Give your Characters Character

Create unique characters by setting them apart from the rest. How they look and sound is a good starting place, but you need to dig a little deeper and give your characters character.

Every character has past experiences, strengths, and weaknesses that make them who they are and drives their behavior. If your character is a manipulator vs. flamboyant, their actions and dialog will look significantly different. One is self-justifying, while the other is self-blaming. One is aggressive, while the other is indirect.

Try to avoid clichés. Creating a nun who’s compassionate isn’t very interesting, but creating a nun who’s compassionate AND depressed, OCD, anxious, or ADHD, could add an interesting twist or comical relief.

For my birthday, my daughter bought me the book Writer’s Guide to Character Traits, by Linda N. Edelstein, Ph.D. It’s been a fascinating read as I delve into the personalities of my characters. I find it also makes writing easier because I have a better understanding of who my characters are and what their internal motivations might be.

Stories are about journeys: to get, to find, to reach, to achieve, to overcome. Within that physical journey there needs to be a personal journey as well. Characters need to grow and evolve. Perhaps the dependent learns to be independent, or the victim learns to stand up for themselves. Without growth, there's no resolution; your characters will fall flat and irritate your audience.

By taking the time to sit and identify each character's character, you'll be able to create more authentic scenes that ring true with your audience.

Action Sequences: Play. Pause. Write.

The first time I needed to write a fight scene, I was totally lost. Being an “arts” girl, I had no clue how to pick a fight, let alone finish one. You will probably experience this situation at some point in your writing—creating an action sequence for something that you’ve never had exposure to.

I found YouTube to be one of the best sources of information for learning about and visualizing an action sequence as it would unfold on screen. As a n00b to the art of hand-to-hand combat, I watched several extreme fighting and cage fighting videos until I found one that had the look and feel I was going for, and that was well matched to my characters. I would play a few seconds, pause the video, then write what I saw. Play. Pause. Write.

Here’s what I ended up with:

Dirk and Reed give a slight bow to each other, then close in. 

They each throw a series of punches that connect with nothing but air.

Dirk rushes Reed and gives him a left to the jaw.

Reed tackles Dirk to the ground.

Dirk tries to get free, but Reed has him in a strong hold.

Reed lifts up and punches Dirk several times in the face.

Dirk uses his strong legs to propel Reed off of him.

They get to their feet.

Dirk rushes Reed again and throws a high punch.

Reed ducks to miss it, but Dirk grabs his head and tries to knee him in the face.

Reed grabs Dirk's legs, lifts him up, and drops him to the ground, knocking the wind out of him.

Reed wipes the side of his mouth with the back of his hand...first blood.

I also use this technique to familiarize myself with cultural events, such as the Red Earth Festival in Oklahoma City, and Native American ‘jingle’ and ‘fancy shawl’ dances. Seeing the women in their native dress, the flowing ribbons on their shawls, and their fancy footwork, is helping me to understand the culture and to construct a more authentic scene.

The next time you need to write an action sequence, take a moment to watch a few videos on the topic and find those little nuances that will lend credibility to your scene.

A Time to Write

Finding time to write is like finding time to exercise. We make up a lot of excuses for why we don’t get around to doing it, but the reality is if it were important enough to us, we’d do it. If you fall into this category, raise your hand high and proud and say, “Hi, my name is [state your name], and I’m an excuse maker.” Now that you’re no longer in denial, it’s time to write.

Like every other aspiring screenwriter, each of us probably has a 40+ hour a week job. We may have kids, a spouse, family, or pets to tend. We might have volunteer work, church callings, or other interests that we devote time to. We all lead busy, full, and rich lives. So where can we find time to write? 

My answer: everywhere.

One of the simplest, yet profound, statements that I once read…and I’m paraphrasing:  A writer writes. Not just when it’s convenient, and not just when they manage to find the time, but every single day. It doesn’t have to be a certain number of pages, and it doesn’t have to be large chunks of time. It just needs to be a habit.

