by Will Dunne
Shattering glass
Barking dog
An empty room
WRAP-UP
Sense memory can be a key tool to develop characters. By using physical details to trigger emotions and ideas, you may discover new ways in which your characters’ lives mirror your own. No matter how well you know your characters, there is always more to learn.
Related tools in The Dramatic Writer’s Companion. To continue using sensory input to trigger story ideas, go to the “Causing a Scene” section and try “In the Realm of the Senses” or “The Voice of the Setting.”
THE IMPERFECT CHARACTER
THE QUICK VERSION
Explore a character’s flaws and vulnerabilities
BEST TIME FOR THIS
Anytime you want to know the character better
DWELLING ON THE NEGATIVE
When we think of great characters who have moved us, it is often their flaws and vulnerabilities that we remember most. Consider what comes to mind when you think of Richard III, Lady Macbeth, Othello, Norma Desmond in Sunset Boulevard, Ratso Rizzo in Midnight Cowboy, Mama Nadi in Ruined, Violet Weston in August: Osage County, Jules Winnfield in Pulp Fiction, Randle McMurphy in One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest, Mrs. Robinson in The Graduate, Vito Corleone in The Godfather, or Scarlett O’Hara in Gone with the Wind. To know characters is to know what makes them imperfect and to understand how their flaws and misdeeds affect their dramatic journeys scene by scene.
ABOUT THE EXERCISE
This exercise can help you explore the traits, qualities, and deeds that make a dramatic character less than saintly. It’s based on the idea that perfect characters tend to be boring and that it is through character liabilities and limitations that we come to know them as human, get invested in their dramatic journey, and root for them to succeed or fail. For the purposes of the exercise, “the past” refers to the time before the story. “The present” refers to the time of the story.
To begin, choose a character to explore. Then respond to each exercise question as the writer who decides what’s true and not true in the world of the story. Unless directed otherwise, feel free to repeat a response if it feels appropriate to do so. The repetition may signal that something important has been uncovered.
■ CHARACTER IMPERFECTIONS
Explore what makes your character vulnerable.
1. Shortcomings. Most dramatic characters are a combination of positive and negative traits. Identify three of your character’s personal shortcomings when the story begins. These are physical, psychological, or social traits that put the character at a disadvantage at certain times during the story. For example, he’s ugly. She isn’t very bright. He’s deep in debt.
2. Vice or bad habit. Without repeating a previous response, identify a significant vice or bad habit of your character when the story begins. For example, she’s greedy. He’s a chronic liar. She has a gambling addiction.
3. Worst fear. Fear is a healthy emotion when it contributes to one’s safety, well-being, or survival. Fear becomes unhealthy when it occurs inappropriately and prevents one from living a successful life. Identify your character’s worst fear when the story begins and how it affects him or her.
4. Greatest guilt. Guilt is an emotion that reflects values. It is triggered by the belief that one has violated one’s moral code or personal standards of conduct. Guilt becomes unhealthy when it is based on inaccurate beliefs or when it is disproportionate to the violation. Identify a time, past or present, when your character felt guilty. Identify the cause of this guilt and how it affects the character.
5. Biggest delusion. Characters are not always accurate in their perceptions of themselves, others, and the world around them. As a result of intellectual error, ignorance, or the willful deception of others, characters may have misconceptions and delusions that affect their behavior. Identify one of your character’s greatest delusions when the story begins and how this affects him or her.
6. Worst secret. A good place to find imperfection is the realm of the character’s life that he or she would prefer to keep hidden. Identify one of the character’s biggest secrets when the story begins. Explore the reasons the character hides this.
7. Wildest emotion. Most characters experience a gamut of emotions as a dramatic journey unfolds. Some of these feelings—such as anger, fear, jealousy, and lust—may be harder to control than others. When your story begins, what is your character’s wildest, or most unbridled, emotion, and how does this affect him or her?
8. Biggest contradiction. Great characters are multidimensional beings who sometimes embody contradictions. Identify a contradiction that your character manifests during the dramatic journey. For example, she’s a health fanatic, but she smokes cigarettes and drinks too much. He loves his wife and family but frequents prostitutes. She controls everyone around her but can’t control herself.
9. Bad influence. Some character imperfections are a result of a bad influence, such as a family member, friend, teacher, classmate, boss, or coworker, or even a famous person whom the character has never met. Identify someone from your character’s life, past or present, who is a bad influence, and describe the harmful impact.
10. Lack of control. Power is the ability to control oneself, others, groups, situations, or environments. It typically fluctuates depending on who’s here now and what’s happening. Think about others who can turn your character into proverbial putty for any reason—for example, because they seem so awesome, beautiful, or threatening. Identify an important power grabber in your character’s life, past or present. Explain how and why this individual makes your character feel helpless.
