I'm curious if I'm the only one that does this. I normally have a "dream" casting for certain roles whenever I write a script. As I write the script, I use those voices for the characters to help me hear the characters as real people.
My question is does anyone else do this, or is it just a me thing? It sort of helps me make sure that I finish the script. That way, mentally, I can say that these people have a truly finished story. Does anyone else have Voices in Their Heads?
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Hi Eli, I've done this in my script, Shadow Knight. Though, this is more on schizophrenia side of voices in the main character's head born out of severe trauma (also based on my own experiences). Those voices in his head serve as a sort of antagonistic character/guide that only speaks through the main character. It is in a fantasy setting set in another world where magic exists.
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I've always been jealous of writers who say they can sit in a coffee shop eavesdropping on others' conversations and use what they hear to fashion characters or, more specifically, character dialogue. I also try to avoid leaning too heavily into my friends' personalities as I don't want to jeopardize the friendship. I've thought about your method, but haven't used it, fearing that it could pigeon-hole my characters into too tight a box that would appeal only to one actor. But then again, no star has latched onto any of my projects, so perhaps my characters are too generic. Bottom line, if your method produces characters who jump off the page, go for it. Good luck.
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Eli, you're definitely not alone about "dream" casting...I'm proud to use actual performers' voices for certain roles when I'm writing scripts, too. (Tools such as https://www.scripthop.com and https://prewrite.com help me out, because they encourage me to make casting choices when I feed a script through those two programs.)
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I second this Eli McCaig, I think it allows for more personalization of the character you're writing, almost like the ideal person making the ideal decisions in your head!
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I have spent hundreds of hours standing next to the camera, directing actors. I have spent thousands of hours at the editing computer. When I want to know how my dialogue will sound, I think about my actors. So I imagine their voices in my head.
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I don’t only hear their voices but feel all their senses. Energy is light and dense. Emotion goes onto the page.
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Stephen King