Screenwriting : Characters by Sharon Hankins

One thing you may try or at least I did is in your very first writing endeavor use all the parenthetical character elements you want. Sometimes I just did it to reiterate action scenes. Don't worry about how long or short your parentheticals are either. Describe how that character should act in all their nuances eventually with enough rewrites you can take most parentheticals out either in the action, dialogue or through both. I believe this can really make characters dynamic and unique unto themselves. This requires many rewrites but it is a method I think works. Hope this makes sense and helps ya.

write extensive backgrounds. now find verbal traits. eg stutter, slang, oft used phrases, intellect. rinse and repeat.

Sometimes, it helps to think of an actor who sort of acts like the character in your story. If I'm picturing John Lithgow in The World According to Garp, he's never going to talk like a gangster.

I find that if you write from each characters point of view it helps, it's what they say and do that gives them their individuality.

If you know each character's core traits (like one person is aggressive, insecure, impatient, and a romantic - or whatever) then for each scene brainstorm before you write the scene. What would an aggressive person say, an impatient person, a romantic etc. - then you have some possible ways of speaking for that person in that situation. I find that it's not enough to know a person's background or even to know who they are. It's easy to forget when you're writing the actual scene. But if you brainstorm ahead of time you'll get dialogue that matches each person's core traits and they won't sound like each other.

Everyone speaks differently. Try thinking about people you know -- rhythms, speech patterns, speed, volume, edgy voice , soft, sarcastic, etc. Perhaps you can build a character's voice starting with some of those traits. A sometimes think counter intuitively. The stereotype of how a type of a character usually sounds might be more interesting if they sounded complete the opposite way.

Try writing your characters using extremes - you can always scale things back if you don't feel it is working. An example: if he's tall, I try making him VERY tall; short, VERY short; timid...well, you get the idea. Each characteristic or trait drives the details of who they are and how they would behave, sound, appear, react.

Wish they would make an app that plugs in to my thoughts and prints them on the page! Meanwhile, I do use an app that types what I say -- sometimes talking it out makes it easier.

I agree with Cherie and Zachariah's comments. I usually write out backgrounds for all my characters along with the psychological, physiological, and sociological aspects. I feel that it helps me out a lot when I'm writing. Every character has a story, even the minor ones. So have fun! :)

Not sure if y'all can see this. Thank you so much for your ideas! I really appreciate it!

Hi pals, Great comments. I use a little of each with my characters. First, I definite the 3 dimensions profile for each one, and I give him a past, an education level, a family life... Then I spend some time discussing with him about his life and interests, how he sees the other characters and his own role in my story... quite like an interview; and this gradually give him more consistancy and precise traits, physical and language tics inspired by real people similar to him. Then in my first drafts, I use many parentheticals,...