hafd
'. towritea good sqript, not tomention sell it, whtch Aristody,
unfortuna\ely,sa)ts nothing about. But if you can zero in on From the point of Jiew, howe'l)er, of its quan-
one kind.of genr~, you stand a better chance o(Clevelopingit tity, i. e. the separate seetions intowhich it is di-
to the highest levyl possible andbreaiung through with it. Be 'l)ided, atragedy has th~ following parts: Prologue,
aware ofwhat Y0l! are actually trying to accomplish with your Episode¡ Exode, and a choral portion ...
scripts. What kin~ of scriptsare you trying to write, and why
do you t!link theyfit in? There are certain kindsof scripts that
n. Aristotle's day, tragedy had music atjts c.ore, the choms'
come more natur~lly to me than others.1t has tO do with who
',,1.

'. sang and danced. Tragedy grew out of music:

1 am andwhat 1 IÍke. Just be honest with yourself, experimeUt,
and be aware. lt )Viii probably save you ¡ots of ti,me.
lnstead of "write whatyou k11ow," Aristotle is telling It [tragedy1 certainly began in in:tprovisalions-as
you to write wh¡(t you can tru1y feel, or tru1yexperiencein did <!Iso Cornedy; lhe oneoriginaling with the prelude
your heart. Hav¿ readingswith actors or frierds who can lo the Dithyramh,
. .
the olher 'with
, the prelude lo lhe phal-
read your screeAplays back' to you, attentively and spir;t- lic songs, which srill surviJe as inslitulions in rnany of
edly-it will give you a feeLfor your work. lt's probably no our cities.
coincidence thatQuentin Tarantino also is ano actor.
Again, whetl1er you use a non-linear plot.or not, write The dramatic arts grew out of an early religious ritualisti9
toexpress your unique selE. And always try tocommunica,te chanting called "dithyramb,'t a primitive musical art. i¡¡)
to an audience ¡(nd move them as an audience. Write from sorne ways, as a result, Greek tragedy resembles an extended
~~~,--,"~",~<-"""~''''''''

your soul for an.audience, not for your favorite esoteric film
song or syltlphony, as the folk>wing passage from the Poetid
'direct()r'in'S;~d~;;':-'-
points out:
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