Archive for the ‘Character’ Category

How To Find Your Character’s Fatal Flaw

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Portrayals of the human experience reveal something about ourselves. When we see a reflection of our humanity on screen, we connect with the story. Witnessing imperfect characters struggle with change and transformation resonates with our own experiences of life.

We all know that nothing in nature is static and that change is essential for growth. Character traits that once were vital to our survival may no longer serve us, they have outlived their purpose and may even be detrimental to our well-being. When the old ways of doing and behaving no longer work, a transformation must occur. To create a story that reveals transformation the writer must first establish why the character needs to transform. Which survival trait has outlived its purpose? What behavior is prohibiting the protagonist from achieving his goal? This is the fatal flaw.

The Fatal Flaw helps the writer:
* Create dramatic conflict
* Design character behavior
* Develop character backstory
* Reveal character motivation
* Structure the plot to serve the character’s internal journey

HOW TO FIND THE CHARACTER’S FATAL FLAW
A character’s Fatal Flaw is the opposite value of the Internal Goal of the Theme. If the value of the Internal Goal is generosity, then the opposite value (the Fatal Flaw) is greed.

Here are four steps to help you find your character’s fatal flaw:

1. Identify the Theme

2. Identify the Opposite Value of the Theme.

3. Define the value that represents the theme. This is the Internal Goal. (This representation can take many forms. If ten different writers wrote a script revolving around the same theme each writer could easily construct ten different ways to present the theme.)

4. Determine the opposite value/representation of the Internal Goal. This is the character’s Fatal Flaw.

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EXAMPLE FROM THE SCRIPT “LETHAL WEAPON” (by Shane Black)

1. Identify the Theme = Embracing Life

2. Identify the Opposite Value of the Theme = Devaluing Life

3. Define the value that represents the theme. Internal Goal = Connecting with Other People

4. Determine the opposite value/representation of the Internal Goal. Fatal Flaw = Disconnected from other people
(Riggs, played by Mel Gibson, is lonely and isolated, and exhibits reckless and suicidal behavior – the opposite of “embracing life” and being “connected to other people”.)

YOUR TURN: Can you identify your main character’s fatal flaw? Does your protagonist’s fatal flaw represent the opposite value of your theme? Does the fatal flaw drive the hero’s internal journey?

Already completed your first draft? Looking for professional guidance to ensure a productive rewrite? I offer comprehensive script evaluation, including an analysis and diagnosis of a script’s weaknesses, detailed development notes to solve underlying problems and enhance the script’s natural strengths, and a story map to guide you effectively and efficiently through the revision process.

Creating A Strong Goal For Your Main Character

I often read screenplays in which the main character lacks a clear, understandable, and compelling goal that drives the conflict, forces transformation, and pushes the hero toward the climax – which leads to a story that wanders and an audience or reader who quickly becomes bored or confused. The main character needs to have an objective to pursue.

A STRONG GOAL….

IS DRIVEN BY CLEAR & FOCUSED MOTIVATION
The protagonist must be motivated to act to achieve a goal. This motivation can be psychological, physical, or situational, but the audience must clearly understand the motivation. If a reader wonders, “Why is he doing that?” then the character’s motivation has not been established. Frequently, the motivating factor is defined in the inciting incident, when the protagonist is at a crisis point and his entire world is about to change. Something happens that compels the hero to develop a goal and a plan to achieve it.

IS CLEARLY PRESENTED & EASY TO UNDERSTAND
The audience needs to know early in the story (some time in the First Act) what the protagonist’s goal is so they can follow him on his journey. Something may happen later in the story (often around the MidPoint) that forces him to change his goal to what he truly wants or need. For example, in The Verdict, written by David Mamet, the main character’s initial (external) goal is to win the civil case for his client, ultimately the goal shifts and becomes his (internal) need to regain his dignity.

IS COMPELLING
Something must be at stake in the story that is essential to the protagonist’s well being. The audience must be convinced that if the protagonist does not achieve his goal something will be lost (the girl, life on Earth, justice, redemption…)

REQUIRES ACTION TO ACHIEVE
The main character must have a plan and take specific actions to achieve his goal. If he or she doesn’t take action then the audience won’t believe the goal is important to the character and will lose interest. By the MidPoint (at the latest) the hero needs to be acting on the story, instead of his “world” acting on him.

