Passing The Buck.
Harry Truman's motto was "The buck stops here." More likely than not that buck passed through the hands of several people, transaction after transaction, before it landed squarely on the President's desk. Transactions often involve negotiations, and negotiation is a major building block in the foundation of dramatic writing. The things your characters want and the lengths they will go to get them not only says a lot about the people they are, but also brings your characters into conflict, and thus a scene is born.
To put it in algebraic terms: A + X + B = Conflict. Character A has Object X. Character B wants X. What will B do to get it? Will A give it to him? What will B do if A doesn't? What does A want in exchange for X and is B willing to give it to him?
Conflict is resolved by negotiation. A & B negotiate and come to a resolution. There are four possible resolutions to the above example: 1) A & B both get what they want 2) neither A nor B get what they want 3) Only A gets what he wants, or 4) only B gets what he wants. Conflict and negotiation is the two-cylinder engine that drives your scene forward, chugging, toward its ultimate resolution.
EXERCISE:
1. Choose an object and follow it through three transactions.
2. Each transaction must have a conflict that is resolved through negotiation.
3. Each negotiation must be resolved with the object being exchanged.
CHALLENGE: For an added twist try linking each of the three transactions into one story line (other than just the object passing from A to B to C to D).
