36 Dramatic Situations

1. Supplication Asking or begging for help. There are the obvious forms of thisseeking
help, prayer, imploringbut you can also create a situation where a persons negative
behavior represents a silent or implied cry for help.
2. Deliverance Rescuing or being rescued. This can be a character saved from
somethingwhether physically, emotionally, or spiritual-lyor it can be the attempt to
save another character or oneself.
3. Crime Pursued by Vengeance This situation is pretty straightforward: A crime has been
committed (or merely perceived) and vengeance is sought.
4. Vengeance Taken for Kindred upon Kindred Family infighting. A character getting
even with her father because he beat her mother would be vengeance taken for her mom
upon her dad. Bear in mind that kindred doesnt have to be literal; a character can have a
kinship with his or her neighbors, friends, or coworkers.
5. Pursuit In pursuit of something or someone, or being pursued. Your character can be in
pursuit of something tangiblefor example, a wifeor intangible, such as respect.
6. Disaster Disaster can be different things to different people. It can be as obvious as a
characters house burning down or as seemingly trite as a bad hair day. Disaster is entirely
context-sensitive: If your character lives in Beverly Hills and somebody dyes her poodle
the wrong shade of pink, it may be the end of the universe!
7. Falling Prey to Cruelty or Misfortune A situation in which a character gets into trouble,
gets hurt, or is destroyed by another character or by fate. Again, this sense of being hurt
can be entirely subjective.
8. Revolt Any kind of revolt, from a palace coup to a struggle in a marriage, friendship, or
family. Mental, physical, spiritualthis situation covers anything relating to revolt,
resistance, or an overturning (or attempted overturning), either literal or metaphoric.
9. Daring Enterprise Doing something bold or adventurous, whether an action or a state
of mind.
10. Abduction A situation in which a character is kidnapped or is dragged into something
against his or her will. It can also be a psychic abduction: a character drawn into another
characters worldview, as in a cult.
11. The Enigma The mystery, the riddle, the whodunit, the quest. This situation involves
trying to figure out what to do, how to find something, how to get to the bottom of
something. It can be an external riddle or an internal riddle. For example, a character may
be seeking an answer about her psyche, her emotions, her pattern of behavior: How did I
get into this? Why do I keep making the same mistake?
12. Obtaining Trying to acquire or achieve something in any arenaphysical,
psychological, or spiritualwhether real or imaginary.

13. Enmity of Kinsmen Animosity or hatred between kin (again, not necessarily literal kin).
A character hating his brother, co-worker, or neighborsor his neighbors bearing a grudge
against him.
14. Rivalry of Kinsmen A contest, struggle, or show of jealousy between brothers or any
form of kin.
15. Murderous Adultery This can involve not only adultery with murder, but also a situation
where a character is in a murderous frame of mind due to adultery. Bear in mind that adultery
doesnt necessarily have to do with a sexual relationship. If a character is in the Mafia and starts
talking to the police, then hes going outside the Mafia relationship, and this can get him
whacked.
16. Madness There are many types of Madness, from something horrible such as a
straitjacketed character in a padded cell to something delightful such as Jim Carrey
frantically trying not to tell the truth in Liar Liar. Madness can be madcap and zany in a
totally funny way; the movie Animal House comes to mind. This situation may also involve
a fear of madness, varying degrees of insanity, or a crazy situation.
17. Fatal Imprudence Doing something so unwise that it can have fatal or near-fatal
consequencesalthough fatal is not necessarily literal. In Tootsie, when Dorothy tries to
kiss Julie, thats Fatal Imprudence. No one literally died, but their friendship was dealt a
lethal blow.
18. Involuntary Crimes of Love Both this situation and 26. Crimes of Love relate to incest.
A Crime of Love would be a character having sex with his daughter, whereas in
an Involuntary Crime of Lovethe character doesnt know it was his daughter but finds out
later. Also, consider how Crimes of Love can be understood metaphorically: a husband
treats his wife poorly, or a parent does something horrible to a child in the name of love or
guidance.
19. Slaying of a Kinsman Unrecognized In the literal sense, this refers to a character killing
someone who turns out to be her brother because she didnt recognize him in the dark or
after years of absence. But think metaphorically as well, and the situation can become a
drunken father verbally abusing his daughter. She can feel slain and unrecognized:
Doesnt he know that Im his little darling? Or perhaps a boss puts down his most loyal
employee so that he feels slain and unrecognized.
20. Self-sacrifice for an Ideal Putting oneself on the line for something one believes in. A
character can literally sacrifice or be willing to sacrifice his or her life, or can simply give
up something he or she loves in order to preserve this ideal.
21. Self-sacrifice for Kindred Sacrificing or being willing to sacrifice oneself for ones
kindred (literal or metaphorical). The sacrifice can be material, spiritual, or physicalit
need not refer to actual loss of life.
22. All Sacrificed for a Passion Putting everything one is or has on the line for ones
passionthrowing caution to the wind for a cause. This can mean either surrender or,
conversely, wild excess in the name of some passion. A character can experience a positive
transfiguration or lose their kids college fund in Las Vegas.

