Screenwriting : Screenwriting Tip – Make it Hard for Your Protagonist by Maurice Vaughan

I like to keep the path to their goal ambiguous and shifting, so that the route they think they need to take to reach the end is nothing like the actual journey.

That's a great way to make it hard for a character to reach their goal, Patrick Koepke! And it keeps the reader interested/keeps the script from being predictable.

Temptation of any kind. Nothing dissuades a human from their goal like the shiny, the easy, the attainable.

Ah! I love to make my character think will be on a path and suddenly something change and they need to follow another one, or when they thing something it’s granted, a surprise arrives :)) I love to make twists for them Maurice Vaughan :))

Love this Maurice Vaughan . Gosh, I mean, life is unpredictable, so, surprising yourself as a writer, letting the emotional life of the character, not the outline that is so useful and needed, guide you at some point, letting go of the wheel for a minute and see where the character wants to go, without judgement or preconceived notions.

Answering your question!

Do not let your character be led by sheep! Your character is more important than those that sheep are alike. Let your character use their morals, development, and learning in the story to be the example for those that are sheep alike. In other words, your character should be fully invested into agency!

Thanks!

The "fun" is in making it hard for your protagonist. There are really five lead characters in my hour-long, fantasy, animated screenplay. But one of them is your traditional charming, rogueish lead. And I've made him an absolute dick. Then I just beat the shit out of him from a narrative standpoint. He's a deeply flawed character who has to learn to be good. So making it as difficult as I can for him is the entire point.

I didn't think about temptation, Elle Bolan. Great one! Thanks for the idea!

Those are great ways to make things hard, Sandra Correia! I like to put a big twist and small twists in scripts. And sometimes different twists in a scene.

You're right, Juliana Philippi. I outline, but I leave room for things to change in a script. And no matter how much I outline, I don't realize some things until I start writing the script.

You're welcome, Casey Newel. Great points!

You're right, Sean Rodman. The "fun" is in making it hard for your protagonist. I like to make a list of things that'll happen to my protagonist/a list of things that make it hard for them to reach their goal(s).

I have another problem — generally, I can’t seem to find a focused hero since my ideas are always global.

That makes them hard to follow and often more technical than emotional.

Obstacles. Inner or outer, it doesn't matter. It's the oldest trick in the book.

I like that idea Maurice Vaughan : different twists in a scene. I go to remember that! Thank youu

Meriem, having global ideas is great. Every story should be about something. And if it's a big theme, all the better. But your hero (or heroes) is your throughline. Take a show like Andor, for example. The show is about global ideas - how authoritarian regimes gain, hold onto, and eventually lose power. Cassian Andor is the hero who takes us through that story. You can ground your global ideas by showing how they impact real people. Make your hero one of those who's affected. That's how you find your focus.

Great advice, Sean Rodman!

Definitely obstacles, Marcel Jr.! I think that's the best way to make it hard for a protagonist/another character to reach a goal. My favorite scenes are the ones that have inner obstacles and outer obstacles.

You're welcome, Sandra Correia.

thank you very much for your advice I'll try it sean Rodman

If you want to bounce anything off me, feel free to send me a message.

thank you very much sean Rodman

You're welcome @Maurice. I love a good temptation. Make em question the very fabric of their morality.

My favorite approach is to hit the protagonist where they think they’re strongest, turn their strength into a weakness. Nothing breaks a character faster than realizing their greatest advantage can destroy them.

Wow! I gotta try that approach, Monib Bashir! Thanks for the idea!

Would it help if the Protagonist felt tempted to take the easy way, while the antagonist willing takes the easy way.

Completely agree with making obstacles hard to overcome. That is where you build drama. Good reminder.

For series screenwriting, one way that is often used in anime, is to have the protagonist face the main villain, while completely unprepared, have them brutally defeated to the brink of death, then have them level up to an ultimate showdown.

That's interesting, Kevin Hager. I'm not sure if that would make it hard for the protagonist to reach their goal or not, but it might.

That's a great idea, Ambrose Chaney! I've seen that in movies too. I definitely have to try it.

Obstacles can be set both way. Internally and externally. When there is an opportunity in external world , protagonist might face some internal weakness and first fix that then when there are threats outside , protagonist's internal self build strength helps him to reach there. Various combination of these can be use to delay the destination and create obstacles from different angels.

Maurice Vaughan noted - very true.

Betrayals and or falling in love

Every plan goes wrong, at least just a bit. Or if it doesn't, it only makes the protagonist think that the really important plan won't go wrong.

Spoiler, it will.

"There is only one plot - things are not what they seem." - Jim Thompson

Great points, Priya Mistry! Mixing internal and external obstacles makes it hard for a protagonist/character to reach a goal and makes a scene stronger in my opinion. And surprise obstacles can too.

Betrayals is a great way to make things hard to reach a goal, Peta Meredith Williams! I haven't thought about falling in love being a way, but now that I think about it, that's another way. The protagonist could fall in love with someone who'll betray them, or the protagonist falling in love could get in the way of their goal.

You're right, Michael Dzurak. The first plan my protagonist makes always fails, and sometimes it makes things worse.

