Character, Scene, and Story
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13. Burning desire. Characters speak and act because they want something. Schultz’s burning desire is to find a girlfriend. That’s why he’s taking an acting class. Teresa’s burning desire is to start life anew in a small town where people care about each other. What does each of your characters want most at this time in the story?
14. Biggest secret. Most characters have secrets that influence their thoughts, feelings, and behavior. Schultz’s biggest secret is that he is addicted to Internet pornography. Teresa’s biggest secret is that everything she does is motivated by a fear of being alone. What is the biggest secret influencing each of your characters now?
15. Root action. When you boil characters down to basic terms, you might see that each has a root action from which all of their other actions flow. Schultz’s root action is to build. Just as he makes things as a carpenter, he is trying to construct new relationships and a new life for himself. Teresa’s root action is to touch. Just as she massages clients physically through acupressure and Rolfing, she is trying to affect people emotionally: to nurture and comfort them. Think about what your characters say and do at this time in the story. For each one, define a root action.
16. Likes most about the other. Characters perceive each other in different ways as the story unfolds, and these perceptions affect their interactions. Schultz finds himself attracted to Teresa, though he barely knows her. What he likes most is her beauty, confidence, and agility in class. Teresa finds herself somewhat attracted to Schultz. What she likes most is the attention he gives her: he makes her feel important. Think about how your characters view each other now. From each one’s perspective, right or wrong, what is the other character’s most appealing trait?
17. Likes least about the other. Schultz is eager to start a new romantic relationship, so he doesn’t like the fact that Teresa seems aloof. Teresa is put off by the needy look in Schultz’s eyes, and though he seems nice, she finds him boring. (He’s also wearing that wedding ring.) Think again about how your characters view each other now. From each one’s perspective, right or wrong, what is the other character’s worst trait?
18. Most admirable trait. Most characters have both positive and negative qualities. One of Schultz’s most admirable traits is his willingness to take risks. As a carpenter in an acting class, he is a fish out of water, but in the pursuit of love, he’s willing to give the class a try. One of Teresa’s most admirable traits is her optimism in spite of her losses: she had to leave her boyfriend because he was abusive; her parents both may be dying; and her brother is getting married, making him less available for family support. What trait do you personally admire most in each of your characters?
19. Least resembles the other. Schultz and Teresa are social opposites. Schultz is eager for romance. This makes him socially outward, especially around women. Teresa is reluctant to rush into another relationship that could cause more pain. This makes her socially inward, especially around men. How are your characters least alike now?
20. Most resembles the other. Schultz and Teresa have both suffered deep losses and are struggling to reinvent themselves. They both yearn for transformation. How are your characters most alike now?
WRAP-UP
Ideally, no two characters are alike. Yet no two characters are totally unalike. As you develop your script, continue to explore the differences that make each character unique and the similarities that motivate them to interact and often explain why they sometimes find themselves in the same situation.
Related tools in The Dramatic Writer’s Companion. To continue exploring what makes each character unique, go to the “Developing Your Character” section and try “Characters in Contrast,” “Finding the Character’s Voice,” or “Spinal Tap.”
CHARACTER FACT SHEET
THE QUICK VERSION
Identify key facts about a character that could affect story events
BEST TIME FOR THIS
After you are well into the story
CHARACTER IS STORY
The process of building a dramatic story is closely related to the process of developing characters. To know what happens in the story is to know who the characters are, what they want, and why they behave the way they do.
Each character has a variety of traits that can be combined in a variety of ways. A key challenge of the dramatic writer is not only to identify the traits that a particular character embodies but also to determine which of these traits matter most in the story.
ABOUT THE EXERCISE
Use this exercise to identify important facts about one of your characters. As you step through the exercise categories, keep these suggestions in mind:
• Choose facts that matter. In each category you may find that different responses are possible. Always look for the fact that could have the greatest impact on the dramatic journey.
• Don’t repeat a fact you’ve already given. Exercise categories are designed to prompt creative thinking. Some of them overlap and could generate similar responses. Always look for a new fact in each category.
Examples are from A Streetcar Named Desire by Tennessee Williams, with a focus on the character of Blanche Dubois. Recipient of the 1948 Pulitzer Prize for Drama, the play portrays Blanche’s desperate efforts to find a safe refuge with her married sister after losing her own home and teaching job. The 1951 film adaptation received Academy Award nominations for Best Motion Picture and Best Writing, Screenplay.
■ WHAT ARE THE FACTS?
A fact is something that is known to exist or to have happened. If you are creating a story from imagination, you are the one who decides what is true and not true for your characters. If you are developing a story based on actual people and events, you may need to do research to determine what the facts are. In either case, choose a character to examine and let the following categories help you determine what makes this character distinct and interesting.
