Question Six

Creating a Character MapT
Using the Emotional Toolbox

By Laurie H. Hutzler

Step Six
Question Six

	Write the answer to Question Six underneath the strongest traits. Click Here to review Question Six.

	This is the character’s Dark Side

	This is the type of person the Antagonist is calling the character to become.

i A character dislikes most in others what he or she potentially dislikes most in him or herself. The seeds of destruction inside the character resonate when the character sees that bad behavior in others. This behavior, witnessed in others produces a flash of anger and intense dislike. It is a visceral response coming from deep inside the character. i The Dark Side is where the Antagonist calling the character to be. The character’s own Dark Side is often the mask of the Antagonist.

The Character's Dark Side is:

		The seeds of evil or disaster deep inside the character.

		The collection of traits that the character dislikes most in others (and would despise most in him or herself).

		How the character sinks into his or her lowest and/or worst self.

		The end result of clinging to the strongest traits and failing to make the Leap of Faith. Click Here to go to the Leap of Faith.

i When a character repeatedly falls into the traps of the Trouble Traits and tries to compensate by relying more heavily on the Strongest Traits the character cannot make the Leap of Faith. Instead, he or she goes round and round driven (and eventually consumed) by his or her fears. When a character becomes a hostage to fear he or she inevitably falls to the Dark Side. This is the second possible alternative ending to the story. Click Here to go to the other possible ending to the story.

Continuing the Mapping Process

Congratulations. You’ve logged all your answers onto the Character Map Worksheet and now have an understanding of the shape of the process. We’ll continue to look at your responses as if you were a character in a screenplay as we explore further how the Character Map works.

Are you ready to move on to the next step? If so, we’ll show you how to build a story from your Character Map information. You’ll learn how to use each part of the Character Map to build a story and test its emotional clarity

All story structure should come from character. Once you’ve completed the mapping process from beginning to end, you can take apart the diagram and re-structure it as a non-linear narrative, a feature film, a sit-com or a one-hour drama. But first things first…

Click Here for a Guide to the How the Character Map Works. This guide will show you how to you use the Character Map to create a story with real emotional truth. Are you ready to go on to the next step?

Click Here to continue the mapping process.

Distribution Agreement

Author: LAURIE H. HUTZLER
Copyright holder: © 2004, LAURIE H. HUTZLER. All Rights Reserved.

The copyright holder retains all rights to this work. This article may be freely copied and redistributed electronically, provided that the file contents (including this Agreement) are not altered in any way and that it is distributed at no cost to the recipient. In addition, all copies must contain the following information
(All links must actively be live).

Author’s website:
www.EmotionalToolbox.com

Author’s email:
Laurie@EmotionalToolbox.com

It will be much appreciated if you could email me the location of where this article has been used.

Laurie Hutzler’s Emotional Toolbox approach incorporates many of the same materials Laurie uses in her popular courses at the famed UCLA film school. It’s the same method Laurie uses in her own work and in all of her international consulting.

The Emotional Toolbox makes intuitive sense—it’s based on universal truths we all know and understand instinctively. Learn to use these principals consciously to make informed creative choices. The Emotional Toolbox is easy to use, and most importantly, it works.

“Emotional Toolbox” and “Get to the Heart of the Story” are trademarks of Laurie H. Hutzler. All rights reserved.

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