Using The Moral Premise allows this type of Conflict-Building Very Easy. Let's Thank Stanley D Williams for his Seminal Book on this Power Tool.....

Pamela Jaye Smith's Books on Chakras and Villains are the Gold Mine for building this Power in our Scripts...Let's Thank the Original AlphaBabe for her Timeliness Work in Mythology and Storytelling.....

I'll have to check those out, Miquiel Banks. Thanks!

Anytime Maurice - You're the guy that keeps me out of trouble posting in the wrong forums - LOL!!!!!!

Haha Miquiel Banks. Are you joining November Write Club? It's a chance to connect with writers, directors, producers, etc., and it could help you reach a goal(s). There's going to be prizes too! If you're interested in joining, Week 1's blog came out the other day (www.stage32.com/blog/november-write-club-week-1-how-to-find-build-the-cr...).

I guess one way to do that would be to give them flaws, like no pro or ant is perfect, so what I do, especially in my genre is to make the the protagonist overcome some pretty tough obstacles, like just when he/she is about to do something big, they get a set back, and for the antagonist, especially if they're power hungry, loosing their power is a huge for them, but I'd say that maybe they underestimate the pro leading to their own downfall, if that makes sense. I think this is especially true for action thriller narratives where it's a bit easier to accomplish in my view

Totally agree. To make it hard for a character to get what they want requires that someone or something stands in their way and pushes back against them. Blocks them. Shoots them. Pursues their own agenda. Ignores them. Coerces them. Blackmails them. Stuff like that.

Giving a protagonist/character flaws is a great way to make it hard to reach a goal, Paul Antonucci! Flaws make it hard for characters and real people to accomplish things.

Maurice, I'm pretty much all over the map when it comes to making it hard for lead characters to reach their goal(s). It depends on the protagonists themselves.

In "Shorthose and Flaxbeard," Rosemary Shorthose's violent temper kept getting in her way in her quest to stay in show business. Margaret Alexander (from "Yes, Indeed!") didn't always trust her gut instincts...and that's what led her to stay in her station wagon the night her band was to play the club she'd wanted to perform at.

Speaking of temper...Huck Fowler's temper got in her own way in "Pixie Dust," where she asked for a gun the day the Myriad House's 1929 Ford Model A got vandalized.

Timidity cost Kenny Martin in "Mental Lockdown." (He spent forty years letting his mom, Ella, abuse him rather than asserting himself when needed.)

And "Playing for Pride's" Carrie Knight was too trusting...otherwise, she would've thrown talented-but-bigoted trumpeter Rochelle Colclough out of the Lincoln Women's Symphony sooner.

That's one thing I'm trying to do a better job of...making it harder for the leads I cook up.

All those things make it hard for a character to reach their goal, Melissa Bell. Sometimes I'll write scene and realize the character gets what they want too easily.

And here's another tip for writers: besides a character's main goal(s), give them scene goals.

Hey, Jim Boston. Hope the comments help!

I'm going to make sure these comments I'm reading help! Thanks so DOGGONE much for the post!

The widely used classic approach is to give the character an Inner Goal that has to be met to fulfill the Outer Goal.

The first example that came to mind is Brody in "Jaws." He's frightened of the water but in order to kill the shark (Outer Goal) he has to overcome the fear of water (Inner Goal) as "Orca" sinks.

Thanks for the post - such great ideas that can manifest themselves in so many ways!

Funnily enough, in BoFS, Elpis the band has the biggest challenge yet; it's not being abducted by aliens and made to tour the galaxy (Finding Elpis proper). Nor is it being separated by different dimensions and made to come face to face with their parallel selves (RoP). Nor still is it being separated from Starman who's completely out of reach in Heaven on his own path to greatness (TER). It's a band battle between three rival acts vying to take their crown as the galaxy's best musical act, with a new member filling in for three members currently out of commission for various reasons. Things are only gonna get harder for them in SiR...

You're welcome, Jim Boston.

Can't go wrong with the classics, E Langley!

"The first example that came to mind is Brody in "Jaws." He's frightened of the water but in order to kill the shark (Outer Goal) he has to overcome the fear of water (Inner Goal) as "Orca" sinks." I've been working on a Thriller concept about water, and I can't figure out how to make the story work. The Jaws approach might be the missing piece. Thanks!

You're welcome, Darrell Pennington.

I think it makes sense for the biggest challenge in your story to be a rival band battle, Banafsheh Esmailzadeh. And I think it helps make the story relatable to audiences.

Thanks Maurice Vaughan, I agree, especially since their galactic tour went on hold following the aforementioned interruptions. Poor Lor Salviator only wanted to give them the recognition they deserved when he abducted them lol

Welcome, Mr. Maurice Vaughan. Get out the pool noodle.

You're welcome, Banafsheh Esmailzadeh.

The story has pool noodles, a party boat, and more, E Langley. It started as a short script. I've been trying to turn it into a feature script.

It would also help if the antagonist was a foil/counterpart to the main hero, is either a hidden villain or revealed from the start or performs the 7 Deadly Sins.

Great idea, Kevin Hager!