Writing Effective Polar Shift Scenes to Create Sustainable Drama

The next time you go to the movies or curl up to a warm fire to read a book take note of the effective use of "Polar Shift Scenes". Good stories do this as Robert McKee points out in his book "Story". Poor stories or stories that essentially fizz out leaving the audience wanting more may potentially violating this important writing tool.

What is Polar Shifting?

Polar shifting is essentially the reversal of a circumstance through the course of a scene. For instance, a scene begins with our Protagonist John who is upset at the death of his aunt Matilda. He sets out crying, asking 'why', and doing all the other things that mourners do when they find out someone close to us died. If the scene ends with John weeping and crying then the scene effectively loses entertainment value points. It becomes boring. Polar shifting the scene so that John ends up happy would be different. For instance, as he cries and mourns he becomes cognizant that he will inherit her fortune! The scene now becomes better adding entertaining value points. If you prefer to end the scene with John weeping then you should consider writing the scene with a beginning that starts off with John happy. Then within the course of the scene he finds out about Matilda's death and the scene shifts polarity.

Shifting scenes could focus on a number of elements. Emotion - is a popular one. Characters that begin a scene happy should end up sad and vice versa. Those who are at peace end up in fury. In addition to emotion there are 'circumstances' that can shift as well. A poor homeless woman pushing her shopping cart finds a suitcase full of $100 bills!

Polar Shifting Beyond the Basic Scene

Polar shifting is not confined to the scene. Acts and the story as a whole shift as well. In the film Rocky - the main character is a washed up thug without a hope in the world of making it as a boxing icon. By the end of the story he reverses his circumstances. If we look at the first Act, he is fighting low level opponents but by the end of the first Act he has the offer to fight the world champion.

Change is growth and provides for true drama. Without change, your story will fizzle away and you will lose your audience. Can stories be formulated on no change? The short answer is "yes" if you consider the novel or movie as a whole. Such is the case for the dramatic rise and fall of a protagonist, however getting the protagonist to grow to fame and fortune (mid story) requires change. The fall of the character in the second half is further change of the character even though the character is back to the same place where he or she started. To sustain such a story you must continue to develop the polar shift idea at the level of the scene and the act. Without it you do not have drama.