11. Worst decision. Characters are decision makers who cause stories to happen. Their decisions often center on issues of vital importance and can have consequences that affect others as well. Think about your character’s biggest decisions, past or present, with a focus on difficult choices that ultimately prove to be bad due to intellectual or moral error. Identify your character’s worst decision and describe its consequences.
12. Bad deed. What characters do is often more important than what they say. Their actions not only move the story forward but also reveal important information about them. Without repeating a previous response, identify one of your character’s worst deeds, past or present, and its consequences.
13. Careless mistake. Sometimes characters get into trouble because they fail to think before they act. Identify one of your character’s careless mistakes, past or present, and its consequences. Look for the kind of mistake that leads to regret.
14. Most self-destructive act. Dramatic characters are sometimes their own worst enemies. They do things that are self-destructive. In some cases they know that their actions will harm them. In other cases they are unaware of the consequences. Identify one of your character’s most self-destructive acts, past or present, and its results.
15. Most malicious act. Sometimes it is someone else’s destruction that the character has in mind. Are there any times, past or present, when your character set out to cause someone else’s downfall? If so, identify the character’s most malicious act. Tell what happened to whom, why your character did this, and what occurred as a result.
16. Biggest lie. Characters may knowingly stray from the truth when something else appears more important. Their falsehoods can range from little fibs to devastating lies with far-reaching effects. Identify your character’s biggest lie, past or present, why it was told, and what happened as a result of it.
17. Sin of omission. Sometimes problems arise because of what characters don’t do. Through forgetfulness, fear, laziness, or intention, they fail to take important action, and as a result, they or others must suffer the consequences. For your character, identify an important failure to act, past or present, and its results.
18. Victimization. Dramatic characters tend to be active. They cause events as they pursue their goals. Inevitably, others in their lives have different agendas and create physical, psychologic
al, or social obstacles. Identify a notable time in the past when your character was a victim of someone else’s agenda. Explain who the culprit was, what happened, and how it has affected your character.
19. Tough luck. Some problems are due to accident or unfortunate coincidence. Identify an example of tough luck from your character’s life, past or present, and describe its consequences.
20. Greatest flaw. In classical tragedy, the hero’s downfall is often the result of a “tragic flaw,” an intellectual or moral lapse that leads to self-destruction. In classical comedy, such flaws are overcome so that the story can have a happy ending. Whether you are writing tragedy or comedy, or something in between, think about the character weaknesses, vulnerabilities, and limitations that you’ve discovered through this exercise. What is your character’s greatest flaw? What is its most significant impact?
WRAP-UP
If to err is to be human, this exercise reflects an effort to ground your character in humanity by exploring his or her flaws and limitations. As you develop your script, stay aware of such imperfections, what they reveal about the character, and how they influence the dramatic journey. Characters tend to become more interesting when we see what makes them vulnerable.
Related tools in The Dramatic Writer’s Companion. To explore your character’s imperfections further, go to the “Developing Your Character” section and try “Seven Deadly Sins” or “The Character You Like Least.”
OBJECTS OF INTEREST
THE QUICK VERSION
Use physical life to learn more about a character’s dramatic journey
BEST TIME FOR THIS
After you are well into the story
CHARACTER IS A MANY-SPLENDORED THING
Objects in a dramatic story matter. They embody truths about the characters and their world, enable certain events to occur as the dramatic journey unfolds, and contribute to visual images that show, not tell, the story. Great moments in drama often involve an object or physical element of pivotal importance, such as a white painting in Art by Yasmina Reza, a 35mm film projector in The Flick by Annie Baker, or a pricey engagement ring in Between Riverside and Crazy by Stephen Adly Guirgis.
ABOUT THE EXERCISE
Use this exercise to develop a character by focusing on important objects from his or her life at two points in the dramatic journey: the beginning and the end. You can find these objects anywhere in the world of the story. They may be large or small, old or new, familiar or unfamiliar, and the character’s perception of their importance may be accurate or inaccurate. For the purposes of the exercise, an “object” is a tangible thing, such as a cell phone, or a single set of tangible things, such as a pair of shoes. This is a visceral exercise that asks you to respond intuitively. Stay open to new possibilities and see what you can discover, rather than rehashing what you already know.
To begin, choose a character whom you would like to know better.
■ AS THE JOURNEY BEGINS
As you respond to the following two sets of exercise prompts, “Physical life” and “The thing that matters most,” focus on your character at the beginning of the dramatic journey. Since the story has not happened yet, you will be exploring the world that has evolved from the backstory.
