Emotional Structure: Creating the Story Beneath the Plot

The leap from concept to final draft is great, and the task is filled with hard work and horrors. It is here that most writers struggle to get the plot right at the expense of the story's real power. The result is a script that is logical in every way, yet unmoving. Emotional Structure, by Emmy- and Peabody-Award winning producer, writer, and teacher, Peter Dunne, is for these times, when the plot fits nicely into place like pieces in a puzzle, yet an elemental, terribly important something remains missing. The missing piece won't be found by adding action, you can't stir the soul with a car chase. And the problem won't be helped by a change of location, the only location that matters is deep in your protagonist. The solution is to pay constant attention to the inseparable nature of plot development and emotional development. When you create any scene, whether it's a police pursuit on the interstate or a heart-to-heart in the kitchen, the emotional reasoning behind the scene has to be evident. When you develop the emotional current that sustains the action, you create a scene with heart and soul, and you-and your viewers-are going to feel the passion.