Screenplay Coverage & Analysis: Put your Characters in the Worst Possible Situations

Put your Characters in the Worst Possible Situations

It's great reading a script that forces its characters to dig deep within themselves to overcome some terrible situation that appears to have no way out. Most non-pro screenwriters make things too easy on their characters (protagonists and others) - that often makes for mundane reading.

The Help pitted Skeeter Phelan (Emma Stone) against her family, peers and community.
During the first act of Gladiator a bound Maximus (Russell Crowe) is taken into the woods to be executed by four elite Praetorian guards.
The lead in a The King's Speech was to rule Britain and had to be a great orator - he had a terrible stutter. Sure it's not life or death but given the character, it was a terrible flaw. That flaw (and great writing) helped King George VI's (Colin Firth) character emote off the page exceedingly well.
An episode of The Walking Dead ended with Rick Grimes (Andrew Lincoln) being trapped by a zombie herd, he crawls under an abandoned tank only to be pursued - zombies crawling after him, reaching for him then we end - one hell of a cliffhanger.
In Whiteout, Carrie (Kate Beckinsale) and two other characters are trapped in the wreckage of a cargo plane buried under 30+ feet of snow and ice with no equipment or means of contacting help.

It takes time and effort to devise solutions to such scenarios for your characters. Don't skimp and either not put your characters in such dire places, or come up with an unrealistic solution that screams 'I couldn't think of anything better!'. Hollywood movies have quite a few examples of those unfortunately.

The best screenwriters rise to this challenge. With effort and perseverance so too can you.

Put your Characters in the Worst Possible Situations

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