Events vs. Actions

In the context of story I often speak of EVENTS and ACTIONS. In essence it’s a very simple and at the same time hugely important concept. Among many other things it can save you from the dreaded ‘passive protagonist’ syndrome.

Simply put, it’s about Action and Re-action. In the context of story however, this will make no sense whatsoever without establishing Point of View first. In other words: WHO witnesses the events and/or performs the actions?

If an action is ‘a meaningful activity performed by a character’, let’s look how we can define EVENTS in this context.

It can be:

- an incident or occurence; something that happens to the hero: e.g. The hero’s car runs out of fuel.
- an action by an other character that has an impact on the hero: e.g. The hero’s neighbour calls for help.
- dialogue by an other character directed to or heard by the hero: e.g.  “You’re fired”.
- a (sudden) memory, realisation or revelation, expressed by the hero: e.g. “Dag! He’s the same guy who conned me!”

Summarising, we can say:

“An EVENT is a meaningful occurrence that is witnessed by or revealed to the hero.”

To make the distinction between EVENTS and ACTIONS, it is essential to first establish the POV. Mostly this will (should) be the POV of the hero.

In a story that works, the number of Events and Actions will be roughly in balance. If your screenplay has an abundance of one and a lack of the other, it will suffer from:

1. an unmotivated hero (too many actions, not enough related events); or
2. a passive hero (too many events, not enough related actions)

A step outline can help you in diagnosing your story with either condition.