BRINGS THE HERO INTO CONFLICT WITH THE ANTANGONIST
The protagonist’s goals are in direct opposition to the antagonist’s, which creates conflict. A worthy opponent strengthens the hero.

IS DIFFICULT TO ACHIEVE & FORCES THE HERO TO CHANGE
As the character acts to achieve his goal he will face increasingly difficult obstacles, conflicts, and complications that demand the character to confront and overcome his fatal flaw. In most films, the goal cannot be achieved without the hero changing or transforming in some way.

YOUR TURN: What is your main character’s initial goal and does it change later in the story? What is the motivation that compels your protagonist to develop a goal? Are the stakes high enough to sustain the goal throughout the story? What actions does the hero take to achieve the goal? What fatal flaw prevents him from reaching his goal and how is he forced to confront and overcome that obstacle?

Already completed your first draft? Looking for professional guidance to ensure a productive rewrite? I offer comprehensive script evaluation, including an analysis and diagnosis of a script’s weaknesses, detailed development notes to solve underlying problems and enhance the script’s natural strengths, and a story map to guide you effectively and efficiently through the revision process. Want to learn how to write your first script or adapt a book into a screenplay? I’m committed to helping you achieve your writing goals. My online writing classes provide a focused structure and assignments that produce tangible results.

Understanding What Motivates Your Characters’ Actions

In real life, people act with a reason. And screenplay characters need to do the same. Every character action requires motivation and intention. To create a logical story with strong, identifiable, and understandable characters, a writer needs to be aware of what drives his or her characters’ actions, and create behavior that is consistent with the characters he/she has developed.

So, what motivates your characters to do, say, react, and think as they do?

1. Previous Incidents or Backstory
Past events can influence a character’s actions. In Aliens, the character of Ripley distrusts the “synthetic person”, Bishop, because she previously had a bad experience with a robot (a really bad experience). Ripley’s driven to protect the young child Newt, because she lost the opportunity to mother her own child. How do past incidents or backstory influence your character’s behavior and choices?

2. The Unconscious Dark Side
No one is “all good” or always does the “right thing”. The unconscious dark side of a character can drive him to act in ways that go against his conscious self, whether it be as small as a little white-lie to avoid hurting a loved one’s feelings or as significant as bilking clients out of millions of dollars. What makes the police officer, devoted to justice and helping the vulnerable, take a bribe or look the other way at corruption within his department? The law-abiding, good, decent, and loving father in the film In The Bedroom is driven to kill his son’s murderer in an attempt to alleviate his wife’s suffering. What would make your character lie, cheat, steal, or even kill?

3. How A Character Gains and Processes Information
People experience life differently. Some gain information through direct experience, while some derive information through others’ experiences (note that in films your main characters will most often experience life directly). Some people process information emotionally and base their decisions on feelings, while others process information intellectually and base their decisions on principles and facts. How does your character gain and process information and how does that affect his actions?

4. Personality Disorders or Quirks
Woody Allen’s characters often suffer from neuroses that motivate their behaviors and attitudes. In Lethal Weapon, Martin Riggs’s depression influences his actions – including his willingness to take chances and his flirtations with suicide – and causes conflict with other characters, such as his partner, Murtaugh, who questions Riggs’s sanity (Riggs’s depression is a personality disorder triggered by a past event – his wife’s death). What personality disorders or quirks would explain your characters’ behaviors and choices?

Knowing what drives and motivates your characters’ actions will help you create fully developed, plausible characters, and a solid, logical storyline.

YOUR TURN: What techniques do you use to develop and support your characters’ behaviors and actions?

Already completed your first draft? Looking for professional guidance to ensure a productive rewrite? I offer comprehensive script evaluation, including an analysis and diagnosis of a script’s weaknesses, detailed development notes to solve underlying problems and enhance the script’s natural strengths, and a story map to guide you effectively and efficiently through the revision process. Want to learn how to write your first script or adapt a book into a screenplay? I’m committed to helping you achieve your writing goals. My online writing classes provide a focused structure and assignments that produce tangible results.

3 Steps To Creating Supporting Characters

Supporting characters “support” the story, plot, theme, and most importantly, the protagonist – either with achieving his/her goal or obstructing the hero along his path.