Physical life
Look for new discoveries as you explore your character’s physical realm.
1. Good thing. Find an important object that your character perceives as a “good thing” at this time in the story. The value of this desirable object may be obvious or hidden. Briefly identify this thing—for example, an unpublished memoir, the key to a safe deposit box, or a blackthorn walking stick.
2. Bad thing. Identify an important object that your character perceives as a “bad thing” at this time in the story. The problem that this undesirable object represents may be obvious or hidden.
3. Another thing. Identify a third object that is important to your character at this time in the story. Your character may perceive this object as either good or bad. It may be in your character’s possession now or elsewhere, and its significance may be obvious or hidden.
The thing that matters most
Of the three physical items you named, choose one to examine in more depth.
1. Subjective description. From your character’s perspective, right or wrong, and in your character’s voice, as if you were writing dialogue, describe this object. Include what it looks like and why it’s important. Remember where you are now in the dramatic journey.
2. Objective description. How would an impartial outside observer view this same object? In a few sentences, describe what this thing looks like and explain why it actually is or isn’t important in the unique world of your story.
3. Origin. Whether purchased, created, received from someone else, stolen, found, or acquired by chance or accident, how did this object first come into the character’s life?
4. Memory. What is a personal memory that this object could trigger for your character at this time in the story? Write the memory in your character’s voice.
5. Emotion. What is the strongest emotion that this object might stir in your character now, and why?
6. Desire. What is the most important desire or need that this object might trigger or represent for your character at this time in the story?
7. Action. At any time in your character’s life, past or present, what might this object motivate your character to do?
8. Belief. Imagine that this object reflects an important belief that your character has about life, people, or the world in general. Right or wrong, this is a universal insight—for example, that crime doesn’t pay or that crime does pay if you do it right. From your character’s perspective and in your character’s voice, what universal idea might this object inspire or represent?
9. Values. The importance that a character attaches to an object can reveal a lot about his or her values. For example, a personal photo album might suggest that the owner values family. A pair of battered old shoes might suggest that the owner values comfort over image. What values are suggested by your character’s perception of the object you are exploring?
10. Surprising fact. Imagine that there is something surprising about this object that you didn’t realize until now. This surprising fact may have something to do with the object’s makeup, use, value, significance, or history. What is the surprising fact?
11. Image. Objects can reveal important truths about characters and move the story forward by providing tools for imagery. Think about the images that passed through your mind as you thought about this object in your character’s life. What is the most powerful image that comes to mind now? Think of it as a portrait of your character at this time in the story, and let the object take focus as you describe the image.
■ AS THE JOURNEY ENDS
Shift your focus to the character’s life near the end of the dramatic journey. Most of the story has happened now. Life has changed in some ways and not changed in others. There may be new objects of importance in your character’s life. Some objects from the beginning of the story may no longer exist or matter. Or they may have acquired new meaning.
Use the same two sets of questions, “Physical life” and “The thing that matters most,” to explore your character at the end of the dramatic journey. Look for what’s new. If you wish to repeat an object from the beginning of the journey, find new information and feelings about it.
WRAP-UP
Working with objects, you have found two important images for your character—one from the beginning of the dramatic journey and one from the end. Think about how these images compare and contrast. What story do they suggest when you imagine them side by side?
Related tools in The Dramatic Writer’s Companion. To explore the impact of physical life on dramatic action, go to the “Causing a Scene” section and try “Where In the World Are We?”
THE INVISIBLE CHARACTER
THE QUICK VERSION
Explore offstage characters who influence story
events
BEST TIME FOR THIS
After you are well into the story
IMPORTANT CHARACTERS WHOM WE NEVER MEET
Dramatic stories often include characters who influence story events but never appear before the audience. In some cases these characters remain elsewhere because they are not important enough for the audience to meet. In other cases they remain out of sight because their absence is more powerful dramatically than their presence.
The importance of offstage characters is measured by how much they affect story events. Such characters may be dead (Alex in The Big Chill), imaginary (Keyser Söze in The Usual Suspects), elusive (the witch in The Blair Witch Project), or otherwise engaged (Rosaline in Romeo and Juliet or “Crazy Rhoda” Zimmerman in The Odd Couple). The absence of such characters may be conspicuous, as in The Women, where husbands, boyfriends, and other males are frequent topics of discussion among the all-female cast but never seen by the audience. Or their absence may have a subtle power, as in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, where a suicide victim from the past exerts more influence on a troubled marriage than is readily apparent. Sometimes the importance of offstage characters is so significant that the story is named after them, as in Rebecca, where an insecure bride is tormented by the legacy of her husband’s deceased wife.
ABOUT THE EXERCISE