Shared thoughts
about art and life.
The importance of having PROACTIVE characters
Photo: Universal Pictures
Being proactive is essential to every character in a story. It doesn't just serve the character; it is the key ingredient to be able to push a story forward, scene after scene, without boring the audience.
Let's put it simple: always make sure your audience doesn't know what's next.
Scene start
It is the beginning of a scene, and we don't know what is happening. The decor is new, nothing seems to happen so far; but most of all, we don't know what the characters is doing.
Letting the audience trying to guess the character's motives is a great way to keep her/him proactive. A decision has been made, and we discover it. It thus also keeps the stakes of the narration high, since the audience keeps following the story to know what is going to happen. And numerous (bad) films keep their audience in alert till the end just because people need their curiosity to be rewarded. It is the prerogative of most horror/jump scare movies... It is also the prerogative of any good detective story!
Scene ends
Less easy to put into practice, the end of a scene can serve to show a characters proactive qualities, and lead the story to a next level.
The Safdie Brothers are experts in this matter, and both Good Time and Uncut Gems present characters full of energy leading the story forward thanks to their constant decisions to move on. In Good Time notably, The Safdie Brothers managed to constantly surprise us with unpredictable scene endings which of course reflect the main character' skills and flaws.
Photo: Thea Films
Be a magician
If writing is about the characters and structure and lots of planning, narration is about presenting story elements in a way that helps you achieve your goals. And managing to finish your story without losing the audience is already a good goal.
Numerous stakes, discovery, suspense, and proactive characters are among the key elements which will help you keep your audience focused until the end.
Good characters are unpredictable.
Good characters constantly overcome the audience's expectations.