Chapter Twenty-One
The Dramatic Action Column
Moment-by-moment dramatic action makes up the next layer of scene. Dramatic action is one of the three primary plotlines and is a major essential element in developing scenes.
Embedded within this layer ideally lies a layer (or two or three or four) of conflict, tension, suspense, and curiosity. I say “ideally” because though the column is labeled “dramatic action” to emphasize the importance of keeping the action exciting, not all action in every scene is dramatic.
The Dramatic Action Column does not ask you to determine whether the action in the scene is dramatic. Simply note what action happens in the scene, whether passive or dramatic, or above the line or below the line. If the scene consists purely of dialogue, write “talking” in bold letters to make that notation stand out from the others. That way you can quickly spot and assess how much talking your characters do without taking action and, when you begin your rewrite, you can be sure to incorporate dramatic action in those scenes.
Action needs conflict in order to be dramatic. Begin by tracking the conflict in every scene. In the Dramatic Action Column on the Scene Tracker, you will declare whether the action is inherently dramatic due to conflict. This column relates directly to the Change in Emotion Column (see chapter twenty-three), which tracks the immediate effect that action has on the character as seen through her emotional change, response, or reaction.
Case Study: The Adventures of Tom Sawyer
The following scene begins Mark Twain’s The Adventures of Tom Sawyer.
“Tom!”
No answer. “Tom!”
No answer.
“What’s gone with that boy, I wonder? You Tom!” No answer.
The old lady pulled her spectacles down and looked over them about the room; then she put them up and looked out under them. She seldom or never looked through them for so small a thing as a boy; they were her state pair, the pride of her heart, and were built for “style,” not service—she could have seen through a pair of stove-lids just as well. She looked perplexed for a moment, and then said, not fiercely, but still loud enough for the furniture to hear:
“Well, I lay if I get hold of you I’ll—”
She did not finish, for by this time she was bending down and punching under the bed with the broom, and so she needed breath to punctuate the punches with. She resurrected nothing but the cat.
“I never did see the beat of that boy!”
She went to the open door and stood in it and looked out among the tomato vines and “jimpson” weeds that constituted the garden. No Tom. So she lifted up her voice at an angle calculated for distance and shouted:
“Y-o-u-u Tom!”
There was a slight noise behind her and she turned just in time to seize a small boy by the slack of his roundabout and arrest his flight. “There! I might ʻa’ thought of that closet. What you been doing in there?”
“Nothing.”
“Nothing! Look at your hands. And look at your mouth. What is that truck?”
“I don’t know, aunt.”
“Well, I know. It’s jam—that’s what it is. Forty times I’ve said if you didn’t let that jam alone I’d skin you. Hand me that switch.”
The switch hovered in the air—the peril was desperate—
“My! Look behind you, aunt!”
The old lady whirled round, and snatched her skirts out of danger. The lad fled on the instant, scrambled up the high board-fence, and disappeared over it.
| Scene Tracker: The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Scene (SC) or Summary (SU) | Time and Setting | Character Emotional Development | Goal | Dramatic Action | Conflict | Change in Emotion | Thematic Details |
| Ch. 1, SC 1 | Fri. Aunt’s house | T: Small, smart, fast, liar A: Took in dead sister’s son | Escape | Tom/Aunt trouble | |||
By now you are likely able to identify this passage as a scene. The passage is made up of definite action and dialogue, and unfolds in such a way that the reader is able to slip into the scene and actually experience the excitement moment to moment.
The passage doesn’t indicate the year, season, or time of day, but we do know it is Friday and that the scene takes place at the aunt’s house.
The first character introduced is the aunt, but since we know that Tom is the protagonist, we write his information under Character Emotional Development first and the aunt’s information below it in a different color.
From the aunt’s monologue, we learn that Tom is a small boy, fast both in mind and on his feet, and that he is a liar. His goal in this scene is to escape. For the purposes of the Scene Tracker, I abbreviate the action to “Tom/Aunt trouble.”
Look for ways to heighten conflict, tension, suspense, and/or curiosity in every scene you write.
Case Study: All the Pretty Horses
All the Pretty Horses opens in scene, so action must be present in some form. The action in the first paragraph shows the character entering a house where a dead man is laid out for viewing.
| Scene Tracker: All the Pretty Horses by Cormac McCarthy | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Scene (SC) or Summary (SU) | Time and Setting | Character Emotional Development | Goal | Dramatic Action | Conflict | Change in Emotion | Thematic Details |
| Ch. 1, SC 1 | Just before dawn | Speaks the truth | View of dead man | ||||
Case Study: The Sea-Wolf
In The Sea-Wolf, the dramatic action thus far is limited to the appearance of the red-faced stranger.
| Scene Tracker: The Sea-Wolf by Jack London | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Scene (SC) or Summary (SU) | Time and Setting | Character Emotional Development | Goal | Dramatic Action | Conflict | Change in Emotion | Thematic Details |
| Ch. 1, SU | |||||||
| Ch. 1, SC 1 | Jan. Mon. A.M. | Blames others; intelligent; writer | Write essay | Stranger appears | |||
Case Study: White Oleander
The action of the opening scene primarily revolves around the daughter climbing to the roof to find her mother.
| Scene Tracker: White Oleander by Janet Fitch | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Scene (SC) or Summary | (SU) | Time and Setting | Character Emotional Development | Goal | Dramatic Action | Conflict | Change in Emotion | Thematic Details |
| Ch. 1, SC 1 | Nighttime Santa Ana | Deeply identifies with mother; 12 years old; afraid; takes care of mother | Give mother comfort | Roof w/ mother | ||||
Case Study: Where the Heart Is
The action of the first scene is limited to sitting, albeit uncomfortably, in the front seat of a car headed for California.
| Scene Tracker: Where the Heart Is by Billie Letts | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Scene (SC) or Summary (SU) | Date and Setting | Character Emotional Development | Goal | Dramatic Action | Conflict | Change in Emotion | Thematic Details |
| Ch. 1, SC 1 | In a car headed for CA | 17 yrs. old; 7 months pregnant; superstitious about sevens | To use the restroom | Riding in a car | |||
Tracking Your Story
With your Scene Tracker in front of you, refer to your manuscript. Indicate under the Dramatic Action Column what action takes place in your scenes. Sum up the action in the scene as succinctly as possible.
Since a scene is not truly a scene unless it has some sort of conflict, tension, or suspense—real or imagined—try to include the pivotal conflict in the Dramatic Action Column description.
As I explained in the Flashback section of chapter seventeen, story information is generally divided into two parts: the front story and the backstory. The front story contains all the action that happens in scene as the story moves forward. The backstory is made up of all the history that makes the characters who they are today and causes them to see the world as they do. The backstory helps the reader to understand things in context. (Backstory was discussed in more depth in chapter seventeen.)
If your story begins with a summary, it may not contain any dramatic action and therefore you won’t be able to write anything on your Scene Tracker. Summary is telling, and so it does not usually involve dramatic action. However, every scene involves action that moves the front story forward. The action-driven plotline is the front story—the physical events unfolding in a dramatic and exciting way on the page. As you track your story, ensure that the action focuses on the front story and can be considered dramatic.