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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.

In today’s post we’re going to attempt to shed light on a particularly confusing area for many writers. Yes, we are going to dive into the murky world of your protagonist’s unconscious desire.

OK, you have a hero, but are you completely clear on what both their conscious and unconscious goals are? There are many differing terms floating around the world of screenwriting on this subject, but basically they all mean the same thing:

Outer Goal / Inner Goal

Conscious Desire / Unconscious Desire

Want / Need

In the examples above, the one on the left equals your main plot—the hero’s goal they think they want and battle fiercely for throughout the film to achieve. The one on the right equals a subplot—the goal they really want, they just don’t know it yet. But by the film’s end, the unconscious desire trumps the conscious desire and they end up with what they need, not what they want.

At around twelve minutes into a film, most protagonists have to make a decision on what to do about the Call to Action, (or Inciting Incident, if you prefer.) This decision is what propels them into the uncharted territory of Act Two and is their conscious desire talking. It is also, invariably, the wrong one. In Act One they are still flawed individuals, therefore, any decision they make will invariably be flawed also.

As they battle their way through the script, their unconscious desire grows louder and louder until they can’t ignore it any longer. But the conscious desire is not completely dead and buried just yet, and comes back to bite just when things are coming up roses with their shiny new unconscious desire.

And what makes it extra powerful is the fact that it’s the protagonist’s own fault. Either they have been lying all along—a lie involving their old way of life (and conscious desire,) or they revert to their old ways and literally slip back into that old persona—what their conscious desire wants.

Let’s take a closer look at this using an example.

At the start of Wedding Crashers, John and Jeremy want to crash weddings and get laid. This is their conscious desire. They crash the Cleary wedding and hook up with Gloria and Claire. By the midpoint it’s clear John is falling for Claire. His experiences with her make him realize he doesn’t want to mess around anymore but actually needs to settle down and fall in love. But neither he nor Jeremy have completely shed their old way of life and conscious desire. They are still lying to Gloria and Claire, and to themselves about what they really want. This, of course, comes back to haunt them when the girls find out the truth.

This loss causes them, (John specifically) to realize the errors of his ways and to change. The unconscious desire trumps the conscious desire. He will do anything to win back Claire and does so by the end of the film.

Once you really understand your protagonist’s conscious desire, unconscious desire, want and need, your screenplay will come on in leaps and bounds. In another post, we’ll explain how both the conscious and unconscious desire work simultaneously through a screenplay’s plot points.