Vale's Technique of Screen and Television Writing

10

Disturbance and Adjustment

A human being may be undisturbed; that is, he feels no pain. Then pain may be inflicted upon the human being, which means that a disturbance is created. We must understand that the disturbance is a combination of two factors: the human being and the thing which inflicts pain. After the motive is created through pain, this motive results in an intention, and this, in turn, results in a struggle with opposing difficulties. After the intention has won the struggle, a state of adjustment is gained.

This lets us recognize four stages:

1. The undisturbed stage.

2. The disturbance.

3. The struggle.

4. The adjustment.

The Undisturbed Stage

No intention and consequently no action can result from an undisturbed state of affairs. There ...