Broken Frontier

This week I want to give you something you can use as a writer. I want to show you, as best as I know, how to write what is called the “dramatic scene.” I say dramatic because drama differs greatly from exposition.

Expository scenes are those in which information is given. They are usually boring because they have no drama. Sometimes, however, they are necessary, but should only be employed as a last resort, i.e., when the information can’t be given in any other way.

Let’s take a look at Batman #643, War Crimes, Part 2. About halfway through the book, Bruce is back in the Batcave and Alfred has given him a quick medical check-up. Alfred says: “Breathing is fine. Pulse and blood pressure are fine. Too soon to be certain, but it looks as though you’ve suffered no long term effects from the small bit of gas you inhaled.” Bruce replies: “Small comfort.” He then goes on to say: “Black Mask got away, and by the time I got back to the Joker, he’d escaped, too. And Aaron Black’s dropped clear off the map...along with the evidence I needed.” This is a good example of an expository scene. Technically, in fact, it is a variation of the expository scene called “Recapitulation,” in which a character recounts events the reader already knows in order to keep the reader oriented. This scene works especially well because the writer, Bill Willingham, doesn’t waste any time making the scene longer than it has to be. (He also makes the scene work by using dialogue that contributes to the characters, but that’s a topic for another column). But it’s still just exposition.

Drama is different. We could go to the dictionary and look at all kinds of definitions and argue about different meanings and shades of meanings. But let’s get it down to something as compact as possible, something we can use. I define drama as “Somebody wants something and they can’t get it.” I like the way this definition works because it not only helps me think about the structure of the whole story, but about individual scenes as well. We’ll talk about global structure later. For right now, I want to worry about a single scene.

Let’s take a look at Zombie Tales #1. The opening of the story “Severance,” by Michael Nelson, is a good example of a dramatic scene. We have four characters: Svetlana, Carl, Dr. Ziegler, and Ziegler’s son, Nathan. Nathan happens to be a zombie and the doctors need to shoot Nathan with a hypo in the chest. As the scene starts, Carl holds the gun, preparing to shoot. The problem is that he doesn’t want to. He tries to get Dr. Ziegler to do it. Ziegler refuses, of course, because he can’t shoot his own son with a gun (even if the kid is a zombie). The drama emerges from the conflict of Dr. Ziegler wanting Carl to fire the gun and of Carl refusing -- at first. (Carl does finally agree to pull the trigger, but then blows the shot and gets attacked by Nathan.) Again, this is a very simple example of a dramatic scene. The needs and wants are all on the surface, but that makes it effective for our purposes here.

But drama isn’t always about arguments over who is going to pull the trigger or battles across the rooftops of Gotham.

Let’s take a look at a variation of this idea. This is the second scene from a short script of mine called “The Visitor.” In the preceding scene, Peter has been awakened by knocking and has gone downstairs.

    INT. FRONT ROOM - NIGHT

               Peter ties his robe shut and blinks at the clock: 1:10 A.M.
               The knocking hits again, loud as gunfire now that Peter is
               right here in front of the door. He opens the inner door and
               steps onto the small porch. He opens the outer door and peers
               out to find:

               DAMON JOHNSON standing outside, a giant grin on his face.

                                   JOHNSON
                         Hey.

               Johnson acts like he's ready to come in, but Peter doesn't
               move; even his face remains a grim mask.

                                   PETER
                         What are you doing here?

               Johnson backs up. Stands up straight. Frowns.

                                   JOHNSON
                         You called me.

                                   PETER
                         No I didn't.

                                   JOHNSON
                         Yes you did. Two hours ago.

               Johnson digs in his pocket. Takes out his cell phone. Flips
               it open. Punches some buttons. Shows it to Peter.

                                   JOHNSON (cont'd)
                         Isn't that your number right there?

                                   PETER
                         So what if it is? I didn't leave a
                         message or anything.

                                   JOHNSON
                         You didn't need to.

                                   PETER
                         I didn't invite you over.

                                   JOHNSON
                         But you did.

                                   PETER
                         Okay, just so there's no confusion,
                         consider yourself officially
                         uninvited.

               Johnson folds his cell phone closed and puts it back in his
               pocket.

                                   JOHNSON
                         Hey, come on. Is this any way to
                         treat a friend?

                                   PETER
                         We're not friends.

                                   JOHNSON
                         I guess that depends on how you
                         define the word.

                                   PETER
                         I'm too tired to argue semantics
                         with you. Please just go away.

                                   JOHNSON
                         Wouldn't you say someone who comes
                         over in the middle of the night
                         because you need them to --
                         wouldn't you say a person like that
                         is a friend?

                                   PETER
                         I told you before: I didn't ask you
                         to come over.

                                   JOHNSON
                         Not tonight, maybe. But you have,
                         haven't you? In the past? In the
                         middle of the night? You've called
                         me. Asked me to come over. Begged
                         me, in fact. Isn't that right?

                                   PETER
                         I suppose.

                                   JOHNSON
                         So we were friends then, weren't
                         we? Even according to you.

                                   PETER
                         I suppose.

                                   JOHNSON
                         So what do you say? Can't I come in
                         for just a minute? For old times'
                         sake. It's freezing out here and
                         I'll have a long walk home now.

                                   PETER
                         You should have worn a jacket.

                                   JOHNSON
                         I thought I was going to a friend's
                         house.

                                   PETER
                         You thought wrong.

               Johnson shivers.

                                   JOHNSON
                         Colder than I thought out here.

                                   PETER
                         Oh, all right. You can come in. But
                         just for a minute. Just long enough
                         to warm up.

               Johnson smiles broadly.

                                   JOHNSON
                         That's all I ask. That's all I ever
                         ask.

               Peter steps back and opens the door. Johnson blows into his
               cupped hands and crosses the threshold. Peter closes the door
               behind him.

As you can see, drama can be found in something as simple as one character wanting to come through the front door.

As an exercise, I suggest you practice writing scenes like this one, scenes in which one character wants another character to do something especially banal. Try something like A wants B to sit down. Or B wants A to take a dose of medicine. After you’ve written a few, let us know how it goes in the Forum. Meanwhile, as you read this week’s comics, see if you can pick out which scenes are dramatic and which are merely expository.

Until next time, keep writing.