26 Responses to “Character blockage…”

1. Carlo Conda on Wednesday: 18 June 2008|2036

   You could always try to plug your character into other movies/scenes/whatever to see what they would do.
   Basically, ask yourself “What would Jesus do?”, just replace Jesus with your character.

   You could also try roleplaying as your character every now and then so long as you live with someone who won’t freak out and leave you.

2. Joshua James on Wednesday: 18 June 2008|2111

   Acting class, particularly if dialogue is an issue, acting class is extremely helpful.

   Learn how to build a character, make ‘em believiable from the ground up.

   Plus, you know what it’s like so say words someone else has written and make ‘em work.

   Acting class is a great way to get into character skin.

   The other great way is the Fibbie profiler books, John Douglas is one of the writers, Robert Ressler is the other . . . they break down behavior in criminals with their imagination . . . it’s not so different from what we have to do . . . reverse engineering action - I found the books to be extremely enlightening.

   Then again, that could just be me.

3. Justin on Thursday: 19 June 2008|0901

   Thanks, for the help guys.

   The profiler books are something I’ve never considered. I’ll definitely keep it in mind.

   Headed to the bookstore as we speak, to freeload again. wish me luck.

4. Christian Howell on Thursday: 19 June 2008|1409

   What I like to do is only do a slight “personality chart” and let the beats of the story determine the reaction.

   By that I mean, if the story is about a bank robbery, then all of the elements of a bank robbery can reveal character.

   Ex: A timid guy has to face a vicious guard dog.
   Ex: The trigger happy guy shoots the wrong person.
   Ex: The loner falls in love with a hostage.

   As UNK said, no one can really help you. We all I think ope we can give you some general direction but in the end the story is yours, the characters are yours.

   Two people can write basically the same movie(TombStone vs. Wyatt Earp) and the only similarities - in that case - are the names of the characters.

   The key is to find the best person for the story. Perhaps your protag is not the best person for the story.

   Ex: The best person for a movie about an attempted rape would be a sheltered virgin.

   Ex: The best person for a mystery is a person who doesn’t observe very well.

   Ex: The best person for a heroic role is a person who is not very heroic usually. (That could be the arc.)

   It does seem like you are studying, but that’s only half the battler. The other half is confidence is your voice. The biggest thing is really KNOWING YOUR AUDIENCE. Sure, you have to get by readers and producers, but if you can show you know your audience, then it becomes less of a risk for all involved.

   BTW, I posted my flexible structure post, so feel free to check it out.

   And
   Keep Writing as Writing is the Revealing of the Soul

5. Ryan on Thursday: 19 June 2008|2109

   His daily tasks must take hours?!?!

   Damn boy! Reading a script, watching a film or two, and the four others things you mentioned?!?!? The last one, “Force myself to write some dialogue for these characters I’ve created.” LOL I’d say FORCE YOURSELF…

   Do you do that all while walking on water???

   How many hours does this all require??? Between my family, job, and whatever shit I gotta do… I don’t spend nearly enough time as him. I gotta step it up. I might have to drop one of them… Maybe my nagging wife. Kidding. Don’t tell her I said that… Don’t wanna sleep on the couch, anymore.

6. Justin on Friday: 20 June 2008|0441

   LOL. Im off for the summer, I’m a college student. I dont think you have to take it to that extreme to make it. My philosophy is:

   if you treat it like a full time job, and you enjoy it. One day it might become your full time job. If you treat it like a hobby, it’ll remain that.

   but maybe im crazy. crazy works though, at least for me.

7. Justin on Saturday: 21 June 2008|0423

   Something intresting I decided to try, going through a screenplay today.

   It should help answer ::

   “how much is enough when it comes to character?”

   Well, there’s something simple anyone can do. Pick up your favorite screenplay. Choose your favorite character, go through it gathering all the information you can. And make a list of things you learn about that character.

   In other words, reverse engineer the biography. You wind up with quite a document when you’re done. It’s actually quite an enjoyable exercise.

8. Clive ($1,000) on Sunday: 22 June 2008|0245

   The techniques good writers use to develop characters are almost identical to the techniques used by good actors to develop performances.

   So, I always recommend writers to watch Al Pacino’s documentary “Looking for Richard”… which is the best thing I’ve seen about how actors approach character development… it’s also worth watching, just to see how Kevin Spacey burns Pacino off the screen, just by being less intense (very funny).

   But that aside… I think where people often go wrong with back story, is they write it solely as a tool to fix a plot problem… for example: they need a character to hit his girlfriend with a bar stool in scene 12, but it doesn’t make sense… so they go back and create a back story that justifies the weird behaviour.

