Ten Things About You
....I was blog-tagged again recently but was too busy to participate. You know those blog-tag games....you have to list 10 things about yourself that people might not know. It's actually kind of fun because it makes you think about yourself from the outside in. What do people not know about you? That you have a birthmark on your toe? That you have three tattoos? That you secretly like watching the airplanes land at the airport? That you identify with Daffy Duck and sing Carmen in the shower?
In what way do these seemingly random constellation of habits, quirks and personal identifiers come together to define you? Or do they?
Make a list of ten things most people don't know about you. Post them here on the Rouge Wave if you care to - and then do the same thing for a character you're currently working on. Don't think, just do it. Ten things about your character that nobody really knows about. These things probably won't appear in your script - but they might. They might just help flesh out and make your character more three-dimensional.
If this seems like a silly exercise, remember, probably the single most important skill that sets one script apart from another is the ability to write believable characters. If you have that skill set and no other - there's a tremendous amount of potential in you as a writer.
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2 comments:
I like to sleep in silk pajamas
Monica likes to sleep with men
I smoke when I get home on Fridays
Monica smokes when she's sad
I voted for George Bush
Monica slept late on Election Day
I drink diet Coke
Monica snorts coke
I barely made it through college
Monica barely passed her GED
It would take a nuclear accident to make me move
Monica moves frequently, without hesitation
I like to walk
Monica takes taxis
I like XM radio
Monica likes commercial radio
I jump when my cell phone rings
Monica gives out her cell number
People say I'm mysterious
People say Monica's promiscuous
It's not a silly thing at all. JK Rowling knows so much stuff about her characters that never appeared in the hundreds and hundreds of pages that she's already written about them, that she plans to write an encyclopedia with these never-been-told facts (http://www.cinematical.com/2007/05/14/j-k-rowling-talks-possible-eighth-harry-potter-book/). The more you know about them the realer your characters are.
And I think Geena's list above is fantastic.
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