Here are three steps to help you create effective supporting characters:

1. Clarify Function
You can determine which supporting characters are needed and create ways they will serve the narrative through-line (the things they will “do” in the story) once you have a clear understanding of their function and purpose. The supporting character’s function may be to:

Move the Story Forward
In The Sixth Sense, Dr. Malcolm Crowe (Bruce Willis) needs a dead-people-seeing kid (Cole, played by Haley Joel Osment) to move him toward discovery and redemption. Marty McFly (Michael J. Fox) needs supporting character Dr. Emmett Brown (Christopher Lloyd) to help him get Back To The Future. Each of the supporting characters in Jerry McGuire (from Rod Tidwell and Ray Boyd to Avery Bishop and Bob Sugar) serve to teach the protagonist life-altering lessons.

Define the Protagonist
In Liar, Liar, the supporting character Max (Justin Cooper) helps define Jim Carrey’s character (attorney Fletcher Reede) as a self-absorbed, dishonest man, and a negligent parent – and the ongoing interaction between the two characters helps reveal the hero’s subsequent transformation.

Convey Theme
The character of Newt in Aliens is used effectively to expand upon the theme of ‘motherhood’ deftly woven throughout the story.

2. Create Contrasts
Contrasting the main character’s and supporting characters’ feelings, attitudes, lifestyle, opinions, and choices helps create conflict and complications, adds texture, and allows alternate points of view to be explored. In Star Wars, supporting character Han Solo – a daring, reckless, world-weary, “I don’t care about anyone but me” smuggler, contrasts sharply with protagonist, Luke Skywalker – a straight-arrow, clean-cut, idealistic but inexperienced farm boy.

3. Add Details
It’s the small, well-defined details that help create realistic and memorable supporting characters, from the calm, in control, matter-of-fact demeanor of Winston “The Wolf” Wolfe (Harvey Keital) in Pulp Fiction to the sarcastic, complaining, and bungling but deadly nature of Carl Showalter (Steve Buscemi) in Fargo.

YOUR TURN: What techniques do you use to create effective supporting characters?

Three Types of Character Arcs

The character arc is the degree of emotional transformation the protagonist undergoes as a result of the events, conflicts, problems, and crises he is forced to face as the story progresses. The hero’s value system, opinions, feelings, and overall worldview may shift based on the character arc. Some main characters may change significantly, while others barely at all.

1. The Clearly Defined Character Transformation
These protagonists react to the external elements. The conflicts, crises or problems force the hero to change and adapt to new circumstances and responsibilities. When the last scene fades, the audience has a clear understanding of how the protagonist has transformed and can usually predict what his life will be like after Fade Out. The majority of produced screenplays present a hero with a clearly defined character arc.  Bruce Almighty, Jerry Maguire, and Juno are examples of films that employ this type of character transformation.

2. The Work-in-Progress Character Transformation
These protagonists act independently of the external elements. Regardless of what the specific conflicts, crises, and problems are, the hero is forever evolving. Whatever scenario the screenwriter chooses to “drop” the hero into does not matter, this character remains in constant flux – with each step he is forced to reconcile newly revealed facets of his personality or confront ongoing inner demons. Often, the viewer is unable to predict what action the hero will take. At the end of the film, the audience may be left guessing what the future holds for the hero. These protagonists are often the most compelling, engaging, and memorable. Bill Munny in Unforgiven and Lt. John Dunbar in Dances with Wolves represent the work-in-progress character arc.

3. The Minimal or Nonexistent Character Transformation
These protagonists are not affected by the external elements. The hero can withstand whatever crisis, conflict, or problem is thrown at him. His worldview is not phased by the external elements. At the end of the film he is basically the same guy he was at the beginning. Many action-adventure films embrace the minimal or nonexistent character arc. Indiana Jones, James Bond, and John McClane in Die Hard are examples of this type of protagonist, which easily allow for sequels.

To develop your protagonist’s character arc effectively it is important to have a clear vision of:

* Where your hero is emotionally when the story begins

* What the protagonist wants most at the start of the story

* If the hero’s goal will remain consistent throughout the story or if it will change

* If the hero will achieve his goal – will it be more, less, nothing, or something else

* How much, or how little, your character will evolve from his experience

* What plot points can best be used to show the progression (or retraction) of the hero’s transformation

6 Tips To Create A Key Relationship For Your Protagonist

Every protagonist needs a meaningful relationship the audience can relate to, one in which he affects another and is affected. Movie-goers live vicariously through the characters on screen – finding elements in the character’s life that resonate.