   I can’t tell you how often I’ve run into that… you give a writer notes… and they tell you your an idiot because the character’s backstory is that they have a tumor on their adrenal gland which causes them to lash out randomly.

   Which is fine, if we’d known about that somehow!

   This is real cart before the horse stuff… the back story HAS TO control the character’s behaviour and speech patterns and not just be a justification for shoddy plotting.

   For me, the devil is in the details… I like to know what kind of shoes the character wears… because people’s footwear choices says a lot about who they are… same with underwear.

   My take, is if you can’t tell me where your female lead buys here underwear or what kind of shoes she’s wearing, without having to think about… then you don’t know your character.

   The other keys for me are education and class. If you have a young lawyer, who is building a career as a defense hot shot, she’ll have a different attitude to her colleagues if she’s from a working class family and did her degree via a scholarship… if her colleagues are all Ivy League. People change the way they are to fit in and constantly gauge their place in the pecking order… the power dynamics change as those perceptions change.

   My take is character is all about class, education, underwear and shoes…

   And before you ask…. working class, university educated at a Polytechnic, today I’m going commando and Converse Hi-tops! LOL

9. The Vital Role of Panties in Screenwriting : 1000 Dollar Film on Sunday: 22 June 2008|0630

   [...] been another very good piece about character development written by Unk, over at unknown screenwriter. A piece written in response to the [...]

10. Jackie King on Sunday: 22 June 2008|1030

    “Sometimes, you just watch the news, read an article, a book, watch a movie — whatever — and an idea for a NON preconceived plan pops up in your head and it’s so good that your GUT tells you to use it.” (end)

    My script is nearly finished. I thought.

    I hear a lot about writer’s block…but not nearly enough about that writer’s gusher.

    For a new writer, this could swooosh pass scary to fucking unbelievable and leave you breathless mouth open looking out of your winddow.

    Please don’t tell me to just count my blessings.

    I’m (as we speak) overwhelmed by my own story.

    My characters are so real…it’s frightening!

    And this is a romantic/comedy (mostly.)

    So what about that?

    =Jackie

11. Unk on Sunday: 22 June 2008|1724

    Some really decent tips here… Thanks everyone!

    I think Clive hit on something very important though… Some action or reaction to action isn’t working so we start whittling that round peg into a square peg to make it work.

    When maybe… Just maybe, with a more well developed and defined character to begin with, the character does something so profound that it even surprises us as we write it.

    Jackie,

    I won’t say count your blessings… Nothing wrong with being on the right track… LOL.

    I am glad that you are overwhelmed by your own story and that your characters are so real to you… I don’t hear that enough actually.

    KEEP WRITING!

    Unk

12. neil on Sunday: 22 June 2008|2020

    One thing I must point out is that most Hollywood movies today are built on a PREMISE not character, nor story.

    One of the best written shows on t.v. today is “The Venture Bros.” on adult swim (cartoon network). It’s written primarily by one guy (Jackson Publick) and the series so far has a pretty wide arch and one thing I love about the series is the attention given to the “little” characters.

    Take for example, Master Billy Quizboy and Mr. White have always been background characters, but last season there was a scene where some of the various characters in the series were trying to figure out the main villain, Phantom Limb’s and Billy’s story.

    http://www.metacafe.com/watch/584156/origin_of_phantom_limb/

    This season they dedicated a whole episode to the origin of Billy and Phantom Limb.

    http://www.adultswim.com/video/?episodeID=8a25c3921a7d9b5f011a7e5d95f20070

13. Laura Deerfield on Sunday: 22 June 2008|2121

    So, I was dating this guy once, and after a while I realized that although I knew a lot about him, I didn’t really know him at all.

    What I mean is, I knew his job, where he went to school, when his birthday was and his favorite kind of cake, the music he listened to, his parents’ and siblings’ names, his dream car, favorite color, and many more details.

    But he continued to baffle me with his actions. Because although I knew a lot about his biography and such, he never let me inside and showed me his thinking processes or showed me more than the most superficial emotions.

    I think a lot of folks make the same mistake with character development. It’s far less important to know that Christian Elderwood went to a private school back east, that his parents are divorced, that he’s an Aries and prefers Armani to Gucci when it comes to belts and ties, than it is to know that he thinks men who don’t have kids must be gay, or that when confronted directly on a subject his first reaction is to lie, or that he hit his brother over a woman once.

    There’s a difference between knowing the bits of info you can use to fill out a quiz, and knowing how someone will react in any given situation.

14. clive on Monday: 23 June 2008|0113

    Actually, for me it’s impossible, in terms of screenwriting, to separate out the preference for Gucci from the attitude “men who don’t have kids are gay.”

