I had drafted a solid opening sequence to my new Western. In the buildup would be moments that would hint at the dominant traits and motivations of some of the characters, and then there would be a deadly shootout, which would also double with giving insights into how the characters operated.
With that on paper, I moved on to the next stage of the screenplay, Act One. It begins with the characters that had survived the opening sequence entering a frontier town, one that embodied the “good side” of the central conflict going on in the story.
While I was writing the introduction to the town and new characters, I really felt that the 6 essential questions I had posed to each of the characters was really paying off here. Having clearly defined their motivations, I found it easy to envision what each of them were doing entering the scene, which allowed me to jump back and forth between them, with each of them working toward something different while still being related to the story point I needed to get across during this sequence.
It felt like the story was intersecting where they were at in their lives. The main character was collecting a bounty because he wanted to fund his good times instead of settling down to a job. The group he’d been with had been counting on getting a share of the spoils, and were in greater need as their numbers had dwindled during the shootout, and some had gotten injured. The Sheriff had put out the hefty bounty on the outlaw to make the town more appealing to enterprises looking to expand out West.
Their storylines, the alliances they forged as they strove toward common goals, and the conflicts that emerged with others who had different motivations, was feeling so natural. The dialogue felt right, and in the few action lines, I felt I was able to capitalize most of the time to compliment the characters and settings.
The beginning of act one had come together nicely. The next step was to introduce the last of the central characters.