Characterization PART 1
How many times do you watch film and just plain lose interest. I don’t think it’s the cheesy SFX or the awful sound quality of films these days (you strain to hear the dialogue, yet cover your ears moments later because of loud music or those SFX again)...well okay, maybe that’s part of it! No really, I think it’s because you’re not invested in the character. You don’t care whether s/he wins or loses, lives or dies.
So what can you do to make sure from the first reader (judge, editor, producer) to the final curtain, people care about your characters and love your film? "Duh," you’re saying, "create good characters!"
To which I reply: "Duh, don’t we all TRY to create memorable characters every time we put pen to paper?" Why then do we sometimes fail?
There’s a huge amount of information available on characterization, so periodically I’m going to post some of the techniques I’ve found that have made a difference in my writing and will hopefully make a difference in yours.
Today: Profile Lists, Part 1
I’ve tried profile lists before, and wasn’t impressed until I USED this one during an online class taught by Sally J. Walker, http://members.cox.net/sallyjwalker
Sally, who is President of the Nebraska Writers Guild, www.nebraskawriters.org, asked me to make clear that there are many MANY other character outlining tools available, and so there are. I used this one because I was starting a new script during class and wanted to see if there was any new information in the Universe to help me create a dynamic, multi faceted hero and heroine.
Honest, using this list made my character jump off the page and I was creating a better story because I began to see how they would behave in the story.
I emailed Audra and T with my hero and heroine’s sketched in the profile and they were mightily impressed that a tool could quickly create such depth, and you better believe these ladies are tough to impress.
Comments in CAPS are mine, so here we go:
The Basics
1. Name: Evokes images, cultures, ancient meanings, as in "A Boy Named Sue" or a recognizable Russian first name and an Irish last name, a child repeatedly being told to live up to his name which means "Warrior."
2. Age: Life stage evokes expectations. AIN’T IT THE TRUTH!
3. Height & Weight: Again cultural expectations, voluptuous versus starvation-thin, tall & muscular versus small & wiry.
4. Hair: Color, style, especially if it characterizes as in U.S. Marine cut or matted & filthy.
5. Eyes: Unusual coloring, telling characteristic, or expressive habits.
6. Scars/Handicaps: History of incident or development creates expectations. I CAME UP WITH SOME INTERESTING THINGS HERE....YOU’LL JUST HAVE TO WATCH THE MOVIE :) AND SEE IF YOU CAN SPOT THEM! I’LL LET YOU KNOW WHEN IT’S RELEASED. HECK, I’LL LET YOU KNOW WHEN IT’S WRITTEN.
7. Birthdate: Era or circumstance can impact or typify social status as in "Far and Away." MANY PEOPLE TRY TO BEHAVE YOUNGER/OLDER THAN THEIR YEARS FOR A MULTITUDE OF REASONS.
8. Birthplace: Again reflective of social status in eyes of audience as in the each of the players in the original "Highlander" movie.
9. Parents & Childhood: Foundation of character’s life expectations either as exemplary or defiance.
10. Education: Forced feeding of information and social interactions, as in royal guard of Montezuma versus contemporary, orphanage-reared U.S. Navy SEAL.
11. Work Experience: Similar to Education category in impacting social and cultural expectations and attitudes. IMAGINE, WHAT IF YOU’D WORKED AT ONE JOB/CAREER YOUR ENTIRE LIFE, THEN IT’S TAKEN AWAY? THAT WOULD INFLUENCE A PERSON’S REACTIONS WOULDN’T IT?
12. Home & its physical environment: A reflection of personal priorities and opportunities.
Out of this basic information, the character begins to take on a personality in your mind. Why? Because you, the writer/creator, begin to understand how that personality developed and what provided the major influences. You consciously choose what internally motivates that character’s choices.
Please come back tomorrow for Part Deux, the list keeps getting better. And please if you have thoughts, share.
LA.
List of upcoming classes Sally is teaching:
Brick and Mortar
Moondance International Film Festival
"Romantic Screenplays 101"
Boulder, CO
Fri, Aug 29th and Sat, Aug 30 1-3pm
Metropolitan Community College
"Research for Fiction"
Omaha, NE
Sat, Sept 13, 1-4pm
On-Line
WritersOnLine Classes
"Writing from the Anxiety Curve"
http://www.writersonlineclasses.com/
November, 2008
20 comments:
Interesting topic, Leslie Ann, and one that I constantly struggle with.
By the way, the link for Sally Walker's list didn't work for me.
I look forward to checking back tomorrow for Part 2.