    A film character isn’t a real person…so, everything about them is an encoded message to the audience. It’s not enough to know a character’s inner life and beliefs, unless the audience can access that as well.

    If we were talking about poker, we could talk about tells… in film, and in real life, there are tells. People constantly make judgments based on clothes… and as people we manipulate those judgments through the way we present ourselves.

    In a film, this is a much more conscious process than people apply in real life… we have to provide the audience with the clues they need to understand the story. That is as much about how people are… as it is about what people do.

    I think when you say “there’s a difference between knowing the bits you can use to fill out a quiz, and knowing how someone will react in any given situation”… what you actually mean is “my process of understanding a person is to dissect their inner emotional life”

    That’s fine… but for me the fact that Johnny saw his mother in the shower with his uncle Roy when he was nine, is less interesting than the fact that he wears penny loafers with Levi 501’s.

    Now, the difference in these approaches is almost exactly the difference between two different schools of acting. With “Method” acting the character development process is all about back-story and motivation. If you do it hard core you’re supposed to do back story as far back as the grand parents.

    However, there is another school of acting, favored by English classical actors and film stars from the 50’s and 60’s… These actors build a role from the shoes up. The shoes give you the walk, the walk alters body shape and posture… posture effects the emotions.

    They’re both valid ways of working… they both end up with good results.

15. Holly on Monday: 23 June 2008|1045

    I agree with Laura. You really have to live with your character to get to know them, inside and out. Think of it like a true relationship. You start out learning their likes and dislikes, and how they present themselves to the rest of the world. But you don’t learn about the real them until you “live” with them, day in and day out. That’s when every person’s true character comes out. When it’s just the two of you, and you ask the hard questions, or you start to notice the subtle things that lead you to believe there’s something deeper behind the exterior. I have been working on my protagonist’s backstory, writing it down, even though I feel like a have a pretty good handle on her. But I got a long set of questions to think about, and was amazed at how some of them, even some simple ones, made me think about things I hadn’t conetmplated. And it made me think more about how my character would approach things, from points of view I don’t even have in my screenplay. But, it has given me more insight into my character, and made me feel like I know her even better now, if that’s possible. But it’s true. Until you look at your character from every angle, you don’t know everything about them, and once you do, the possibilities seem to open up right before you. At least they did for me. I already have my story idea, so I’m hoping now that my backstory is written out, it will make the story easier to put down. I sure feel like I know my character well enough to know how she will react, whatever I throw at her. But if I get stuck, I definitely know how to get out of it. Thanks Unk!

16. Justin on Monday: 23 June 2008|1233

    I know what you guys mean. Ever since I started ‘living’ with my character(s). They’re developing their own agendas. I cant wait to fuck with them. And by extension, the audience. :)

    It’s quite overwhelming.

17. Unk on Monday: 23 June 2008|1759

    I think the point here is that just about anything can work for YOU when developing your characters but suffice to say what works for me might now work quite as well for you.

    My thought was to get as many different tips as possible from as many that are willing to share because in the end, we all benefit.

    Just knowing how one person approaches character development can often lead others to come up with several different ways to approach the development of their characters.

    For me personally, I tend to make up as many interesting and UNINTERESTING pieces of backstory I can on my characters as I need and or require to keep ME on track.

    This keeps me unblocked. I am never blocked when it comes to plot because I figure all that out AHEAD OF TIME. Hence, I know when I am blocked it’s due to not knowing my characters well enough and even though I sure as hell don’t want to spend the next 4 hours writing about how so and so character used to burglarize homes when he was a teenager, I go ahead and do it anyway because I know from my own experience that this exercise tends to UNBLOCK me even though NONE of it ever makes it into the story.

    It simply serves me to know the character BETTER and somehow enables me to keep the flow of action to reaction.

    Good stuff everyone… Thanks!

    Unk

18. Laura Deerfield on Monday: 23 June 2008|2148

    Hey Clive - I agree, that in film the external tells about character are what we see…and my point was less that it’s important to know a character’s inner attitudes as well as those externalalities (I think I made that word up) and biographical details, than it was that whatever we know about a character, the most important thing is that we know how they will react when placed in any situation. If you don’t know how the character fits into the plot, then you either don’t know enough, or you know the wrong stuff.

19. clive on Tuesday: 24 June 2008|0532

    I agree Laura, knowing how a person will react is the key to all of this…

    And just like in acting where there is more than one way to approach developing a character, there is also more than one route into understanding character in screenwriting.

    Now, the way you’re describing is like “the method” where the acting is build out from the inner life of the character… it’s your basic Brando, De Niro, Hoffman way of working.

