The Expanded Ultimate Story Checklist: Does each scene both advance the plot and reveal character through emotional reactions?

As we established in chapter two, the audience doesn’t care about the plot. They only care about the hero and her reaction to what’s happening. This is true of the overall story and of each scene. 

Beginners write scenes in which big plot points happen, but readers (or viewers) aren’t in any one character’s shoes when they happen. The audience is just supposed to float above it all and say, “Oh my god, what a big story development!” But audiences don’t actually care about the plot; they only care about the characters. They don’t care about the outside action; they only care about the hero’s volatile reaction.

Let’s say that in your first scene a crowd of co-workers watch a nuclear bomb go off outside the window. You expect your audience to say, “Oh, that’s terrible! A nuclear bomb! Just think of all those people who must have been killed!” But your audience has no good reason to feel that way. They don’t know anybody outside that window. That world isn’t real yet because you haven’t made it real. If you haven’t created any people outside that window, then there aren’t any people outside that window, and your audience knows it.

But if you make your audience identify with one member of that crowd, and the audience knows she’s trying to get out of there early today to pick up her daughter from school, and maybe she was talking to her daughter on the phone when the signal cut out, then the audience will be devastated.

Plot for plot’s sake is meaningless. Stop trying to upset the expectations of the audience with shocking events—the audience isn’t emotionally involved in events. Instead, get the audience to love the characters, and then show how events upset the characters’ expectations to upset the audience.

For this Scenework series, we’re examining these scenes: 

The 40 Year Old Virgin	Andy goes home with a drunk woman from a Bachelorette party.
Alien	After the deaths of Kane, Brett and Dallas, Ripley becomes captain, so she has a meeting with the other survivors, Ash, Parker, and Lambert, to decide what to do next.
An Education	Jenny is amazed as David gets permission from her parents to take her on a weekend trip to Oxford by claiming to know C.S. Lewis.
The Babadook	Amelia chases her son Sam down to the basement, where he knocks her out, ties her up, and drives the Babadook out of her, temporarily.
Blazing Saddles	Bart arrives in town, then takes himself hostage to save himself from hostile townspeople
Blue Velvet	Jeffrey spies on Dorothy and Frank, then Dorothy catches Jeffrey in her apartment and has sex with him at knifepoint.
The Bourne Identity	Jason and Marie are attacked at her family’s farm by the assassin known as The Professor. Jason blows up a propane tank to distract him and kills him, but as the Professor dies he convinces Jason to come back.
Bridesmaids	Annie is driving angry after feuding with Helen when she gets pulled over by a cute cop, who gives her his number under the pretense of recommending a place to get her tail light fixed.
Casablanca	Sketchy crook Ugarte asks cool club owner Rick to hold onto the letters of transit for him.
Chinatown	Jake confronts Noah Cross with the glasses
Donnie Brasco	Lefty seeks to go behind Sonny Black’s back to set up his own meeting in Florida with Trifficante. He has Donnie borrow a boat for this purpose, but Sonny Black knows everything, and he crashes the party.  Lefty bitterly assumes that Donnie has betrayed him, and shuns him.  Sonny takes Donnie aside and elevates him above Lefty.
Do the Right Thing	Buggin’ Out notices that there are no brothers on the wall of Sal’s Pizzeria and decides to organize a boycott.
The Farewell	Billi finds out about Nai Nai’s diagnosis from her parents.
The Fighter	Micky and Charlene confront Micky’s family about his career.
Frozen	Anna confront Elsa in her ice palace
The Fugitive	Gerard confronts Kimble atop a dam, but Kimble leaps off.
Get Out	Chris sneaks out for a smoke in the night, has creepy encounters with Georgina and Walter, then finds Missy drinking tea.  She implores him to sit down, he repeats that he doesn’t want to be hypnotized, but she does it anyway with her teacup.  She gets him to admit the facts of his mother’s death, then sends him to a “sunken place” in his mind.
Groundhog Day	Phil takes Rita to a cafe and tries to convince her that he’s living the same day over and over. He convinces her by predicting what Larry will say.
How to Train Your Dragon	Hiccup and his students are in an arena competing to defeat a dragon, but Hiccup is quizzing their instructor to find out how to better commune with his own dragon, Toothless. Along the way, he uses what he learned from Toothless to peacefully subdue the dragon they’re fighting, infuriating the others.
In a Lonely Place	Laurel has made secret plans to leave town, but Dix makes her go to his favorite restaurant to celebrate their engagement with his agent, his alcoholic friend, and others.
Iron Man	Tony has built a better chest-device to keep shrapnel out of his heart, so he calls Pepper in to reach into his chest and replace the old one with a new one.
Lady Bird	Lady Bird flirts with Kyle in the parking lot.
Raising Arizona	During Hi and Ed’s first night with Junior, brothers Gale and Evelle show up having just escaped from jail, and begin to suspect the truth.
Rushmore	Max introduces himself to Ms. Cross on the bleachers.
Selma	King meets with Johnson in the Oval Office to try to get him to commit to a new Voting Rights Act
The Shining	Jack finally takes a drink from the ghosts in the ballroom. A waiter spills a drink on him, and takes him to the bathroom to clean it off.  While he does so, Jack realizes that the waiter is actually Grady, the former caretaker that killed his family.  Grady encourages him to do the same, but Jack is uncertain.
Sideways	Miles has struck out with Maya, but Jack comes back to the motel after a wild night with Steph, intending to go back out. Miles tries to get Jack to stay by forcing him to call his fiancé, but she doesn’t answer and Jack takes off with Steph after getting Miles to return his unused condom from the night before.
The Silence of the Lambs	Clarice first meets Lecter in his cell, under the pretense of getting him to fill out a questionnaire, but he quickly figures out that it’s really about Buffalo Bill, and that Clarice is hiding other things as well.
Star Wars	The gang takes over the Death Star command office.
Sunset Boulevard	Joe discovers Norma, who assumes that he’s there to plan her monkey’s funeral, but when he explains that he’s a screenwriter, she hires him to rewrite her screenplay for Salome instead.

