By Tom Vaughan in Character — Mar 11, 2025

The relationships go the way of the story.

Stories do not illustrate a protagonist's journey solely through their actions but also through the effects those actions have on others in their lives.

Happier times for the Von Erich family.

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This week's email is a natural extension of last week's dive into the structure of the scene where I used the example from A COMPLETE UNKNOWN. That email broke down the final moments of Bob Dylan's primary romantic relationship.

In the film, Dylan's journey is illustrated, not just by his own actions, but the effects those actions have on those in his life.

This included his lovers, his friends, his fellow artists and even his heroes.

This is not unique. It is the norm of just about every story and is a deep-rooted need from the audience that we must take into account.

Audiences respond to relationships.

Perhaps more than anything else.

This is not surprising. Relationships are, of course, what we respond to most in our own lives. There is a reason that relationships, and the gratitude and regret that comes with them, are a common theme amongst those in hospice.

Stories explore our emotional reaction to the human experience, so, naturally, relationships (and sometimes even the lack of them) would take center stage.

Relationships raise the stakes.

There are few better ways to illustrate a character's emotional journey than how their actions affect others.

Why? Because the stakes are immediately higher and more emotional.

We can see this in our tropes. The bad parent who misses their child's school play, the husband who neglects their wife, or the pain of a friend's betrayal.

Triumph doesn't feel as successful unless it's shared with a loved one. And success that comes at the cost of a relationship feels like a failure.

You must account for the relationships.

Because there is so much to think about, early on in our writing, we tend to neglect just how meaningful relationships are to the emotional impact of the story.

We can spend so much time trying to flesh out a supporting character to make them more interesting, we forget that —

The most crucial role a supporting character has is their influence on the protagonist's journey.

Do they make them a better person? Do they make them worse? How so?

Do they push them? Resist them? Guide them or divert them to their final outcome?

This is why the supporting character is there.

Only when we know this role in the story, can we effectively pay it off.

Too often we establish a relationship and forget to see the change.

Story is transformation. And if someone changes, so do their relationships. Do not forget to show this.

The audience wants to see it. We need to see it.

A character's change that has no effect on the people around doesn't feel like change at all.

Relationships go the way of the story.

Remember, your story doesn't have a character change. Your story IS character change. As this story goes, so do the relationships.

If a character ends up healthier on the other side, so should every single one of their relationships.

Of course, what we mean by healthier, depends on the relationship.

If a person returns to their spouse, determined to be in a more loving, and supportive marriage, we will see that as a healthier relationship.

But for a person in a toxic relationship, the healthier choice would be to have no relationship at all. The strength to walk away is where we would see the growth.

In tragedies, the relationships will worsen.

In fact, it is usually how we measure the tragedy. In THE GODFATHER, Michael wins. He takes over his father's criminal empire, rids the world of his enemies, and makes the family stronger than it's ever been.

But closing the door on his wife Kay at the end makes it clear that the soul she fell in love with at the beginning of the movie is long gone.

THE IRON CLAW and the battling relationships.

It took a year longer than it should have, but I finally saw THE IRON CLAW. It is a tough film to watch, full of pain and heartbreak.

There is a sign of hope at the end, but at the cost of terrible tragedy. I know it sounds awful, but it's a great film!

The protagonist is Kevin Von Erich played by Zac Efron, with his father, played by the criminally underutilized Holt McCallany, as the antagonist.

You can structure Kevin's entire emotional journey through his two primary relationships, his dad and his wife, played by Lily James.

The tighter his father's hold on Kevin, the worse Kevin is. He even distances himself from his wife, the only healthy relationship in his life!

His father is darkness, his wife and his kids are the light. It takes horrible tragedy for Kevin to realize this. He is finally able to liberate himself from his father, and become the husband and dad his father never could.

The entire journey illustrated through those relationships.

Know the most important relationship in your story.

In my screenplay Most Wanted, the two most important relationships in the movie are between Jay and his wife and Jay and his son.

They don't have the most screen time with him, but that's not as important as where our emotional investment is.

I write and teach in 8 sequences. There are a lot of ways to tackle this beast, but I find eight sequences the easiest and most liberating approach.

Because I structured out Jay's relationship with his family to reflect where he was in his personal journey, there is a scene with them in seven of the eight sequences.

In the one sequence where they're absent, they were the primary driving force.

Jay's primary want in the story is to hunt down and capture his high school bully. That is what drives the narrative.

But Jay's emotional and mental health is reflected back at him by the emotional and mental health of his and his wife's relationship.

When Jay was unhappy, the relationship reflected discontent.
When he was agitated, so was the relationship.
When he went off on his adventure, he was distant.
When he was invigorated by unhealthy things, he tried to invigorate his marriage in unhealthy ways.
When he was peak irrational, his wife had enough.
When he hit bottom, so did the relationship.
When he finally realized what was important to him, his marriage improved.

I am not saying you need to do it this way. This was a story that wanted this structure, and lent itself to it.

But your character's emotional journey should not have an effect solely on them.

They're not supporting characters.

I mean, they are. Of course they are. But I made huge strides when I stopped seeing them that way. Or at least start to take into account what exactly they were "supporting."

So switch your perception here.

Instead, see them as relationships. Relationships that influence the protagonists and reflect their journey back to them.

You are not maximizing the audience's emotional experience until you do.

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