10

WHAT'S THE TRAP?

Plunge Your Protagonist into Crisis at the End of Act One

This crisis point will effectively ensnare your protagonist in a literal or figurative “trap” that compels him/her into action—and often quite reluctantly. Think of this active goal as “Plan A”—which needs to be an urgent, challenging quest. And, the more difficult it is to accomplish this challenge, the better. Ideally, Plan A will sustain the entire second act of the movie.

Ideally, Plan A motivates your protagonist's need to regain control of his/her destiny and will be based upon necessity versus desire.

When you're in crisis, you must do something—or else. Stakes are your protagonist's consequences for inaction. If Plan A is accomplished, he/she will gain or ...

Get The Screenwriter’s Roadmap now with the O’Reilly learning platform.

O’Reilly members experience books, live events, courses curated by job role, and more from O’Reilly and nearly 200 top publishers.