Posing an Initial Question

Every story poses an initial question that can be answered with a yes or no. This initial question is defined by the hero’s emotional dream. In “Die Hard,” this initial question is whether John McClane (the hero) will get back with his wife or not. In “Titanic,” this initial question is whether Rose will marry a man she doesn’t love or not. In “WALL-E,” this initial question is whether WALL-E will find someone to love or not.

The initial question is crucial because it frames the entire story and gives the story focus. Now everything that happens in the story threatens or helps this initial question. The key is that this initial question is based on the hero’s emotional dream because this is what will change the hero in the end. 

Heroes aren’t interesting if they stay the same. Heroes are only interesting when they emotionally change and see themselves in a new light. For example, in “Star Wars,” Luke goes from a timid farm boy to a more confident fighter pilot. In “Die Hard,” John McClane goes from an arrogant man to realizing he pushed his wife away. 

There are four ways to answer this initial question in the end:

• Yes, the hero gets his or her emotional dream
• No, the hero fails to get his or her emotional dream
• Yes, the hero gets his or her emotional dream, but at a heavy price
• Yes, the hero gets his or her emotional dream, but also gets something better

In the traditional happy ending, the hero gets what he or she wants. The suspense throughout the story is how will the hero do this? In the end, we see how the hero does this and achieve his or her emotional dream. In “Die Hard,” the initial question is whether John McClane will get back with his wife or not. In the end, he does. All the fighting against the terrorists simply gave him a way to get back with his wife.

In tragedies, the hero fails to get his or her emotional dream. In “The Godfather,” Michael is trying to avoid getting involved in the family business, but by the end, he becomes the new godfather. 

Sometimes the hero gets his or her emotional dream, but at a high cost. In “Thelma and Louise,” the heroes want freedom. They get this freedom but only by driving off the edge of the cliff to avoid being arrested by the police. They win, but they lose their lives in the process.

In “Titanic,” Rose wants to get out of marrying a man she doesn’t love. In the end, she succeeds in avoiding marriage to this man, but she loses her lover (and mentor) in the process.

Sometimes the hero fails to get his or her emotional dream, but actually get something better. In “Rocky,” Rocky’s goal is to prove to himself and the world that he’s not a bum. He achieves this by standing on his feet the entire match against Apollo Creed, and thus proves to himself that he’s not a bum. In the process, he’s also shocked the whole world that has now embraced him as a hero as well.

Before you start writing any screenplay, define and answer your story’s initial question. Make sure this initial question is based on your hero’s emotional dream. Then decide how you want to answer this initial question.

Does your hero achieve his or her emotional dream? Does it come at a heavy price? Does the hero actually get something more? Or does the hero fail to achieve his emotional dream because your story is a tragedy?

There is no right or wrong answer but how your story answers this question will define the structure of your story. If you can’t pose an initial question and answer it, you won’t have a story worth telling. Once you can pose an initial question and answer it, based on your hero’s emotional dream, then you’ll have a strong foundation for telling a great story.

[xyz-ihs snippet=”15-Minute-Movie-Method-book”]