Writing Great Characters

The ability to write good characters is highly sought after in Hollywood. Primarily because it isn’t easy and it isn’t something that every writer can do equally well. But mark my words, writing organic, realistic, three-dimensional characters will set your script apart from every other script in the stack – even if your story idea isn’t as high octane as another script.

When convincing characters with idiosyncrasies and foibles populate your pages, readers sit up and notice. Because they are invested in your story. Nothing will set you apart faster than great character work. And nothing will sink you faster than poorly written characters. I don’t care how scary your script is, or how funny – I will never laugh nor cringe if I don’t buy it and I don’t care.

Interestingly, when I read a terrific script with well-developed characters, I never stop and think: My, that’s a well-developed character! But when something sad happens to the character – I get a lump in my throat. Or I get anxious. Or I grin because the character had a revelation or catharsis. I am right there in the character’s skin. Even an antagonist. If they are well drawn, man, I hate them. I loathe them. I turn the pages with satisfaction as the antagonist is getting their comeuppance. But when character work is thin or two-dimensional as we readers are wont to say – then I notice. I might pen a note in the margin of your script: NO WAY or sometimes GIVE ME A BREAK. You don’t want those notes.

All movies are character driven in the sense that audiences cannot care about the meteor hurtling toward earth to destroy all mankind of they don’t know or care about the main character trying to save the day. Well, how exactly do you write good characters? What’s a writer, especially a newer one to do?

Here are a few shortcuts to help rev up your imagination:

Imagine the actor of your choice playing the part. Now imagine how that particular actor moves, talks, laughs or cries. As you are writing your character, just visualize this actor. This will be helpful immediately.

Second, take some time to write a back story for your character. You may want to print out a blank questionnaire and fill it in every time you are working on a new character. When you fill in the answers to the questions, don’t let yourself think too much, just let it flow. Let the character get inside your head and answer the questions for themselves. Notice the way the questions are addressed to your character, not you:

Where were you born?
How old are you?
Do you have brothers and sisters?
Do you believe in God?
Was your family rich, poor or middle-class growing up?
What did your parents do for a living?
What cracks you up?
How do you take your coffee?
What annoys you more than anything?
What is your most embarrassing habit?
What’s your idea of a perfect day?
What’s the worst thing you ever did?
What’s your favorite book?
What is your favorite movie?
Do you listen to music? What kind?
Where would you like to go on vacation next?

So if you are writing a middle-aged woman in a suspense thriller, her answers will be very different than if you are writing a 75 year old ex cop. Answer the way your character would – let your character speak through you. So for some characters the answer to “How do you like your coffee?” might be I don’t drink coffee, idiot. Another character might answer differently: Oh thank you for asking. I gave up coffee because of my high blood pressure though. Another might say: My mom and dad don't let me drink it.

Have fun; let the answers flow; make up questions of your own if you want. Spend some time getting to know your character outside of the story. I like to think of it as taking the horses once or twice around the track to warm up. Don’t worry about the plot right now; just get a warm up going. For every major character.

Another exercise some writers like to do is to imagine that your character has been given three whole, uninterrupted minutes on national television to say anything they want. To get it all off their chest. Sit at your computer, take a deep breath and let the character talk in a stream-of-consciousness way. Don’t judge, don’t edit, and don’t worry about spelling. What would your character say?

Another helpful and fun piece of homework to do is to pay attention when you go out; eavesdrop on people in restaurants, on the bus, in line at the post office. Notice the way they make or do not make eye contact. Listen to the way voices rise and fall. Notice how much hand gestures are or are not used. Mostly, notice the fact that most people don’t talk about the subject at hand in direct terms. The thing is never the thing. A couple in a fight might argue about what to order or being late. But what are they really arguing about? What are the real emotions under the words? What is being five minutes late emblematic for? Pay attention to the way people – including you – flatter, obfuscate, change the subject or use sarcasm or jokiness while conversing. Notice how people deflect compliments. Or use double-entendre.

Come to understand what your character’s attitude is on that page, in that moment, at this point in their lives. Are they feeling threatened or jealous? Vain or insecure? Where are they coming from in other words? What do they want? What do they need? Most of us confuse what we want with what we need. Your character may not really need the perfect parking spot or the cup of coffee just so – but what do they want? Why would a character yell at a meter maid? They don’t want the ticket. But what they really don’t want is to feel adolescent and powerless. So let’s invert that and we arrive at – they want to feel powerful. They need to feel powerful. And so they lash out. Characters have deep, imbedded flaws and fears. Just like we do. And that flaw, over the course of the script, will change.

Many new writers find themselves making two mistakes; giving their character a passive flaw or assigning characteristics or habits to the character without having done any thinking about a flaw. The way people act – or act out – is merely a symptom of an inner flaw. The guy losing his cool at the meter maid may also give his wife the silent treatment. The actions your characters take are on the surface. The motivation for those actions is in their core. Slapping your character with a set of symptoms without knowing what is really going on inside will guarantee a two-dimensional character. All behavior and no inner landscape.

Many characters (and most real life humans) feel deeply insecure that they aren’t loved enough, tough enough, rich enough, smart enough or pretty enough. They act from fear. They must go out and grab what they don’t feel they have enough of – because they want validation – or they might go head-down and be a victim because they’ll never have enough self worth.

Flaws that are imminently passive and distinctly unoriginal are things like: He needs to be loved. She resents her mother. He wants to fit in. He feels pressured. She runs away from relationships. B-o-r-i-n-g. And these examples truly are culled from my experiences as a reader. These are not flaws; these are only the very beginnings of nascent ideas for flaws.

Dig deep into your characters for the unique attributes that set that character apart from anyone else. The specificity of your character’s life can mean everything when it comes to your script. Two coming of age movies come to mind: SMOKE SIGNALS and BEND IT LIKE BECKHAM. One is set on a Native American Indian reservation as a young man confronts his painful past and deadbeat father. The other is a young Indian woman living in England who is struggling with an identity crisis as her parents try to steer her away from assimilating into British culture – specifically soccer.

Look at the differences between these characters. Their worlds are completely different and therefore their circumstances. Have a look at your script; should your main character be a different gender? A different ethnicity? Older? Younger? What can you do to maximize the story through the intimate details of your character?

The thing is this – most writers think they do write good characters. I have yet to find a one who would say yes, you know, actually my characters suck. So how do you know whether your characters read like real, flawed, compelling and interesting people? Read your pages aloud. Ask a trusted friend who is not afraid to be honest with you to read a few pages and make suggestions. Most importantly be pre-emptive: Do your homework. After that, you’ll just have to see how your work is received out there in the big bad market.

When we write, we get to play god. We invent worlds and situations. We control events. But we have to remember, no matter the genre, world or setting, we are writing about – and for - human beings. Don’t write cardboard characters. Slow down. Dig deeper. Keep it real.

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