Hello gang, this is my first lounge post. Yes, I mainly advertise as a post professional, but I've also written eight screenplays and other works. I don't advertise my writing because I'm struggling with a serious problem. Characters. Mine suck, at least so I'm told. Of course I think they're great, but I'm continuously told I don't understand my characters and don't write likable leads. And I won't continue until I've got this aspect of my writing together. What are your observations with creating believable and likable people, active leads and villains who bring the stakes? How do you create parts good actors want to play and audiences believe in? Keeping in short and to the point, MAC
Screenwriting : Characters! Your approach? Your techniques? by MA Caiti
Characters! Your approach? Your techniques?
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Hi MAC, Just a question about your characters. When you write them, do you imagine their whole life, what they went through, where did they grow up, their passions, their fears, etc.?
Thee are heaps of good books about how to create interesting characters. Do heaps of reading on the topic.
Tui, I'm sure. Which ones do you use and like? Thanks!
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I do it as a hobby, but I write short stories from time to time in the fantasy genre. That being said the character's activities may not be easily understood. What makes my character for me is to almost give them a life as if they were real and the world I made up is just an alternate reality. You have to make them have a solid personality, add quirks and character flaws. Sometimes you just need to borrow some traits from the people around you.
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The best way to make your protagonist more sympathetic is to give him an internal problem that is having a strong negative effect on his daily life. Melvin Udall in "As Good As It Gets" is a complete jerk, but we feel sympathy for him because we know he has a compulsive disorder. (BTW, it often helps to give your antagonist the same internal problem, but have him embrace that problem as a strength, such as the Joker character in the Batman movies.) A good way to make your hero likable is to show him passionately pursuing a goal, despite tremendous odds. Audiences gravitate toward a character who makes a huge effort to accomplishing something.
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I'm a freelance editor, and wrote an article about unsympathetic protagonists after some of my clients had similar difficulties. The article came out in WD's 2010 Novel & Short Story Writer's Market, and includes 9 techniques. The end of the article features how the techniques are used effectively in the film Pirates of the Carribean (the first one).
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Okay here are a couple of must-have books on this."Characters and Viewpoint" by Orson Scott Card is one. The book called "Gotham Writers' Workshop WRITING FICTION (practical Guide from New York's Acclaimed Writing School)" which is one of the best all-round books of advice for writers I have struck. It has vital chapters on everything a writer needs to know including one excellent chapter on character - I find it an indispensable book which I return to over and over. The only thing its authors clearly don't know is how to write a good short snappy title for their book. :)
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After I write a screenplay, I comeback and write character Bio's on the leads. That way I can relate to their history and personalities. I then rewrite the screenplay to their personalities. Currently I'm rewriting a feature where the main lead is a southerner, (from South Carolina) and the dialogue has been amended to suit her upbringing and personality. Took a huge amount of research but I've nailed the funny intricacies of the location. In simple, it takes blood, Sweat and Tears to get it right.
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How often do you go out and just socialize, hang out, 'people watch'? Characters are really all around us...