Plotting Your Hero’s Desires (pt 1)
So, you’ve worked out both a strong conscious desire and unconscious desire for your hero. But how do you weave both throughout your story’s plot points? In this post, we’ll take a look at weaving conscious and unconscious desire into the set-up, and in subsequent posts tackle the rest of the screenplay.
Let’s use Sideways as an example. We’ve chosen this film as it’s a great character study, with elements of comedy and drama. Action and horror films are not conducive for study on this subject as the hero has little or no arc. The arc being, of course, the hero’s character transformation from living a life driven by unconscious rather than conscious desire.
Set Up—Miles’ Conscious Desire
The set-up needs to quickly get across to the reader your hero’s flawed condition.
In the opening scenes of Sideways, we briefly see Miles and the state his life is in as ruled by his conscious desire. He’s middle aged, living alone and hung-over (again.) Basically, he’s stuck in the hole his conscious desire has dug for him.
Moving his car for the workmen is a major hassle. He’s overslept and late to pick up Jack for their wine tasting trip, but still takes his time getting there—flossing, stopping for coffee. When he finally arrives, he lies about the traffic.
He makes them stop at his mother’s house to wish her happy birthday, but then steals money from her secret stash. At his mother’s we also learn he’s still living in the past regarding his ex, Victoria, who he split up with two years ago.
Call to Action—Miles’ Conscious Desire Clashes with Jack’s
Jack, on the other hand, is the antagonist—the physical representation of Miles’ unconscious desire. He’s gregarious, out-going, confident, and a womanizer. The Call to Action turning point arrives when Jack tells Miles he’s going to get him laid.
It’s Miles’ conscious desire talking when he replies, “Jack. This week is not about me. It’s about you. I’m going to show you a good time.” Miles, stuck in his old mode of behaviour and mourning the loss of Victoria, has no intention of chasing women.
This is where Jack’s conscious desire and Miles’ conscious desire clash to form the first major conflict of the film—how will Miles react to Jack’s challenge? Miles’ initial reaction is fuelled by his conscious desire—he just wants to relax, play golf and drink wine. If Miles had his way this is exactly how the week would go down, but Jack’s conscious desire directly challenges this. Miles’ unconscious desire is soon to be awoken…
Check back for part two on weaving your hero’s conscious and unconscious desire into the plot.
