Different Characters, Different Beliefs

In order to make a scene between
two characters feel interesting it needs some degree of conflict. That’s fine
if one character happens to be a cop and the other a robber, but the story
isn’t always going to present you with directly oppositional characters like
that.








But even if the characters in a
scene don’t have anything to fight over and the scene isn’t highly charged or
full of high stakes, you can still give characters something to clash over.








All you need to do is give each
character a different script to work from. From a writer’s perspective you know
who’s right and who’s wrong in a situation, but the characters don’t know that.
As in real life, people are predisposed to think they are in the right, no
matter how wrong they might be.








It is an old director’s trick to
tell the actor playing the mother that her boy has been the victim of bullying
and that the teachers have done nothing to protect him so he’s had to defend
himself, and then to tell the actor playing the Headmaster that the boy is the
worst bully in the school and enough is enough.








Now, no matter what the
conversation will be about, the tone will be combative. How far you take it
depends on why they’re meeting, but having those opposing views of the
situation guarantees you’ll avoid the doldrums of meaningless pleasantries.








In a scene where you just need
some information to be revealed or some dialogue exchanged, it can feel like
there’s no point in getting into an argument, and indeed having people at each
other’s throats scene after scene will get tiring. But conflict comes in many
shapes and sizes.








Mother 1: Charlie’s improved no
end since Mr Trumble’s been giving him private lessons.



Mother 2: Really? Do you think
he’d take on Billy?



Mother 1: I’m sure he would.








And so little Billy starts
getting tutored after school. But the manner in which I showed Mother 2 finding
out about Mr Trumble’s after school activities contains no dramatic content
whatsoever.








Mother 1: Charlie’s improved no
end since Mr Trumble’s been giving him private lessons.



Mother 2: Isn’t that against
school rules.



Mother 1: Oh, he doesn’t charge
me anything.



Mother 2: He does it for free?



Mother 1: Well, I cook him a
meal.



Mother 2: ...



Mother 1: It’s just a meal.



Mother 2: Of course. So when’s Bill
coming home on leave?








I don’t know where that scene’s
going (death by Marine?) but one woman thinks the teacher is being helpful, and
the other thinks he’s after a bit of how’s your father. They’re not arguing
about it, but they don’t see eye to eye either and that creates tension.








Of course, you may feel that
stretching out the scene takes up to much space and isn’t worth it just to
introduce Mr Trumble who is only a bit-part player. But if it isn’t worth making
the scene interesting, it isn’t really worth having the scene at all. You can
easily slip in information anywhere. If you want to build it into a scene then you
should make sure the scene is worth 
reading .



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