#dramatic problem

On one level, drama is the acknowledgement of the fact that as human beings we have these terrible anxieties concerning ourselves and our place in the world. These persistent doubts and fears concerning not so much "who", as "what", we are, manifest most profoundly in the characters (including the writer's) relationships with others, and are channeled through the actions of the characters for the good or ill of the story. They are always there, even if unconsciously, surrounding and impacting upon the writer and the characters. In a dramatic story, a problem that cannot be ignored tips the balance, with the result that the characters (including the writer) are no longer able to function as they once did. They are thrown into a virtual storm of conflicting needs and objectives. The higher the stakes the more intense the emotion. In the midst of this - as in life - the characters walk around, talk to other characters, eat and drink. But they are never paralyzed. They act, and their actions are given meaning by our empathetic involvement with what they want and why they want it.

It is important that you know the difference between an inconvenience and a problem. Great scripts involve the characters in problems; mediocre ones in inconveniences. If you break your neck, or are starving to death, or if your house is no longer sitting on the allotment where you left it when you went to work this morning, you have a problem. Everything else is an inconvenience. Learn the difference.

Drama is a present-time exploration, through character and situation, of the nature of human life and choice when faced with risk and threat. It requires a problem that carries with it some sense of urgency and stakes, something strong enough to goad the characters into action. Such a problem usually manifests as an ontological tension between what a character wants and whatever is acting to stop the character from achieving what s/he desires. The action of dramatic stories consists of characters striving to attain what they want, whilst acting to dismiss, overcome or defeat what is threatening their plans.

Drama is a plan that goes into action, not an illustration of some unopposed wish.

A dramatic problem (suffering) is always about someone rather than something. Someone - some character - is acting to undermine or threaten the safety of another character or group of characters, or a character is threatened by a force of nature or super-nature. The problem is only ever definable in terms of who is experiencing it and where it may lead them. You can't make drama out of a job, or a sack of money, or a property, not unless it is related to the well-being, safety, comfort or otherwise of characters. Problems must be personal if they are to be dramatic problems. The solutions, as well, are not ideas, or treaties, but persons - characters who hunt down the clues, who supply the needs, who fight the fight.

No food & water: 'Dramatic problem of Syria refugees swells daily'