1. Physical fact. When we first meet Blanche, she pretends to be a young southern belle, but she is actually much older than she appears. Aging is an issue that underlies many of her challenges throughout the dramatic journey. Identify an important physical fact about your character. It may relate to the character’s age, race, appearance, health, agility, strength, or any other physical trait or condition.
2. Psychological fact. Blanche has learned to rely on the kindness of strangers for her well-being. Identify an important psychological fact about your character. This fact relates to the character’s inner world: the realm of thoughts, beliefs, emotions, aspirations, needs, or any other psychological truths.
3. Family fact. Blanche is mostly alone in the world. Her parents are both dead, her sister is married, her husband committed suicide years ago, she has never remarried, and she has no children. Her lack of family increases her dependency on Stella, her only sister, who now lives with her husband in a one-room apartment. Identify an important fact about your character’s family life.
4. Work fact. Blanche is a high school English teacher by profession but is currently unemployed. Her teaching background contributes to her image as a refined person, while her unemployment adds to her dependency on her sister for room and board. Identify an important fact about your character’s work life.
5. Social fact. When Blanche first arrives in the French Quarter, she appears to be a woman of means, but she is secretly homeless and penniless. Without repeating a previous response, identify an important fact about your character’s social status.
6. Widely known fact. When Blanche’s parents died, the task of running the family estate, Belle Reve, fell on her shoulders since her sister, Stella, had moved to New Orleans and married. Identify an important fact about your character that many others know when the story begins. This fact may relate to any aspect of the character’s identity or life, as long as it is public knowledge and could affect story events.
7. Little-known fact. After Blanche lost her family estate and her job, she had to resort to a life of prostitution in order to keep a roof
over her head and food on the table. This is a history she conceals behind a prim and proper facade. Identify an important fact about your character that most others don’t know when the story begins. This fact may have been intentionally hidden by the character—a secret—or it may be something that simply hasn’t come to light yet.
8. Fun fact. Blanche likes to dress up in fancy evening clothes. She has a wardrobe trunk full of flowery dresses and colorful accessories, including silver slippers and a rhinestone tiara. Identify a fun fact about your character.
9. Haunting fact. Years ago, after discovering her husband, Allan, having sex with an older man, Blanche told Allan that he disgusted her. It was because of her cruel reaction that he killed himself, and Blanche has never forgiven herself for her role in his death. Identify a fact from the past that haunts your character during the story.
10. Shocking fact. Blanche lost her teaching job when the school administration learned about an inappropriate relationship she had with a male student. Identify a shocking fact about your character from the backstory: something the character did or experienced at any time before the story begins. Look for a fact that could influence your character’s beliefs, feelings, or behavior during the dramatic journey.
11. Unfortunate fact. Blanche is being courted by a quiet man named Mitch, who lives with his mother. Blanche does not view him as an ideal mate but pursues his affection because she believes he is her last chance for a happy future. Identify an important fact about your character that is sad but true.
12. Dangerous fact. Blanche has become a master of illusion, believing that it accounts for 50 percent of a woman’s charm. For example, she places veils over the lamps at night to soften the light on her face and maintain the illusion that she is still young. Her flights of fancy eventually grow dangerous, however, and lead to a nervous breakdown. Identify a dangerous fact about your character.
13. Fixed fact. A “fixed fact” is an established truth that is virtually set in stone: it does not change as the story unfolds. By acting like a snob and trying to break up her sister’s marriage, Blanche makes an enemy for life out of her sister’s husband, Stanley. This is a fixed fact that will ultimately contribute to her downfall. Identify a fixed fact about your character that is important to the story because it is always true.
14. Fleeting fact. Whether positive or negative, some facts remain true only for a while. Blanche’s relationship with Mitch appears to be marriage bound, but when her scandalous past catches up with her, she ends up alone again. The loss of Mitch is one of the final steps in her undoing. Think about how your character’s life changes as story events unfold. Identify a fact about the character that is true at one time but not another. Look for a fact that is important because it ceases to be true.
15. Fact to be proud of. Blanche has been a darling of high society who once hobnobbed with the rich and cultured. Think about your character’s greatest assets and accomplishments. What fact would he or she most enjoy bragging about?
16. Fact to be ashamed of. In her efforts to forget the guilt she feels over her husband’s suicide, Blanche drinks too much, but only in private. Identify a fact that makes your character feel ashamed. This fact may or may not be known by others.
