What Makes A Character Memorable?
A white feather floats through the air, drifting high in the afternoon sky. As it drops, fluttering through clouds, “Paramount Pictures Presents” fades in with opening titles—“A Steve Tish/Wendy Finerman Production”—“A Robert Zemekis Film”—and the feather travels further on its journey, whisked away by the breeze, hovering over a busy Savannah, Georgia street. The feather […]
Why You Should Play Closer Attention To Your Characters
If we asked you what was the most important aspect of your screenplay, your answer should be your characters. Certainly, other factors such as dialogue and plot are critical to your screenwriting, but not as much as textured characters. They are the beating heart of your story. Your audience invests in character more than anything […]
5 Character Revealing Scenes To Enhance Your Screenplay
It is written that every scene in your screenplay must do one of two things – reveal character or advance the plot of the story. Ideally, screenwriters should aim to do both to elevate their scripts. There are a number of pivotal scenes described in this article that give both writers and audiences a defining […]
5 Reasons You Should Kill Your Darlings
Screenwriters are often told to kill their darlings – figuratively speaking. Snuffing out your characters begins during the outlining stage of your screenplay. If two or more characters are too similar and the story still stands if you remove one or more, then they are not essential. Your audience won’t miss them. Consider a scene […]
How To Use Cognitive Bias To Layer Your Characters
Well-drawn characters in storytelling are defined by four key components – their goal, their motivation, their obstacles, and the consequences of achieving (or not achieving) their said goal. These are the basis of the plot in your screenplay. However, good screenplays are defined by layered, complex characters more than the storyline. For screenwriters, complexity means […]
