StoryNotesNewsletter

ISSUE #15:


Most of the best movies have two tracks: the External Story
and an Internal Story.

The following 4-part article discusses the Inner Need, a
major component of the Internal Story. The Inner Need
relates to "Backstory Event," "Key Flaw," and "Character
Arc," subjects of earlier articles.


(Due to its length, this article will be sent in four parts.
Thus, it will comprise Issues #15-#18.)

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PART 1 (OF 4):


IN ADDITION TO THE EXTERNAL DESIRE,

CONSIDER THE


* * * I N N E R N E E D * * *


"What's he keep doing that for?"
"She sure tries harder to win than the others. Wonder
why?"
"What's eating HIM?"

The answers to these questions might well be, "Because
the character has an unmet *Inner Need*.

An Inner Need refers to something within the character
or in the character's life that is lacking. Or sometimes,
to an emotional or psychological wound that needs healing.

It's a character trait or quality in his or her life
that the character needs in order to feel whole or healed.
If this missing quality or life circumstance is obtained or
fulfilled, the character will feel complete, healthier,
and/or happier.

It could be a need for self-worth and self-esteem. Or
for security. Or stability. Or a feeling of acceptance.
Belonging.

It could be love -- a need to be or feel loved (and
loveable). Or a need *to* love. Or to have the ability to
express love.

It might be a need to forgive -- or be forgiven. Or to
release some aspect of the past.

It might be a need for attention. Or respect. Or
serenity.

It could even be a need for self-actualization -- a
fulfilling of one's highest potential. This could relate to
"being all one can be," or to finding one's true aptitude --
the path or line of work that one was meant to do, that one
is best suited for.

An Inner Need can be either a primarily internal
quality, or a life situation that affects the person
emotionally, psychologically, or spiritually. It's
something that the character lacks and needs, which, if
satisfied, would make the character a better, stronger, more
balanced person.

WHO HAS IT?

Usually, the main character is the one with this Inner
Need. But not always. It could be that the main character
is "the rock" -- the strong and/or "normal" one who is
pretty secure, and who "has it all together" for the most
part, and who therefore acts as an example or a source of
strength for another character who *does* have an Inner
Need. In such a case, this "whole and healthy" main
character intentionally or otherwise helps the other
character.

And there can be more than one character with an Inner
Need -- the main character, and another.

HOW IT RELATES TO BEHAVIOR

Having an Inner Need doesn't mean that the character is
neurotic, a basket case, incompetent, or even someone who
comes across as extremely needy. Any of those are options
that can be utilized and are sometimes seen. But usually,
the Inner Need does not manifest itself in such an extreme
fashion. It's far more subtle than that.

Many of us have one or more unmet Inner Needs, and yet
are relatively normal individuals who function well, for the
most part. But at times, we are overly defensive, or overly
critical, or jealous, or we over-eat, or engage in reckless
behavior, or something of the sort. And if we were to
really analyze why -- or to find out why *other* people do
that sort of thing -- we might discover that this behavior
is due to an unmet Inner Need.

Or perhaps we strive for a particular objective much
harder than most others would -- much more vigorously and
persistently than most competitors we may have are striving.
That, too, could be due to the motivating force of an Inner
Need.

So a character (or real-life individual) with an Inner
Need doesn't necessarily exhibit it all the time, or in
obvious ways. But it may be what's behind a character flaw.
Or behind extraordinary efforts to solve a problem or
achieve a difficult goal. Or both.

It's simply an interesting and fairly important part of
the character's psychological makeup. It's part of what
makes this character tick, and it does, at least at times,
influence decisions, reactions, and behavior.

THE ORIGINS OF THE NEED

What causes this need?

The need can arise either from a sustained situation in
the character's past -- often from childhood -- spanning
months or even years, or it can be triggered by a particular
Backstory Event, either a recent one or a long-ago event.

In terms of an ongoing situation from the past:
sometimes the Need is caused by the lack of a critical
relationship. The absence of one or both parents will often
create one or more internal needs.