The hero’s pursuit of his goal must have an affect on another character, or it has no purpose and won’t affect the audience. Relationships add depth to the story, create stakes, conflict and consequences, and help us care about the hero. The power of a story is felt through the emotional reactions and connections of the characters.

Connections can take various forms:
- Ripley and Newt in Aliens
- Harry and Sally in When Harry Met Sally
- Ratzo Rizzo and Joe Buck in Midnight Cowboy
- Andy and Red in The Shawshank Redemption
- Riggs and Murtaugh in Lethal Weapon

An essential element to keep the reader engaged and rooting for the characters is to demonstrate that the relationship is meaningful to the hero. To achieve this, the central conflict should affect the relationship. The obstacles the protagonist faces must challenge and test the relationship.

If you are struggling with creating and developing a key relationship for the main character, follow these steps:
1. Review your script and make a list of the characters your protagonist has contact with
2. Determine how much each character affects the plot
3. Determine what each character has to offer the protagonist that adds value to the story
4. Now select one character that has the possibility of creating the highest stakes through his/her connection with the protagonist.
5. Define the relationship between that character and the hero
6. Expand that character’s story, intertwining it with the main character’s, and ensure the conflict from the dramatic premise eventually tests or endangers the relationship.

YOUR TURN: Do you have suggestions for crafting the key relationship of a script?

Creating The Hero And The Villain

The last post posed the question “Does understanding character archetypes help you write a better screenplay?” Understanding what compels a reader or audience to follow your protagonist on his journey and to root for the antagonist’s defeat does, without a doubt, help you write a better story; one with unforgettable and enduring characters.

Viewers are drawn to the antagonist’s journey when they feel a connection to the character and catch a glimpse of themselves reflected in the hero. Villains enthrall audiences and provide a counterpoint to the hero’s character, clarify the significance of the hero’s journey, and act as a catalyst or vehicle for the hero’s transformation.

UNDERSTANDING MOTIVATION

THE HERO’S MOTIVATION
The protagonist is incomplete – he sets out on his journey because he must fill the void he feels. When a hero begins his journey, he is missing something significant. By the end of the story, he is complete.

In Gladiator, Maximus is incomplete without his family and begins the story with a desire to journey home. In Aliens, Ripley is incomplete if she does not act on her maternal instincts – she begins the story learning of the death of her daughter.

THE VILLAIN’S MOTIVATION
Villains may feel superior and desire the accolades the hero receives, but what they crave most is acceptance. They are complex emotional characters, as strong as, or stronger than the heroes they oppose. They believe their actions should be praised. Villains are the heroes of their own movies.

In The Godfather trilogy, Michael Corleone’s goal is to legitimize the family business. In Wall Street, Gordon Gekko comes from a poor background and was forced to attend city college; he contributes $1 million dollars to obtain a seat on the board of a non-profit organization – not because he’s a generous, civic-minded guy – but because he wants to be accepted and legitimized by the upper echelon of society.

CREATING THE HERO
The hero requires a clear goal, obstacles and stakes. In Raiders of the Lost Ark, Indiana Jones’ goal is to find the Ark of the Covenant, his obstacle are the Nazi’s, what’s at risk is his life and those of his associates. In Aliens, Ellen Ripley’s goal is to kill the Alien and save herself and Newt, her obstacles are the Alien and the corporate guy Burke, and what’s at risk is her life and Newt’s life.

GOAL + OBSTACLE + RISK

Elements Of A Compelling Hero
* He sacrifices himself in order to feel complete
* He has a clear goal and is determined to achieve it
* He overcomes obstacles that make him stronger and allow him to achieve his goal.
* He risks “all” for the common good

CREATING THE VILLAIN
When constructing the villain, consider his internal and external motivations. In Silent of the Lambs, Hannibal Lector’s external motivation is to be free of prison and to help Clarice, his internal motivation is to be understood and accepted as a brilliant man. In Die Hard, Hans Gruber’s external motivation is to acquire $640 million worth of bearer bonds, his internal motivation is to be respected and accepted as a criminal mastermind.

EXTERNAL MOTIVATION + INTERNAL MOTIVATION

Elements Of A Captivating Villain
* He has a clear goal, which he attempts to achieve without regard to the well being of other characters or the morals of society
* He longs for legitimacy
* He is multi-faceted
* His evilness is identifiable

(Note: sometimes the antagonist is not a separate character but the shadow side of the hero. This post focuses on constructing the antagonist as a villain.)

