The Essential Guide To Scriptwriting — Part 2

This is part 2 of the essential guide to scriptwriting. The essential guide to scriptwriting is a 7-part guide to help scriptwriters write, describe and establish their characters better.

DEVELOPING A CHARACTER

There are 3 things to do when developing a character:

1. Establish the character

2. Define their internal and external life

3. Turn them upside down

Establishing a character

All characters should have a 3-Dimensional Structure

• The three dimensions are:
• Physiology
• Sociology
• Psychology

Establishing a character

• Physiology is the physical appearance of a character
• Attributes of physiology include:
• Sex, age, height, weight, hair/skin/eye colour, posture, deformities, abnormalities, etc.

Establishing a character

• Sociology is the place of the character in society
• Attributes of sociology include:
• Class status, occupation, education, home life, religion, race, nationality etc.

Establishing a character

• Psychology is inner workings of the character’s mind
• Attributes of psychology include:
• Moral standards, sex life, ambition, frustrations, temperament, attitude towards life, complexes, I.Q., secrets, etc

THIS IS THE HARDEST DIMENSION OF A CHARACTER TO DEFINE!

DEFINING A CHARACTER’S LIFE

• All characters in stories have an Interior and Exterior Life
• The storyteller will have to define these two aspects to develop the character.

DEFINING A CHARACTER’S LIFE

• The Interior Life
• The Interior Life of a character is defined as the part of a character’s life that takes place from birth until the moment your story begins.
• It is a process that forms character.
• This is also commonly known as backstory.

DEFINING A CHARACTER’S LIFE

• Exterior Life
• The Exterior Life of a character is defined as the part of a character’s life that takes place from when your story begins till when your story ends.
• It is a process that reveals character.
• This is the part of the character that you see during the story

WRITING EXERCISE — PEOPLE WATCH

• Go to an area and watch the people pass by
• Eventually, one of them will catch your attention
• Write down as many details as you can about the person through observation
• Do this again for another person
• Write a one page description (Courier, 12 pt, 1.5 spaced) per person, detailing your observation of the person’s physiology, sociology and psychology. Also, include some of your own thoughts and inferences about the person.