23. Necessity of Sacrificing Loved Ones Facing the possibility of having to sacrifice or
betray someone a character cares about. This can mean throwing somebody to the wolves,
leaving someone behind, or selling someone out.
24. Rivalry of Superior and Inferior This situation is always interesting because it can be
entirely subjective: Who is the superior and who is the inferior? The perception of whos
on topwhos got the upper hand, whos morally superior, whos in control, who enjoys a
higher statuscan flicker back and forth from moment to moment. Consider the
play Whos Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, in which the husband and wife keep one-upping
each other with cruelty.
25. Adultery This situation is straightforward, unless youre using it metaphorically in
terms of violating a contract or understanding. Adultery can be used to play What if? in a
script that needs an extra complication: What if one of your characters were committing
adultery? Cultural responses and consequences will vary within this category, because for
some situations the adultery is casual while for others its an offense punishable by
death.
26. Crimes of Love Although this situation is primarily sexual in nature, many types of
violation or perceived violation in a love relationship can be viewed as crimes, such as a
wife deceiving a husband or the betrayal of a partner.
27. Discovery of the Dishonor of a Loved One A character learning that hes been betrayed
(in any number of ways), or finding out that someone he loves is or has been evil, criminal,
or untrustworthy.
28. Obstacles to Love Anything that stands in the way of a relationship, be it a
disapproving parent, a jealous husband, a difference in financial or social status, a loved
one not feeling love in return, or other forbidding circumstances.
29. An Enemy Loved This situationa character falling in love with or gaining respect for
his or her enemycan suggest many intriguing possibilities for a plot. Consider The
Silence of the Lambs: Claricealong with the audienceis utterly fascinated with and
drawn to Hannibal Lecter. In Blade Runner, Deckard is drawn to the replicants and feels
for them.
30. Ambition The various strivings that a character might have, and the permutations these
may undergo as the character and situation change. The whys and wherefores
of Ambition open up possibilities as well. The lack of ambition is also tellingsuggestive
of a whole different set of possibilities. For instance, one could explore the complete lack
of drive in someone who is rich and smart and free, but who fritters his life away.
31. Conflict with a God This situation is almost always used metaphorically or poetically.
While there are films in which a character is in actual conflict with a deity, more often in
this situation a character confronts the powers that besay, a weakling versus the
neighborhood bully. Any weak entity up against a vastly more powerful force fits this
situation; it doesnt require a religious connotation of any kind.
32. Mistaken Jealousy Jealousy becomes a complicated situation when it is mistaken. A
character thinks her husband is having an affair when in fact hes secretly working a
second job to buy her an awesome anniversary gift. A great example of this is

in Tootsie when Michael is three hours late for his dinner with Sandy. She waits outside his
apartment, sees Dorothy go in, and thinks Dorothy is having an affair with Michael.
33. Erroneous Judgment Any situation in which a bad assessment is made, whether huge
or microscopic in scope. This can be a poor choice, jumping to conclusions, muddled
thinking, or even just plain stupidityor it can be the fear of making a bad choice.
34. Remorse A character feeling sorry for an action, a harsh word, or even a thoughtall
in varying degrees. There can also be the total lack of remorse in a characterthink
Charles Manson, who believes evil to be his divine calling.
35. Recovery of a Lost One A character may find someone or some object that was lost
even his or her self-esteem or respect. This type of recovery is often getting ones real self
back, or reclaiming ones marriage, job, or sense of adventure.
36. Loss of Loved Ones A character may lose someone he or she loves, either through
death, moving away, or any other way one can lose someone or something. It doesnt have
to be a person thats lost; it can be a career, an object, an emotion, or a state of mind (such
as sanity or self-respect). Again, the situation can be crucial, such as losing ones entire
family in a fire, or it can be a characters dad missing his or her softball game.