It could be due to poor nurturing by a parent or
guardian. The child may have felt overly anxious due to
erratic, unstable behavior; demeaned by an overly critical
parent; or neglected or unloved by an emotionally distant or
preoccupied parent. Or perhaps the child felt overburdened
with too many adult-like responsibilities or worries.

Occasionally, the Need is an outgrowth of situational or
material deprivation, such as a lack of vocational or
artistic opportunity, or a lack of good schooling. Such
deprivations could lead to an Inner Need for self-fulfillment (to
develop one's potential) or self-expression.

Indeed, it often happens that severe situational or
material needs lead to a longer-lasting psychological need.
A sustained period of a lack of housing, suitable clothing,
or sufficient food could create an emotional need for
security. This inner need may persist long after basic
needs are being reliably met -- even years later, after
plentiful times.

If the limited and threadbare clothing of a poor child
results in taunts, that material lack may also damage his or
her self-esteem, leading to the need for a more positive
sense of self-worth.

There may have been a period where some sort of
hardship, handicap, or burden had to be endured, perhaps due
to an illness or injury.

It could be due to the person's appearance -- in the
past, or now. Or both.

To summarize thus far: an Inner Need may have been
created due to a sustained and formative period of time in
the past, such as the absence of one or both parents, poor
nurturing by a parent or guardian, prolonged periods of
situational or material deprivation, by protracted
difficulties related to disease or injury, or due to
physical appearance.

On the other hand, an Inner Need can also arise from a
particular Backstory Event -- one distinctive event or
episode that may have lasted only days or hours, even
minutes.

It could be a traumatic or disturbing event of some
sort: a death of a loved one, a divorce, sudden financial
ruin, an unwanted and disconcerting relocation, a sudden
jilting by a romantic interest when marriage seemed
imminent, or something of this nature. It could have been a
terrifying ordeal: witnessing a violent event, surviving a
brush with death due to an accident or sudden illness, or
having been the victim of an assault. One way or another, a
particular event from long ago or just recently may have
created the person's Inner Need.

Related to that, sometimes this Need is due to a sense
of being emotionally or psychologically wounded. The
character needs to heal the wound by recognizing that he or
she *is* wounded, and how it happened -- and sometimes by
forgiving the person(s) responsible. Or learning to let go,
to move beyond it.

INNER NEED & KEY FLAW

We've seen that some aspect of the Backstory or a
Backstory Event is generally responsible for creating the
Inner Need. The Inner Need, in turn, is frequently
responsible for creating the character's Key Flaw.

The Key or Primary Flaw -- a fault, foible,
vulnerability, weakness, deficiency, error in thinking or
behaving, or even a virtue taken to an extreme -- is often
an outgrowth of the unmet Inner Need. It's a reaction to it
-- but an inappropriate reaction. Indeed, it's generally
counter-productive, and thus, ironically, likely to actually
*thwart* the fulfilling of the Inner Need.

The flawed response to the unmet need can take two
forms.

One is a kind of "acting out" reaction. Because of the
frustration, feeling of emptiness, or pain that this unmet
need produces, the character begins (or has long ago begun)
to behave wrongly or inappropriately in some way. This is
not much different than how a child may misbehave when he or
she doesn't get what was desired -- or as a result of
stress.

This kind of response could take the form of frequent
pouting, emotional depression, a hair-trigger temper, a
quarrelsome or contrary attitude, over-sensitivity, self-indulgence,
or even a propensity for violence.

The other kind of response can be a flawed strategy for
coping with the lack of the need, or even a misguided
strategy for attaining it.

For instance, a need for respect or acceptance might
lead a person to a flawed means of trying to achieve it: by
bragging, boasting, and acting in a superior manner. While
the need prompted this approach, it's a flawed strategy,
likely to backfire. It will not gain the person respect or
acceptance, and is even likely to lessen whatever respect or
acceptance he may already have.

With another person, that same unmet need -- for respect
and/or acceptance -- could lead to a different flaw. Rather
than becoming a braggart, the person might become a bully,
trying to obtain respect upon demand, through fear. Yet
another may become a daredevil. People may be impressed
with his courage, but also feel he's foolish and unbalanced.
Thus, the behavior once again fails to achieve its intended
but misguided objective of gaining respect.

