In my previous article on the subject I talked about focus and structure, two important factors to consider before starting the actual writing.
As I just started with a new project I got reminded how equally important it is to know the characters involved in the story.
Now, this may sound worn and cliché to write down a characters background, eye color and favorite food and so on, but this is not homework to show your teacher; this is something you do for your own sake, to write better.
If you just scrabble down something without paying any interest in the result, do it anyway.
Personally I scrabble until I find a question I cannot answer. That is when it becomes interesting. This is where I find my character’s hidden assets or flaws. This is where I find my answers to certain behaviors.
The better I know my characters the better I write every scene in the script.
There are different ways get to know a character and no one is more right that the other. Every writer must find his/hers own ways.
I have tried to use a paper filled with adjectives where I circled words that fitted and crossed out all that was off the map. It could be a start to find questions to answer. But it is limited to the adjectives used.
Another way is to fill out a form with basic questions, but the risk is that it stays at that.
One way I would find interesting to try, is to be interviewed like I was the character. Then the follow-up questions come more natural and I gain input from someone else.
How do you know if your character is complete?
Well, I would say that the moment you don’t know how to solve a situation, the answer is probably found within the part of the character you don’t know yet.
See also:
How to start writing a movie script
How to name the characters
Photo by Engelbert Reineke, 1969
Used under Creative Commons Attribution ShareAlike 3.0 Germany License
Image edited by the writer
2 comments:
This post is a puzzle to me.
I start writing and the character is found fully formed. I think about the characters and they live in my mind.
If I write a background first my script never works.
I guess we all have our different approaches.
When I write a scene I must know my character very well to get the dialog and the situation work.
But when my characters come to me they show me little more than an ordinary CV and an appearance, like they applied for a job.
If you know your characters right away, it is just to say thank you very much and go right ahead.
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