So how do those scenes do answer this question?

The 40 Year Old Virgin	YES. Just slightly on both.  It tells him that he’s doable, but it also confirms all of his other fears about picking up women. He’s humiliated.
Alien	YES. It’s more of a plot event, but character issues are bubbling up. Ripley finally gets emotional as she gets fed up with Ash and Parker, for different reasons.
An Education	YES. Both. Jenny is disquieted. Parents are flattered and overwhelmed.
The Babadook	YES. Very much so.
Blazing Saddles	YES. We see Bart’s conflicted insides a little bit. Bart is a little less unflappable, the townspeople are angry, one lady is anguished.
Blue Velvet	YES. Both. They’re both put through the ringer emotionally.
The Bourne Identity	YES. The Professor and Jason are both moved by their interaction.  Marie is very upset.
Bridesmaids	YES. She’s too involved in her own pain to realize that she’s meeting a guy. He’s smitten, she’s depressed to be reminded about her bakery.
Casablanca	Just barely.  It’s mostly plot, but we see Rick’s first flickers of emotion when sees the letters. Ugarte clearly feels bad to hear Rick’s low opinion of him.
Chinatown	YES. Both Gittes and Cross recoil from each other’s harshness.
Donnie Brasco	YES.  both.  Donnie advances in the mafia.  Lefty thinks Donnie betrayed him.  Donny aligns himself with Sonny.  Lefty is devastated.
Do the Right Thing	YES. Sal and Buggin’ Out both lose it.  Pino and Mookie are also affected.  There’s also a great little moment between Pino and Sal when Pino silently takes Sal’s bat away.
The Farewell	YES.
The Fighter	YES. For everyone.
Frozen	YES.
The Fugitive	YES. Gerard pretends that he doesn’t care, but he’s already beginning to, after Kimble fails to shoot him.
Get Out	YES. It’s both a big plot scene and a big character scene.
Groundhog Day	YES. Both.
How to Train Your Dragon	YES. Primarily plot for Hiccup, but reveals character for others.
In a Lonely Place	YES. Very much so.  Dix finally loses it, punches out his agent, etc.
Iron Man	YES. Seems entirely like a character scene at the time, later we realize that it serves the plot. This is a classic example of a small scene that generates an unexpectedly volatile amount of emotion for both parties.
Lady Bird	YES.
Raising Arizona	YES. Very much so. Hi feels humiliated by the brothers’ ribbing, Ed has her worst fears about Hi confirmed
Rushmore	YES. She’s charmed.  He’s disarmed, but recovers his cool.
Selma	YES. the plot is established and they both get emotional, albeit about in contained ways.
The Shining	YES. Jack is very disturbed.
Sideways	YES. Yes, but it’s more plot than character. This is painful for Miles, but just an annoyance for Jack.
The Silence of the Lambs	YES. Both, far more than either expects, but neither will admit it.
Star Wars	YES. More plot than character, but character is revealed in Han’s decision, and Obi Wan’s farewell. Luke, Han and Chewie all take offense at things.
Sunset Boulevard	YES. it launches the plot and introduces the co-star. Her feelings are hurt by his disrespect, and she’s able to hurt him a little bit in return.