Ignoring Outcast Orange's bizzare attempts to
demand I apologise for writing more than he cares to read and ThreeToe's reluctance to ban either of us two boneheads, it's on to more constructive things!
Lately, I've been trying to become a good writer, and to introduce realistic characters into my stories (and a kind of screenplay). And basically, when there is an introduction, everything's fine, but when the craziness of the plot starts kicking in, the character stops, and I don't know what he would do. The sources of the problem I see as my identification with the character, so, I am an antisocial person, who is used to relying on others' decisions in difficult situations, and the character is the same. Or I have a suspicion that it's just my anti-sociality, and so I know very few people to base may characters on. Am I right and what should I do?
From what I can interpret, the core of your problem seems to be that you just can't find a voice for your characters that isn't your own.
It's a common problem. Even the most insane of writers is only one person, and when called out to suddenly vomit forth the voices of dozens, if not hundreds of characters, can be a difficult thing. The first thing you've got to understand is that no matter what you do, every character will carry a part of you with them. That's just how this works - it may not be a part you like, a part you recognise, or a part you even realise, but every character that is ultimately born of you will be a part of you. This is not to say of course that every character is always going to be just you putting on an act in drag - it's just worth recognising that no matter how well you research or define a character, you're still the one putting words in their mouth, so it's still you at some point in the process.
Trying to identify with a character whose personality is wildly different to yours is difficult. Where most writing comes from the heart, raw emotion and thought spilled forth, when you come to doing this for someone whose thought processes are so damn alien to you, it can just ruin the entire flow and stop you dead in your tracks. This is the point where all the planning you should do be never actually get around to helps. This is where you get clinical.
The quickest way to get around this is to use
character sheets. Take a piece of paper. Write down a quick list of things you'd use to describe a character - name, height, eye colour, hair style. Where they spent their childhoods. What they think of their parents. Any nervous habits and quirks they might have. Who their friends are. What their favourite colour is. What words they like to use, and what words they don't. Lists of words of things they are, and lists of words of what they aren't. Who they want to be. Who their heroes are.
You're essentially writing an autobiography questionnaire for your characters. But don't get all flowery and prosey - this is clinical, to the point. Bullet points and single words. Think of it as a survey.
And then go deeper.
Ask strange questions, like what their views on capital punishment are. What they would do if they got more change if they should have at a store. Or less. What their favourite smell is. How rainy days make them feel. Whether or not they like cutting the grass. Do they want children? Where do they see themselves in 10 years time? What's the one thing they're most embarrassed about? What have they always wanted to do? What's the thing they most regret in life?
By now you should have 3-4 pages of questions, most of them utterly bizarre. And this is where you start filling them in, one set for every character. But the important thing is,
fill the same question out for each character at the same time. Four characters? Fill out Age, Age, Age, Age first, then Height, Height, Height, Height, etcetera - and then do one more, for yourself.
If you see a pattern emerge, stop. Between either your own character sheet and a fictional character, or between two fictional characters. And question that pattern - is the character meant to be like this? Is this just me in a dress? If they are short, why do they act small? Question and double-guess everything. And look around for inspiration - find characters that already exist and fulfil the dramatic purpose you're looking for and fill out a character sheet for them. Distil the entirety of their existence down to a few simple words, and use those words.
This is your safety net - this is your list of things that you know. The more you know about your characters, the easier it is to write them. Ideally you want to get to a point where you're not making things up on the spot but rather just reporting the facts. If you ever get stuck writing a character, then you go to these sheets - if the answer to your question isn't there, then you aren't asking the right questions, or lying to yourself about the answer you want to write.
Another method to good characterisation is to be an actor. Now, I've worked with actors. It is not normally a good thing to be one. But it sure as shit is handy. To write a character sometimes you've got to be the character. Close the windows and blinds. Shut yourself in a relatively sound proof room. Take a mirror, some clothing (this sort of thing is ideal to do in a bedroom) and what you need to write. A tape recorder helps, too.
And get physical.
If your character is meant to be tall, then stand on your tippie-toes and strut around. Are you a confident character? Jut that chest out. Oh yeah, you're hot shit now. Look at yourself in that mirror. Aren't you just the most handsome damn thing in the world? Oh yeah, the ladies love you. You're 6'5" of god's-gift to the female race.
How do you walk? How fast? What feels more comfortable to you - a shirt and shorts, or something more formal? How do you dress on a date? Does your leg hurt? How does that affect your walk? Is someone watching you - how do you change?
Basically this method is about letting your imagination define your physicality for a few hours. It's kind of like day dreaming, only you let your entire body go along for the journey. Eventually you'll get to the point where all the physical things will come to you mentally, and then your character will feel you through their lines and scenes.
Half a year ago I was very heavily into learning screenwriting and I found a couple of very useful books about it and moviemaking in general at my library: Kevin Conroy Scott, Screenwriters Masterclass; Clifford Thurlow, Making Short Films. I think they can be as useful for quality writing, as for low-quality, first-draft writing.
The best book that I can recommend when it comes to scriptwriting - hell, any writing in general - is
Screenplay by Syd Field. It is my bible and constant companion - it is older than your grandmother and a thousand times more insightful. And it's piss cheap, too. Even if you're only remotely interested in writing, it's worth every cent. If you're heavy into the theory and want more of a read, then pick up
Story by Robert McKee. Both of these books are just fantastic.
I'M GOING TO USE THIS AS THE MOTIVATION I NEED TO PUT MY SPRAWLING AND DERANGED COMIC DOWN ON PAPER
IT'S ABOUT AI AND CYBERNETICS AND HOW STUPID SERIOUS ARGUMENTS ABOUT PHILOSOPHY ARE
YEAAAAHHHH
WELCOME TO THE JUNGLE, WE GOT FUN AND GAMES
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Topic: SCRIPT FRENZY: It's own our personal Writing Arc. (Read 15458 times)