Two intertwined needs -- a need for intimacy, but also a
need to vanquish a *fear* of intimacy (due to being hurt in
the past) -- could lead to a flaws such as spurning
compliments and invitations, sarcasm, hyper-critical
comments, or other anti-social behaviors that indulge the
fear, but block the need. Thus, the flawed behavior
assures that the person will remain isolated, and not
fulfill the need for intimacy.

Despite evidence that these flaws -- these faulty
behavioral strategies -- are not working, and are actually
counterproductive and self-defeating, the characters
continue to utilize them. It's like a bird repeatedly
flying into a window, over and over. It ... just ...
doesn't ... get it. People can be like that, too.

This is partly due to a lack of perspective, but also
because these behaviors and traits become habits. They
become an ingrained part of us. We are blind to the
connection between the flaw and our need (which we aren't
that fully aware of in the first place), and how
counterproductive the flawed behavior is. The same impulse
that led us to try this flawed coping strategy initially,
prompts us to do it again and again. Until it's just a part
of who we are.

And often times, when we don't meet with success with
this strategy, we will try harder. We do it more often ...
bigger, "better" versions of the flawed strategy.

Until finally, if we're lucky, we'll see that it's just
not working. And out of exhaustion or desperation, try
something else. Maybe the opposite, maybe something that
just seems more reasonable.

We see this pattern in many comedies -- where the
character just keeps trotting out the same flawed strategy-behavior,
often increasing the effort level, until at last,
they either see the light, or just "give up," and either
intentionally or inadvertently do the right thing. This is
the case in TOOTSIE, LIAR LIAR, and WHAT WOMEN WANT. And
the pattern can be seen (to a lesser or more subtle extent)
in some serious films, too.

So the Backstory or a Backstory Event usually creates
the Inner Need, and the Inner Need often gives rise to an
inappropriate, ironically counter-productive flaw that tends
to block the need (and often will hinder achievement of the
goal, as well).

Sometimes, however, the Backstory or Backstory Event
that creates the Inner Need will simultaneously trigger the
Key Flaw.

So the pattern can be:

Backstory &/or BSE > Inner Need > Key Flaw

Or:

Backstory &/or BSE > Inner Need + Key Flaw

Either way, the flaw is a kind of coping strategy, meant
to deal with the Need. Or a defense tactic. But if it ever
was effective, it has long since outlived its usefulness or
benefits. And usually, it was an inappropriate response to
begin with.

The Backstory/Backstory Event creates the Inner Need,
the Need triggers the Flaw (or sometimes it was created at
the same time as the Need), and the Flaw, while
subconsciously meant to cope with the unmet need, or even to
gain it, actually acts to block it. That's the dynamic.

Of course, as we've seen, the character doesn't realize
this. Sometimes -- by the two-thirds or three-quarter point
of the story, or by the end -- the character *does* come to
realize this. He or she becomes more aware of the need,
and/or of the flaw, and how it's hindering need and/or
desire (goal). Other times, the character never seems to
fully grasp all this ... but changes nonetheless. The flaw
is vanquished due to necessity, determination, and
willpower. And thus the Need may come to be fulfilled. Or,
it can be the other way around: once the Need is fulfilled
(despite the flaw), the flaw just drops away.

The above refers to stories where the character's arc is
such that he or she does, finally, vanquish the flaw and
achieve the Inner Need (in whichever order). In tragedies
and character-declension stories, that doesn't occur.

We've defined the Inner Need, noted its origins, and
seen its relationship with the Key Flaw. But how does the
Need manifest itself in the character -- and the story?


(TO BE CONTINUED in Issue #16)

Copyright Jeff Newman, 2001

* * * NOTICE * * *

The 2001 Las Vegas Screenwriting Conference will take place
this July 12-15 at the Tropicana Hotel and Casino. The list
of guests is unparalleled! The opportunities are too good
to miss. For details, go to: http://vegasscript.com

* * *