17. Recurring fact. In addition to alcohol, Blanche repeatedly uses sex to dull the memory of her role in her husband’s suicide. This has led her to have multiple sexual partners over the years and to seek intimacy only with strangers. Identify a fact about your character that is important because it keeps happening again and again.
18. Brutal fact. The truth is not always pretty. Blanche reaches the point in her life where the only “kindness of strangers” she can still find is the extended arm of a gentleman who will escort her to a mental asylum. Identify a brutal fact about your character.
19. Fuzzy fact. Like the meaning of an inkblot, the significance of some facts is hard to discern. Some people see this truth one way; others see it another way. Blanche has “highbrow” manners. Her brother-in-law, Stanley, sees her manners as a phony attempt to make herself look better than everyone else. Her suitor, Mitch, sees her manners as an attractive feature of her personality. Think about how others perceive your character. Identify a fuzzy fact about him or her—a truth that is interpreted in at least two different ways by others in the story.
20. False fact. Blanche believes that a wealthy southern gentleman named Shep Huntleigh will one day come to her rescue and take care of her for the rest of her life. The truth is that Shep once was her suitor but he has moved on and is now married to someone else. Identify something that your character perceives as a fact but is actually untrue.
■ WHICH FACTS MATTER MOST?
You have now collected twenty facts about your character. Though all are important, some matter more than others. Use the next set of questions to sum up what matters most. You may repeat whatever information is appropriate here or add any new information that occurs to you now.
1. Positive facts. Blanche is a complicated character who reveals many sides of herself as she searches for a safe refuge in a cruel world. Blanche, for example, has these strengths and assets:
• she knows how to put her best foot forward and present herself well,
• she is intelligent and resourceful, and
• she has a sister who loves her.
Identify the three positive facts about your character that matter most.
2. Negative facts. Blanche is a compelling dramatic character because she also has many weaknesses and vulnerabilities, including these:
• she has lived with so much delusion that she often can’t tell what’s real and what isn’t,
• she is a fragile person who must rely on others for almost everything, and
• she has a brother-in-law who wants to run her out of his home at any cost.
Identify the three negative facts about your character that matter most.
■ WHAT IF SOME FACTS WERE DIFFERENT?
You may gain new insights about your story by playing with the facts and imagining a few new possibilities for your character.
1. Strength as liability. Review the three positive character facts that you identified as most important, and begin to think about them in new ways:
• Imagine that under certain circumstances, one of these strengths or assets could prove to be a liability. Mark one that could possibly get your character into trouble at some time in the story. For example, Blanche knows how to put her best foot forward.
• Blanche’s ability to present herself well turns against her as the story unfolds. Instead of impressing her brother-in-law, she alienates him by appearing phony and condescending. If she had been more honest about her problems, she might not have ended up in such dire straits at the end of the story. Suppose your story were to unfold in a slightly different way. How might the character strength you marked become a weakness?
2. Weakness as strength. Review the three negative character facts that you identified as most important, and begin to think about them in new ways:
• Imagine that under certain circumstances, one of these weaknesses or liabilities could prove to be an asset. Mark one that could help your character accomplish something important at some time in the story. For example, Blanche is a fragile person who must rely on others for almost everything.
• For Blanche, fragility becomes a powerful tool to manipulate others. By throwing herself helplessly into the arms of those around her, she acquires a free place to stay for now and a prospective husband for later. Suppose your story were to unfold in a slightly different way. How might the character weakness you marked become a strength?
WRAP-UP
Multidimensional characters have a complex mix of traits that define who they are and distinguish them from one another. As the dramatic journey unfolds scene by scene, the most important of these traits will be revealed through the actions of the characters as they pursue their goals and deal with obstacles.
As you devel
op your script, keep building on what you know about your characters to discover new physical, psychological, and social facts about them. Such discoveries can help keep you engaged in the characters as you write and often lead to new directions for the story, especially when you have reached a creative crossroads where you’re not sure which way to proceed next.
Related tools in The Dramatic Writer’s Companion. Any exercise in the “Developing Your Character” section can help you learn more about your character. For starters, try “Basic Character Builder,” “What the Character Believes,” “Where the Character Lives,” and “Where the Character Works.”
TWO VIEWS OF ONE CHARACTER
THE QUICK VERSION
Learn more about three characters by exploring how two of them view the third
BEST TIME FOR THIS
After you have a working sense of your principal characters
HOW CHARACTERS SEE THOSE AROUND THEM
As dramatic characters interact, they form certain impressions about one another. Whether accurate or not, these perceptions often affect character behavior. When the queen wiggles her finger, for example, minions rush to serve her because of their perceptions of her power. When a homeless man pleads desperately for money, passersby may not even glance his way because of their perceptions of his need.