Need help with story

[Tormod]

Hi. I am writing a screenplay for a short, max 30 pages, and i am having some problems figuring out the story to drive the main character.

The script is set in a post-apocalyptic world, where society has collapsed.
Here, a former bigshot who has lost all respect for himself meet up with a poor kid. They build up a friendship and through that friendship he regains his self image and he also finally cares about someone else than himself again.

But what can happen that makes him regain that respect, and what should be his goal? His overall want.

Im thinking about the themes as well. Maybe something like "By helping others, you can help yourself" but it's not exactly written in stone.

What do you guys think? any ideas for some good themes, Goals, Wants, or story elements?

Cheers!
Tormod

 

[moonlitnite]

Hi Tormod,

You might want to scan common themes used in the hero's journey - here's a listing of some:

http://www.clickok.co.uk/index4.html#HJ

By your terse write-up, it's not clear if the apocalypse happens at the end of Act I or before the entire short story. If the former, we could setup his character to have negative attributes that would define his character to the audience. Then in Act II, he could redeem himself and find personal salvation through the youngster; Act II could develop into a plot point where the boy separates from the man (lost, outside intervention, develops nasty traits of the man's former self, etc). Of course, this could go a thousand directions.

Anyway, you asked, "But what can happen that makes him regain that respect, and what should be his goal?"

Since we can assume he was successful/fulfilled in his pre-apocalyptic world, the decay of society depositioned his self esteem/worth. So however you choose frame it, he has either found his former self through the boy or undergone a transformation to a new self.

Personally, if I was writing the story, I'd follow an ironic plot like the Twilight Zone. Perhaps the man isn't really alive after all, but merely a spirit form trying to redeem himself before traversing into the hereafter. He was raised by type-A parents who focused solely on achievement at the expense of nurturing, love, kindness, etc. As an adult, he became a very successful as an achiever, taker, winner at all costs which personally caused him to fail in his relationships (especially losing the respect of his wife and baby boy). As the movie ends and he realizes it's time to continue his spirit journey (no longer able to communicate from afar), it turns out that the boy reunites with his mother - ironically the woman is his former wife and he discovers the boy is his son.

Anyway, depending where you're going with this, you might want to scan the monomyth list for themes and plot point ideas.

Happy Trails, Michael

 

[KeithK]

I am by no means an expert in this kind of stuff, but what you are writing follows the same general plotline of James Axler's "Deathlands" series. Might try reading the first couple of books in that series to get the wheels turning and crank out some some ideas on where your story could go. Just dont get too involved, otherwise you'll wind up buying all 80 books and reading them like I did and you wont get anything else done.