Check out AFI’s 100 Years…100 Heroes and Villains for a list of memorable good guys: Indiana Jones, Ellen Ripley, Norma Rae, Harry Callahan, Clarice Starling, Erin Brockovich and Karen Silkwood… and the worst of the bad guys: Hannibal Lector, Norman Bates, Nurse Racthed, Michael Corleone, Gordon Gekko, Hans Gruber, and Verbal Kint.

Open Thread: Does Understanding Archetypes Help You Write A Better Screenplay?

An archetype is a prototype or model from which something is based. In screenwriting, archetype refers to the role a character plays in the story and describes the character’s function (note that characters have the potential to serve more than one function, depending on the needs of the story).

Many screenwriters refer to archetypes when creating their characters and structuring their stories. Personally, I have never considered archetypes when writing a first draft.  However, during the rewriting process when I analyze each character’s role and purpose, I usually discover they each fit into one or more archetypes.

So, my question to you, fellow writers, is: Do you use archetypes as a tool for writing your screenplay? If so, how and why has it benefited your script?

COMMON ARCHETYPES IN SCREENPLAYS:

THE HERO – function is to serve and sacrifice
Primary purpose is to answer the challenge, complete the quest and restore order.  He is driven by universal needs.

MENTOR – function is to guide
Provides motivation, insights and training to guide the Hero on his journey.  Heroes of detective stories, film noirs, thrillers and westerns are often guided by an inner-mentor.

THRESHOLD GUARDIAN – function is to test
Presents obstacles the Hero must overcome to prove his commitment to the quest.

HERALD – function is to warn and challenge
Signify change, present the challenge and announce the call to action.

SHAPESHIFTER – function is to question and deceive
Misleads the Hero, hides his intentions and loyalties, causes the Hero to doubt.

SHADOW – function is to destroy
Usually represents the enemy, villain or antagonist.  It can also be the Hero’s inner demons and fears.

ALLY – function is to assist
The Hero’s friend or sidekick – often serves as a device for comic relief and someone for the Hero to talk to.

TRICKSTER – function is to disrupt
Mischievous and rebellious, attempts to force a change, uses laughter to break tension.

ARCHETYPES IN THE FILM DIE HARD:

HERO – John McClane

MENTOR – Frequent Flyer Passenger

THRESHOLD GUARDIAN – Takagi

HERALD – Hans Gruber, Al Powell

SHAPESHIFTER – Ellis, Richard Thornberg, Hans Gruber

SHADOW – Hans Gruber

ALLY – Al Powell, Argyle

TRICKSTER – John McClane

8 Techniques for Revealing Character

No plot or screenplay structure will ever make a reader laugh or cry.  It’s the characters that inhabit your script that keep an audience engaged in the story: who they are, what they experience and how they change.  As a writer, you must SHOW who your characters are by constructing scenes that reveal your characters personality on the page and that create an emotional response for the reader / viewer.

For instance, with the character Erin Brockovich, screenwriter Susannah Grant reveals the character’s desperation, as well as her sense of responsibility to her children, and her ambitious / go-getter nature though a series of scenes that show Erin struggling to provide for her family and interviewing for jobs that require experience well above her skill-level; culminating in a scene where she demands a job at Ed Masry’s law firm (and gets it!)  The reader takes that journey right alongside the character – they feel her desperation, they worry about her children, they empathize with her efforts, and they are relieved when she finally succeeds.

Here’s a trick I use to help with the process:
Draw two columns on a sheet of paper (use separate sheets of paper for each character).  Label one column: “What I know about my character that is important to the story”.  Label the other column:  “How I will reveal it in a scene”.

HOW TO REVEAL CHARACTER:

1. THROUGH ACTIONS AND DECISIONS
Actions provide insight into a character’s mind – without the character having to tell us how he feels or what he thinks.  How a character acts or reacts or what decision he makes when faced with a dilemma reveals much about character.  When threatened by the villain does your protagonist go to the cops, run and hide, or stand and fight?

