This month is Power of Love month. Most of the website’s content is dedicated to those who are caregivers and helpmates. These characters believe their devotion earns them the right to constant affections. These Characters will do anything for love, be it for selfless or selfish reasons. Power of Love Characters can be mentors and, romantic or they can be stalkers and clingy, needy nightmares!

We will celebrate the month in which Valentine’s Day falls by examining these characters. I’ll be looking at some of these examples from TV, Film and elsewhere throughout the course of February.

White God

I have absolutely no idea how the Hungarian filmmakers behind White God pulled it off- the film features 200 trained stray dogs from the streets of Budapest. Imagine Planet of the Apes crossed with Homeward Bound – I cannot recommend this movie enough. In amongst this spectacle lies a classic Power of Love story.

It tells the tale of Lili (Zsofia Psotta), a young girl whose only friend is her dog Hagen. When she is forced to stay with her estranged father Daniel (Sandor Zsoter), whose apartment building does not allow pets, her father has no choice but to abandon her dog on the streets.

Lili, in her youthful innocence, believes that loves conquers all and that she can find Hagen again. Both Hagen and Lili go through hell in their attempts to be reunited. Neglected Hagen becomes a violent, vengeful canine who seeks revenge on those who have abused him along his quest, and leads an uprising of Dogs upon the city of Budapest.

Throughout the film, Lili believes in love. She believes she can win over her father, and change Hagen’s ways. Power of Love Characters have this incredible conviction which make them excellent parents, mentors and caregivers. Lili’s faith demonstrates Power of Love at its best. Hers is a selfless love, and unlike Hagen she maintains this love of another without fail right to the film’s incredible finale.

For more examples of Power of Love characters, check out my eBook about this Character Type at the ETB store.

Today we had our first advisors’ meeting.  The scripts selected for the workshop are submitted from a variety of international writers.  Austria, Germany, Croatia, Denmark, Canada, Hungary and Norway are all represented by projects here.

In discussing the work to be done on the scripts, the advisors kept going back to the basics.  No matter how accomplished the writer is, it is always necessary to go back to fundaments when a script isn’t working well.  Primarily we discussed issues of want, need and price.  Here is what I mean by those terms.

The Want

In the story the character should immediately identify something he or she desires or wants. The character begins to put all of his or her effort into obtaining some very particular concrete, and often, selfish or self-centered goal.

This goal must be something real, graspable and very tangible. It is something the character can obtain or acheive physically: for example, seduce the woman, sell the stock, solve the crime, win the tournament, reveal the mystery, get the promotion etc. The Want is NOT an abstract or amorphous general desire.

The want is always an actual “thing.” It is something specific that could be obtained with a bit of concerted effort.

The Character’s Need is:

– Some deeper human longing (to be a better father, to appropriately separate from family, to love more generously, to act with integrity, to grow up and assume responsibility etc.)

– A true longing the character isn’t aware of, ignores, denies or tries to suppress

– At the heart of the character’s truest, highest most authentic self

– Something that must be embraced instead of obtaining the Want

The Need is a more abstract intangible set of internal qualities.  It is is a deeper desire for what is good, true and authentically right for the character as an individual of quality, dignity and worth.

The Price

The Price is the terrible personal cost of obtaining the Want and abandoning the Need. OR The terrible personal cost of abandoning the ego-driven goal or Want and embracing the Need.

If the character chooses the Want he or she inevitably surrenders to the fear and falls to the Dark Side. The story ends in tragedy. If the character embraces the Need, he or she finds personal completion. This may or may not be a happy ending but it is one of emotional satisfaction and wholeness.

Which price is the character willing to pay? The character must ultimately pay one price or the other. The more expensive the price is for the character the more compelling and urgent your story will be for the audience.

When a script isn’t working well, isn’t as compelling a read as it should be or has some kind of emotional disconnect in the story, the problem is usually the lack of a clear, urgent and well-developed Want, Need or Price.