Leslie, very thought-provoking post. Just the 12 you posted today along with your comments of course got me thinking about my characters. And answering these questions naturally just leads to the characters' motivations. Wow, Sally is teaching a class in Boulder in August. Very doable. I may have to check it out!
Hi Annette,
I'll fix the link, but just drop the last forward slash and it should work. I'm at work, so it's iffy for me to fix, but later this afternoon, I'll go into it and edit.
Try the list, and see if it helps. Use it almost as freewriting about your character.
LA
Hi D,
Sally's class in Aug. will be very condensed, but it'll be worth it. Go for it! I really liked the list and found it gave me characters AND story I wouldn't have thought of.
LA
Very cool. I do try to incorporate many of these aspects into my characters when I begin the story. I'm a pantser, though, so a lot of characterization tends to show up as I go along. There's always the editing process. *sigh*
Looking forward to part 2.
Delta, as one who has read your writing this amazes me. Because your characters are always so well drawn. So LA, tell me, do you develop your characters before you sit down to write or what did these instructors recommend. You see, I want you to care whether my h/h lives or dies :)
I don't create my characters, they come to me and pester me to write their stories. I hope I can make people care about them. They have to make me care about them before I'll invest in starting a book.
Characters sometimes reveal important stuff well into the book, giving me rewrites to do, and they can lie to me and to themselves.
Unfortunately I've read books that made me want to kill the characters instead of cheering them on.
Some of those were comedies.
Sally's link is now corrected.
LA
Delta,
Hi, thanks for your comment. I'm a panster too...well less of one than I used to be. The story is still always fermenting, but since a script is usually b/t 90-120 pages long, I have to have a "beat sheet" to guide me to my important story beats. This character profile helps me develop some of those beats.
Editing, rewrites, sigh, I'm right there with you!
LA
Donnell,
I used to let the characters come to me, and in a great part they still do as they grow along with the story, or the story grows along with them...chicken or egg problem there.
I've always had conversations with my characters, I really love that part, but this list allowed me create instantly deeper characters along with some story twists I hadn't seen.
We all take bits and pieces of what we're "taught" and come up with what works, but working on this list really pumped me up about everything to do with my new story.
LA
Hi Mary,
Nice to see you again. I've got to say, yes my characters "come to me" also, but in a very nebulous form, a zygote even (spelling on that?)
I knew what my heroine did and the mystery behind my hero, but that was it.
Using the list really gave me surprises for each character. Now, that's now to say those same surprises wouldn't have come out anyway, but I feel I'm starting from a stronger position. Make sense?
LA
I want everybody to know I brainwashed Donnell to say those nice things. %)
Hmm. Beat sheet? I know nothing of script writing, but it does sound interesting and very intense. What took you in that direction, LA?
Oh Delta, don't you know you've asked the question of my heart?
I've always extensively visualized as I wrote, and when given the opportunity to interview to write the screenplay adaptation of a non-fiction book set in Iraq during WWII, I jumped at it.
Yes, I got the gig and haven't looked back to my novels since then.
Well, not totally true as I still miss all the words you get to use in novels and have started a rewrite on one, but can't seem to find the time to really dig in...I am a screenwriter and I love it.
Beat sheets. You could call it an outline, but it's really not. I'm a panster, but as I've said, I have to cover a lot of ground in 90-120 pages. Creating a beat sheet gives me my major beats or important scenes and turning points. It's not rigid (thank goodness or I'd be a basket case as a "panster" writer) but reminds me that I'm AIMING for this point (BEAT of the STORY) or that. It's very fluid. Maybe too fluid as I can get off course way too easily...gotta work on that.
Make sense? That's the simplified version...I can go on and on....
LA
Sorry guys, I'm having technical difficulties in posting part deux.
Thanks for the info, LA. Sweet that you're a screenwiter!
I remember my first pitch. The editor was new to the pitching scene (like me) and she asked for more story info, saying it sounded like a good movie. Too bad I didn't sell it as one. For that matter, I never sold the book. LOL. I just might have to look into screenwriting, but I'm sure it's as tough (if not tougher) to get into as the publishing market.
This is great! Thank you for sharing this.
Delta,
I was chuckling all through your last email. I do wonder if guys are more plot driven. I'd say you're right. I've always been more plot driven until I worked on screenplays. I guess that could be another whole subject for a blog :)
LA
Annette
Did you get my fixed version of Sally's link to work?
LA
Pammer,
It was absolutely my pleasure. I loved writing this one.
LA
Post a Comment