PLANTING THE PLOT
By Judy Kellem

A writer friend recently asked that I read and give comments on his script (FYI: he gave permission for me to discuss it here with you). It was a 100-paged screenplay about a man's experience sixty years plus as sailor of a commercial yacht. The protagonist fell in love, got married, experienced icebergs and snowstorms that veered him near death. His wife came and went, he saw two wars come and go through the eyepiece of a telescope. The script had drama, was ripe with theme. Indeed this writer had rendered an action packed panorama reflecting the random (and not so random) series of events to occur during his hero's life at sea.

"But what's the plot?" I asked.

For despite all that detail and action, no palpable plot roots had yet been set. There was no imperative. No narrative crux. No central, suspense filled idea narratively tying this series of life happenings and hardships together.

"It's about his survival of humankind and nature," my friend argued.

"That's not a plot," I kept at him. "You're talking vague, overriding theme . What's the linchpin that drives it all forward?"

“His life miss-cast as a man, feeling at home beyond the shores."

"You're talking theme and character. What plot pulls those ropes tight to set sail?"

His end of the phone went silent. Then there was a labored sigh and, "Okay, let me think about it."

It's a hard one to finger, this differentiating between plot and theme, and story . The very notion these elements can be teased apart still leaves me stumped, though I think (and will here argue) it's true. These elements interweave and overlap so intimately and seamlessly at times as to seem all together synonymous.

But they're not.

And knowing the differences between them, being able to account for each and make sure all are present in the seeding of a great script, is vital.

What would "Silence of the Lambs" be without the point by point plot of Agent Starling being hard pressed to get life saving information from Hannibal Lechter? How would "Lord of the Rings" ring if Froto wasn't under the gun to get that golden band from one place to the next in the nick of time? Yes the drama in both movies is considerable, as many consecutive struggles are suffered and overcome scene by scene along the way, by both lead characters. And a strong coming of age THEME pulses powerfully throughout both scripts. But if either screenplay had lacked a solid PLOT to act as that photosynthesizing drive that propels the gripping characters and touching stories up and out from the muddy grounds of message and conflict, these movies would have probably withered and wilted before us.

Love stories, war stories, tales of fear overcome-- every work of fiction needs an anchoring plot. Plots can be very grandiose: Think Star Wars sized, "Young Farmer Boy must Save A Princess and in turn, fight an Evil Empire". This basic plot thread allows for the larger story of father and son to be deeply and epicly dramatized and creates a structure through which the themes of fate, destiny and cosmic salvation may be profoundly rendered. On a less colossal scale are films like Tom Hanks's flick, CastAway, wherein we have the basic plot thread of a shipwrecked postal worker who develops an imaginary friend. This simple set up permits the story of one man's survival of isolation, loneliness and recognition of his need for "other" to be very heartbreakingly explored, while also providing a forum through which themes of faith and the power of the mind may be beautifully developed. In both cases one finds very strong story and theme but without these hardcore, beat by beat basic plots to carry everything else along, the scripts would have no float.

When clients ask how they can test the earth of their own sewn ideas, it is suggested that they ask the following:

A. What is my film ABOUT?

Love? Pain? Death? Family ties? All of the above?

Here are THEMES.

B. And, WHAT HAPPENS?

Boy and girl fall in love?

Father and son become estranged?

Woman risks her life for her sister?

Here is STORY.

C. But HOW do these themes and this story ACTUALLY UNFOLD?

Boy is hired by girl's Mafia father to assassinate an uncle and
meantime the lovers meet?

In an angry moment, a father tells his son he was adopted and the son sets out to prove his father wrong?

Woman in the jungle is held hostage by crazed cannibals who demand only the sister can save her?

There is the PLOT. Get clear on how to delineate between each and you’ll be equipped to till your imagination, cultivate the tales you’ve already planted on the page, or set to plow all those untold stories still budding in your soul.

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