Film & TV: Character, Character, Character
"Story is the essence of screenplay - indeed one of the most important recent books on screenwriting is called just that: Robert McKee's Story. But no story is stronger than its characters and most books on screenwriting are lamentably weak when it comes to developing a proper understanding of this vital area.
We know from the scripts we deal with that many screenwriters are still paying far too little attention to character, so here are our tips on getting it right.
The golden rule is: Know your character. Only once you know your protagonist intimately will you be able to bring him or her to life on screen."
-- Harry Bingham, novelist, non-fiction author & owner of The American Writer
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The main way to write really strong characters is to know them inside out - at least as well as your best friend, let's say. If you have this knowledge, you will find yourself using it. If you don't have it, you can't. So the problem of writing character is essentially a problem of knowing character. And the trick to knowing them is as follows.
The Ultimate Character Builder
Begin with a blank sheet (or screen). And begin to write down everything you know about your central character. Don't be too concerned to edit yourself at this stage. Just let rip. It helps to group your comments a bit under certain themes, but if that inhibits your flow then just write and group your notes up later. You should cover all kinds of themes, for example ...
Back Story |
Where did your character come from? What was his childhood like? Happy or sad? What were his relations like with his parents? His brothers / sisters? If his father was (say) extravagant, what impact did this have on your character? if his mother was (say) easily tearful, how did this affect him then? And what about now, in particular where his relations with women are concerned? Were there key incidents in childhood that shaped in a way relevant to your book's story? Think these through and note them down. |
Arc |
Your key character (or characters) MUST have a well-defined character arc through a novel. This is true even of all-action adventure stories, if you want them to be any good. The standard arc might be something like (1) susan has a fear of commitment, (2) she encounters a situation in which that fear is put to the test in the most (for her) dramatic and challenging way, (3) she either passes or fails the challenge. Either way, she's different at the end of the book than she was at the start. So put this arc into writing. Link it to the challenges of your story; to their back story; and to their personality. In relation to this central issue, you should aim to understand your character as well as a therapist might. It's critical you get this part right! |
Dialogue |
how does your character speak? Do they use slang? or are they formal? Staccato? Or fluent? Hesitant? Witty? Aggressive? Do they stumble and make mistakes? Do they act first and talk later, or the other way round? When does your character use silence? How does their mood express their verbal behavior? How does their speech alter when they're with lovers / friends / kids / parents / bosses / enemies? How do they lie? How do they express themselves romantically? Sexually? Ask yourself these things before you start writing dialogue. If you've already written some dialogue, then look back at it after you've done this exercise. Does your character speak in a samey, undifferentiated way? If so, then put it right! |
Personality |
It's usually a good idea to come to this issue a bit later than other things, as your ideas will have more depth and subtlety when some of the structure is already in place. But start to answer as many questions as you can think of. For instance: Does your character laugh easily? Are they sociable? What impression would they make on a casual observer? What about if they spent an hour talking to someone in a bar? Do they get angry easily? Cry easily? Are they self-conscious? What political party would they vote for and why? Are they conflict avoiders or conflict seekers? Do they drink, smoke, take drugs, drink too much coffee, eat junk food? If so why? What is it about them that takes them to these places? What are their feelings about sex? Are they screwed up in any way? Are they sensitive or selfish lovers? How involved do they get emotionally? What are they afraid of? What is their idea of ultimate happiness? What is their ultimate life dream? |
Relationships |
Your central character will almost certainly have a key romantic / sexual relationship in your book. Good. But make sure this relationship is deeply sewn into your study of character arc and action. For example, perhaps your central character seeks to avoid a certain painful truth, and this is the challenge around which your story revolves. In that case, that character's key relationship should perhaps be with a person who challenges him to face up to that truth - or perhaps colludes with him to avoid it. If you handle it like that, then the romantic element in your novel will be as core as everything else. It won't just be thrown in for the sake of it. But don't stop there. Elaborate. Why has your character chosen this particular partner? Is he / she like the partners your character normally goes for? Try and explore their intimate dialogue? Do they go in for cutie baby-talk? Or hard-edged flippancy? or reflectiveness? What are their pet names for each other? Do they encourage maturity in the other or bring out the less mature side? What are their disagreements about? Do they row, and if so how? How do they mend rows? What does he love most about her? What does she love most about him? What do they most dislike? What is your predicted future for the relationship beyond the end of the novel? If you can get these sort of questions right, you will start to develop real chemistry between your lovers. |
Other stuff |
Don't just write about all the important things. Write about the unimportant things too. What food does your character like? What clothes do they choose? How do they wear them (ie: sloppily, stylishly, fussily, self-consciously, etc)? What makes them laugh? What does their laugh sound like? If your character were an animal, what sort of animal would they be? What films do they like? What books? Are they creative? Do they fart? Can they speak French? Are they good with money? Are they absent-minded? Do they like oranges? Have they ever used a gun? What is their favorite pub game? How do they fidget? Describe their hands. And so on and so on. Many of these questions will have no direct relevance to your film. But the more questions you ask and answer, the better you will know your character |
You should aim to cover at least five pages with this exercise. Don't do it all on one day, as you won't get everything you need in a single go. Give yourself at least 3-4 days for this. Also: spend time writing a list of questions before you answer any of them. If you answer every question as you ask it, you'll tend only to ask yourself the easy stuff. make it hard for yourself. Find out things you don't already know.
Repeat the exercise for your other main characters. Keep your notes available as you start to work on other things, so you can enrich your notes as you go.
The less central a character is to your screenplay, the less you need to know him/her. But don't skimp. If in doubt, do more.
And the exercise will work. You will end up with more knowledge than you ever had before, and this knowledge will transmit itself into your writing. Your characters will be more life-like, more rounded. Your script has just got better!
