Setting Up the Argument

Story is an argument. The theme (or dramatic question) is the thesis statement, and the story is the argument played out. Any argument requires opposing forces. These forces manifest as our antagonists. Antagonists are any characters that stand in the way of our hero getting what he wants. Antagonists are not necessarily villains. In the movie Big, Josh Baskin’s parents inhibit his idea of independence by insisting he take out the garbage. They embarrass him by taking his picture at the fairgrounds when he tries to impress the pretty girl. Josh wishes he were big. That would solve everything . . . or so he thinks.

Big is a story we have seen countless times. It’s a story of wish-fulfillment. “If I were bigger, my life would be perfect.” To explore this argument, we must create a situation for the question to get played out, and we must have antagonists to illustrate the fallacy.

Becoming big is a metaphor. We all understand the feeling of being not enough, of wanting to be different in order to feel OK. In Act One, Josh is an average 13-year-old kid. What he struggles with is universal: he wants to be a grown up. On page ten, he gets his wish with a Zoltar machine . . . and he is terrified! His mother doesn’t know who he is – believing he is an intruder, she chases him out of the house with a butcher knife. This is the setup of the argument. Frightened and lonely, Josh goes into the city to find the Zoltar machine so he can return home. Was this wish worth it, he wonders? What has he gotten himself into? Complications ensue. It is going to take four to six weeks for the paperwork to get processed so that the city can tell him where the Zoltar machine is. Now what? He makes a decision to get a job. He is going to stay in the city and adapt to his new situation. End of Act One.

Act One is the setup of the argument leading to the hero’s decision. At the end of Act One, Josh is going to accept his wish and learn how to live in the “big” world.

Let’s be curious about the argument we are setting up. The argument is presented early on (around page three to five) as a dramatic question. This is done through action. We see Josh’s predicament and we understand his wish. We feel for him as we watch him struggle with his embarrassment at not being allowed on the ride because of his size. Following the inciting incident, we watch our hero respond to his new situation. What is he going to do? How is he going to make his situation workable? This is the second half of our first act. Let’s be curious about how we can show our hero dealing with this new situation.

Your fellow writer,
Al