    Along side this you’ve got actors like - Judy Dench who start character development from getting the right shoes. Shoes inform the walk and posture… posture effects the emotional context.

    Now, both methods result in good performances… both techniques work for the actors who use them… and there is no possible way to establish which technique is more valid.

    I know from my experience of directing actors that method actors think they are delivering deeper, more emotionally intelligent performances… but, in all honesty it just isn’t true.

    The same is true of writing techniques… I can see how to an “inner life” writer it may look like they’ve got a better, deeper grasp on their characters… but my experience is that emotional intelligence works in many different ways.

    Inner life is one tool amongst many… and not automatically a superior tool.

20. Justin on Tuesday: 24 June 2008|1426

    we prolly have enough tools by now. But heres another one I developed based on what I’ve read.

    1)write FACTS
    -list all the facts about your character.
    -favorite color
    -underwear
    -where she works
    -philosophy
    -who shes seeing
    To me this is where one-dementional cardboard cut-outs come from.

    so next phase
    2) feelings
    for each of the categories above, theres an subtextual feeling and emotion thats linked to the fact. People dont just buy things, or believe things for nothing.

    So, basically get the subtext of each fact.

    finally

    3)quirks and reactions.
    link up 1 & 2 to create quirks and reactions.

    Example :: if one of your characters has an explosive temper … and the fact that hes a killer is linked you can show that having him explode in someones face, and shoot them.

    However, and this is where the thought comes in. ITS so much more intresting to link “calm & the fact that hes a killer”. its no longer cliche. (it might be now though, but you get the idea)

    And by making conflicting connections like this, youre creating NEW ways of looking at characters.

    This isnt the end-all-be-all. Next you take all the connections and quirks/reactions. start to write a bio based on this. keep adding, slowly you wont need the list. It will be a person.

    If this person doesnt fit the story you choose, or you werent careful in choosing who it was to your liking. You wont have a character you like. Go back, and choose carefully. Eventually you’ll come out with a person you like, that fits.

    *The best part about this method, is since its all done in series and connected. It’s all relevent.*

    Finally, take the characters you’re satisfied with and place them in various situations(drag through mud). Have them evolve organically. The stuff that comes out of this, is the gold. Usually.

    This is what i’ve found, with your help.

    Thanks for listening.

21. Justin on Tuesday: 24 June 2008|1437

    On a side note ::

    Formulas are great, but they’re only a start.

    I feel that eventually, getting to the point where the higher percentage of your character/story is created ORGANICALLY, is the ultimate goal.

    When this happens. It cant be anyone elses voice, cause its being grown inside you. This is where your voice truly shines. And that cant be achieved through formulae.

22. Mike on Wednesday: 25 June 2008|0304

    One of the techniques I have come to learn/appreciate in my writing comes from the book: ‘Techniques of the Selling Writer’ by Dwight V. Swain and that is this: the MRU. The Motivation-Reaction-Unit.

    The Motivation is external and objective, and you present it that way, in objective, external terms.

    The Reaction is internal and subjective, and you present it that way.

    And after the Reaction comes . . . another Motivation. This is the key. You can’t afford to write one perfect MRU and then be happy. You’ve got to write another and another and another. The Reaction you just wrote will lead to some new Motivation that is again external and objective.

    I probably have not done justice to the technique, but if you’re interested I highly recommend getting the book if only for the chapter on MRUs.

    Keep Writing.

23. Chiya on Sunday: 13 July 2008|0719

    haha yes I don’t write stories (haha why am I reading your blog then?)

    I used to write stories when I was younger and I was always way too nice to my characters. And they had no back story. And my stories were pretty boring :P

24. Susan P. on Tuesday: 15 July 2008|0855

    Apologies if this has been said before but why not write a diary for your character each day? And write everything from the moment they get up on at least one occasion. Everything for 24hrs. How they get up, what their breakfast is if they have it..all the way to what they do in going back to bed. When you do this, the need to consider the ‘everydayness’ pushes your creativity. It is one thing developing notions about the character that can stop a speeding train with a glance, but another to consider what toilet paper they choose and how they like their toast. :) I like to also consider childhood issues; the incidents and treatments that formed character. Also, what the person is scared of, if they have any collections, what is on their iPod, if they have habits or rituals.

25. Jonny Atlas Writes. » Blog Archive » Quentin Tarantino’s Inglorious Bastards Script, and the “Semblance of Truth” on Thursday: 17 July 2008|1412

    [...] writer’s block? Blame your characters. Or, really, blame yourself for not developing your characters [...]

26. Carlo Conda on Friday: 18 July 2008|1558

    What fun is this: Write deleted scenes. Seriously.

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