Dramatic Structure

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I've been blogging about what makes a piece of writing more literary. I recently went to listen to an experienced novelist, Chris Heimerdinger, talk about the rules for dramatic structure. Recently, I watched the recent "Godzilla" movie, not expecting much.  But I was still disappointed.  I realized what went wrong with that movie had everything to do the story structure Heimerdinger described.  Dramatic structure has everything to do with what goes wrong with a lot of movies and novels. 

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According to Heimerdinger, a properly-structured story features a human or humanized protagonist, someone with a consciousness and speech.  This character must have a noble goal and a tragic flaw, like Luke Skywalker sought to overturn the evil empire but was held back by his own ignorance.  The character's noble goal cannot be overcoming their tragic flaw. 

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The story also must have an antagonist, someone whose goal is in direct opposition to the protagonist's goal, just as the Emperor's goal is to extend the power of the empire.  Heimerdinger said that the antagonist could not be redeemed.  I'd say there are exceptions to this, but he was most firm any exceptions to these rules mess with the strength of the story.  He suggested Darth Vader's redemption could actually make him a protagonist, though an argument could be made that he was merely a sub-antagonist.  One way or another, if one views Darth as a non-antagonist, the movie still follows the dramatic structure.  Another major point Heimerdinger was that the antagonist also can't be a storm, an animal-like animal, or anything else without a consciousness.  He gave the example of "Jaws."  The shark is not the antagonist.  According to Heimerdinger, the antagonists tag team: first, the mayor, then, the boat captain.  They take turns countering the goals of the protagonist in stopping his attempts to defeat the shark. 

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The climax is the point at which the protagonist, him or herself and no one else, defeats/overcomes the antagonist.  No one else can do it.  And he/she achieves victory by overcoming/accepting/coming to terms with the tragic flaw.  He points out that muddying these major points will make your story unsatisfying and will mess up your reader's emotional connection with the character. 

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I mentioned before the recent "Godzilla: King of the Monsters."  This movie felt incredibly unsatisfying to me.  The movie makers started out right by making an emotional connection between the seeming protagonist, the juvenile star, and her mother, but the movie fell apart quickly after.  I asked myself why?  It took no more than reflecting on the dramatic structure to identify the deep flaws in this story.  The "protagonist," the juvenile female, is on the screen a very few minutes, and her "antagonist," the military type who is supposed to be fighting her objective to defeat or befriend the monsters, gives up about 2/3 of the way through the movie and walks away.  She does so little that she can't really be the protagonist, just as he can't be the antagonist.  So who is the real protagonist?  Who is the real antagonist?  Who fights whom?  In the end, the only possible protagonist is Godzilla, himself, and his antagonist is the dragon.  Theirs is the dramatic tussle at the end, yet the fail in he fundamental test of a good protagonist/antagonist...neither is remotely human or humanized.  They can't bring heart into the story because we don't know or care about their characters or motivation.  They fight because they're big and they can.  Because it makes for a cool poster moment.  The movie totally lacked heart because the story isn't about someone with a heart and motivation we can understand.  It's about a monster whose job it is to bash the other monster.   

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Avoid these pitfalls.  Figure out who your protagonist is.  What is his/her tragic flaw?  Does your character come to terms with/overcome the flaw?  Does your protagonist have a noble goal?  Does your antagonist have a goal that somehow counteracts or conflicts with that goal?  Does your protagonist him/herself defeat or somehow overcome the antagonist?  If you answered no to any of these questions, it's time to reassess.  How can you adjust your story to give your reader the maximum satisfaction and fulfillment?