• If you have a long commute, take mass transportation and write.
• If you take a 15 minute break, write.
• If you pick up your kids from school and sit in the parking lot, write.
• If you’re sitting in the waiting room of the doctor’s office, write.
• If you’re at your kid’s baseball game and they’re warming up between innings, write.
• If you’re on an airplane, write.

I refer to these moments as ‘in the cracks.’

One of my best writing times this past year was in my car from 5:45 am to 6:30 am, M-F, while my son was attending Seminary (our church scripture study program). I’d take my laptop with me and enjoy the peace and quiet of those early mornings.

In my work, my travels take me around the States and put me in the path of interesting people and places. I like to make it a game to write a quick description of the things I see and hear. I might even eavesdrop on a few conversations for dialogue ideas or speech patterns. Inspiration comes when we least expect it, so carry a dedicated notebook and jot down those musings when they occur. If you’re in the car, use your mobile phone to record voice notes.

If you need a little push and some accountability, join a writing group. My group meets every other week, and we're only allowed to bring up to 10 pages. My goal is to bring 10 new pages each session. That's less than 1 page a day that I need to develop. A very doable goal. If you really want to push yourself, join a Script Frenzy group for screenwriters, or a NaNoWriMo group [National Novel Writing Month] for novelist.

The bottom line: writers write. So, use ‘the cracks’ to develop your characters, muse about your story arc, write a few lines of dialogue, and proofread your work. Above all, make no excuses.

Guidelines on Length: dialog, action, scene, and script

At my screenwriters Meetup group last night, there was some good discussion about the length of dialog and action lines, the overall duration of each scene, and the length of the screenplay as a whole.

So how long is too long?

Descriptions. Keep scene descriptions to three lines or less. Use double-spacing between paragraphs to break up longer descriptions.

Action. Similar to descriptions, keep action lines to three lines or less, and use double-spacing between paragraphs to break it up. Too many lines and I get lost in the action. As a personal rule, I break up my action lines whenever I switch focus to another character, object, or location. Use short choppy sentences to speed up fast-paced scenes, and use flowing sentences to slow down a scene.

Dialogue. Keep each character’s lines to three or less. Only go to four or five if it’s absolutely necessary! To shorten long lines of dialogue, break them up with action. This could be something as simple as basic body language, or be used for a greater purpose to show subtext. If my character is being interrogated, saying ‘her hand tremors as she lifts the glass to her lips’ tells me a lot more about her innocence or guilt than saying ‘she takes a sip of water.’ Use these small moments to give your scenes and characters color and depth.

Scenes. The ideal length of a scene is based on its significance. Important scenes can be up to four pages, but less significant scenes should average about a page and a half or less.

Script. All scripts are formatted in Courier 12 pt. font. PERIOD. Why? Because courier is a fixed-pitch font, not a proportional-spacing font. Each letter gets the same amount of space whether it’s an “I” or a “W.” This allows studios to estimate the screen time of a script at 1-minute per page. I’ve heard a lot of target page numbers thrown out from 115 to 90 to 120 pages in length. One article I came across broke it down into basic dollars and cents:

• The person at the studio who initially reads the script, gets paid by the number of scripts they read in a day. So if you’re an unknown, shoot for 105 pages to help your script float to the top of their pile.
• From a studio perspective, a 105 minute film has more run time in the theaters than a 120 minute film, which means higher box office profits.

All these restrictions may seem cumbersome now, but they will make your screenplay more readable. At my screenwriter’s Meetup last night, we read 10-pages of eight scripts. 80 pages. The ones formatted properly are quick and enjoyable. The story just flows. The ones not formatted properly take longer to read, which ultimately detracts from the story and it makes me want to stop reading. So take a moment and quickly go through your script and add strategic line breaks in any action or description that's over three lines and see for yourself the difference it makes.