2. CREATE OPPOSITES
Surround a character with opposites.  You can contrast him against other characters (Martin Riggs and Sergeant Murtaugh in Lethal Weapon), against his environment (Truman Capote trying to “survive” in Kansas while researching his book in Capote), or even against himself (In The Godfather, Michael Coreone’s inner struggle to be ‘good’ is revealed by contrasting it against his ultimate decision to kill his father’s would-be assassins.)

3. USE HABITS, MANNERISMS AND QUIRKS
Billy the Kid’s gregarious laugh in Young Guns, Rusty in Ocean’s Eleven eating junk food in almost every scene, Verbal’s stutter in The Usual Suspects, Caroline Burnham’s incessant gardening in American Beauty, and Melvin Udall’s obsessive-compulsive behavior in As Good As It Gets.

4. HOW HE / SHE LIVES
Where he lives (a mansion on the hill, a tenement building, or stylish urban apartment), how he dresses (Armani suit, surfer shorts, or Dockers), how he conducts his day (drinks day-old coffee from the percolator, stops at Starbucks, has his espresso delivered on a tray by his personal chef.)

5. HOW OTHER CHARACTERS FEEL OR INTERACT
Who he associates with (socialites, criminals, teenagers), what type of relationships he has (familial, casual, intimate).  Do other characters fear him, respect him, envy him, love or hate him?

6. NARRATIVE DESCRIPTION
A few short, meaningful sentences introducing a character can effectively evoke a picture in the reader’s mind.  From Erin Brockovich:  “How to describe her?  A beauty queen would come to mind – which, in fact, she was.  Tall in a mini skirt, legs crossed, tight top, beautiful – but clearly from a social class and geographic orientation whose standards for displaying beauty are not based on subtlety.”

7. WHAT OTHER CHARACTERS SAY
In The Usual Suspects, what Verbal has to say about Keyser Soze to Agent Kujan helps reveal the character’s powerful and deadly nature.  In Silence of the Lambs, both Crawford’s and Dr Chilton’s warnings to Clarice about Hannibal Lector reveal his brilliant mind and terrifying personality.

8. DIALOGUE
Your character’s individual ‘voice’ can convey education, upbringing, social standing, temperament and much more.  Rocky’s, Hannibal Lector’s, and Forrest Gump’s distinct voices effectively reveal character.

How To Create Your Main Character’s Backstory

Your character’s backstory is comprised of those incidents that define his current situation, thoughts, feelings, and motives and occurred before the first page of the script.

Backstory is not necessarily told in the pages of the screenplay.  A good writer will embed aspects of the backstory throughout the script and reveal them as the story progresses, never having to inform the reader of the character’s backstory through heavy-handed exposition.

All we need to know about the backstory of the character Frank Morris (played by Clint Eastwood) in the film Escape From Alcatraz is summed up in this brief exchange of dialogue:

CHARLEY BUTTS
What kind of childhood did you have?

FRANK MORRIS
Short.

Though readers and moviegoers may never know the complete details of your character’s backstory, you, as the writer, must know them intimately to effectively create the world of your character, the choices he will make, and the journey he will take.

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT YOUR CHARACTER’S BACKSTORY:

1. Physiology – age, sex, appearance

2. Sociology – class, occupation, education, home life, religion, political affiliation

3. Psychology – sex life, moral standards, goals, personality

To create your protagonist’s backstory you need to write a thorough, detailed biography of your character and define the major incidents from his past that affect whom, and where, he is today.

Your character’s biography traces his life from birth to the time the story begins and may include:

* Name
* Birthplace
* Age at the time of the beginning of the story
* What his parents do for a living
* What his relationship is with his parents
* His relationship with his siblings (competitive? supportive?)
* How long he has been married and where he met his spouse
* What his early life and school years were like (was he an honor student, active in clubs?)
* Characteristics – athletic, mischievous, serious, extrovert, introvert….
* College or other major experiences
* His occupation and the evolution of his professional life
* His relationship with his boss and co-workers
* His dreams and goals – and whether they were achieved
* Any travel experiences
* Political and religious views
* Sexual attitudes and ideas
* His hobbies, interests, and desires
* Idiosyncrasies
* His physical description
* General description of his living situation
* Personal motivations
* His dominant, core trait
* His fatal flaw
* Any life changing or defining events

After creating your main character’s biography and backstory, write a “Day in the Life of…”.  Have a full understanding of your character before sending him out into the world (or onto the script page).

STAY-TUNED: In my next post I will discuss Story vs. Plot.