Slug Lines and Scene Intercuts

Every time you change locations where a scene is taking place you must start with a scene heading, aka a slug line. There are three elements to a slug line:

1. Are you inside or outside? This is stated using the simple abbreviations “INT.” or “EXT.”
2. Where are you specifically? Saying you’re at “BOB’S HOUSE” isn’t enough, you must state what room in Bob’s house you’re in:  “BOB’S HOUSE - KITCHEN,” or “BOB’S HOUSE – LIVING ROOM”
3. What time of day is it? Generally a simple “DAY” or “NIGHT” is enough. If the time of day is relevant to the story, be a little more specific and use “MORNING” or “DUSK.” If the exact time is critical, state it “5:04 PM.”

Strung together it looks something like this:

INT. BOB’S HOUSE – KITCHEN – DAY

EXT. BOB’S DRIVEWAY - NIGHT

Slug lines are placed in all caps and there's always a hyphen between the location and the time of day. 

Dialog or action that’s taking place simultaneously in two locations—such as a phone call, or a conversation between a jumper on a building and the people on the ground—can be tricky to write. The two locations aren’t changing, but there are two separate locations. This is where a SCENE INTERCUT is used.

Begin by giving the first slug line, followed by a brief description of the location and who’s present:

INT. JEFFERSON HIGH SCHOOL - ADMIN. OFFICE - DAY

The back of the new guy as he interacts with the secretary.

On a new line write:

SCENE INTERCUTS:

Then on another new line give the second slug line, followed by a description and who’s present, then launch into the dialog:

INT. HALLWAY - DAY

Jenny and Kristin pass by the Admin office, stop, backup a few steps, and take a second look.

     JENNY

Who’s that?

She and Kristin gawk at the newcomer through the doorway.

     KRISTIN

I can only see his back.

     JENNY

It’s a hot back.

The secretary looks up at John.

     SECRETARY

Your records are incomplete.

     

          JOHN

My former school was supposed to have sent them.

               

          JENNY

     Hope the front’s as good as the back!

If for clarity in the middle of the dialog you feel you need to restate the location, you can give an abbreviated version of the scene heading:


INSIDE OFFICE


IN THE HALLWAY


Use the SCENE INTERCUT feature to streamline the scene and keep the focus on the dialog without breaking the momentum or flow.

Naming your characters

A rose by any other name would smell just as sweet, but in film it can really stink up a character. Choosing the right name for a character can be hard work. Names conjure images. My mother wanted to name my oldest sister "Leslie," but my grandpa pitched a fit because that was the name of the town drunk where he grew up. "YOU CANNOT NAME MY FIRST GRAND CHILD AFTER A DRUNK!" Oh, the horror. Three kids and 13 years later my sister Leslie was born. The apple doesn't fall far from the tree though. I often think of people that I've known over the years and their personality traits when choosing my character names. That mean girl that sat next to me in 8th grade science class...she'll be gettin' her comeuppance.


Names can also make or break the flow of a script. When selecting multiple character names, vary the cadence. Don't have all one-syllable names: Sue, Ann, and Kim. Also, don't confuse your audience by using multiple names that start with the same sound:  Joe, John, and Jeff. Each of your characters is unique and should have names that reflect that. The one exception is when you have characters that are meant to be similar..."This is my brother Darryl, and my other brother Darryl..."


A woman born in 1950 might be named Barbara, Donna or Shirley, but certainly not Taylor, Madison, or Brooklyn. When naming characters, I like to do a little research. A character's name should reflect the decade in which they were born. Google baby name websites to get inspired. They will typically list the top names for that year and may even be able to break it down geographically to show trends for certain areas. Common names on the East Coast may differ from common names in the South.


When naming screen characters, forget Juliet. The chick doesn't know what she's talking about.

Words to avoid in action lines

At my screenwriter's Meetup group the other night, I can always count on "R" -- a seasoned screenwriter -- circling all the "offending" words in my script. On this occasion, it was the use of the word "as" in action lines. For instance, "Millie sits on the porch swing as she sips a glass of iced tea." Instead, what I should have written was, "Millie sits on the porch swing, sipping a glass of iced tea." I had about a dozen or so red circles. 


In prior sessions, "R" circled all words that ended in -ly. Instead of saying, "He walked quickly..." use words like "jogged," "bolted," or "scrambled" to create a stronger visual image of the scene.


Thanks "R"! Little things can make a huge difference.