I often see scripts where the plot is entertaining, the structure is solid, and the material is engaging overall... But the characters are almost completely indistinguishable from each other.
Their personalities are more bland than that one guy from The Bachelorette. You know the one. Because it's almost every one of them.
You may be wondering: well, what's the problem?! If The Bachelor / Bachelorette can have a bunch of people with the same exact appearance and personality season after season and still be a hugely successful show, why does my story need distinct characters?
The difference is that people don't tune in to The Bachelor / Bachelorette for the people. They tune in for the drama those people create. It's the format of the show that makes it a success.
There's a similar appeal with things like Hallmark Christmas movies, romance novels, etc. People enjoy these because they know exactly what to expect out of them.
When it comes to storytelling that falls outside of these very structured formats, your audience needs a reason to emotionally invest in the people driving the plot.
So let's get into crafting unique characters for your story!
Identifying Your Character's Voice
How can you avoid your scenes sounding like this?
While the main issue here is the content of the scene (the conversation is literally all things that are a waste of time for us to hear. the point of the scene is that he's buying the flowers, not that he's saying hello and goodbye to the florist, not how much he's paying for the roses, and not that there's a dog on the counter), the other issue is the lack of distinguishing features between the characters' dialogue.
Both Johnny and the florist speak with the same tone and word choices.
If I were reading this script, the only way I'd be able to tell them apart (without looking at their names) is the context that Johnny is a customer and the florist is an employee.
So is the solution to make every character have an accent or constantly use slang?
No. And if you do this.......................
The solution is to treat your characters like real people.
Here's an exercise you can do:
Write a short scene between your character and you.
Yes, YOU! Don't be shy ;)
Now delete the names of the characters.
Can you tell which one is which? Or do both sound exactly like you?
Unless this is a story about your life and your character is you, you've got a problem.
Now of course, your voice as a writer should come across clearly in your story -- in fact, it's one of the main things I look for.
But when the writer’s voice overpowers everything to the point where the characters are basically just vehicles for the writer's inner monologue / stand-up routine, the charm of a strong voice wears off quickly.
On a basic level, a character’s personality is shown through their words.
The way one character would respond to a question is different from how another would respond, even if their answers are the same.
Let's say for example you and I had breakfast together this morning.
We had a great time, we both ordered the berry pancakes, and YOU paid the check 💅 so nice of you!
If someone were to ask us separately how breakfast was, we would have similar accounts. But the way I present the information is going to be different from how you present it.
You would probably only mention you paid for the check if you're feeling salty about it, whereas I would mention it to let people know how kind you were.
You may have hated the pancakes and you tell people they should never order them, but I loved them and am raving about them to everyone.
Maybe you only decided to get pancakes because it was a 2-for-1 deal and you knew you were going to pay.
Maybe I took advantage of that to get the pancakes I wanted. 👀
We both experienced the same events, but our actions and reactions are very different.
Which leads to...
Identifying Your Character's Motivation
You may have heard the advice: "characters should never say exactly what they're thinking."
I think there needs to be a caveat to this: "Characters should never say exactly what they're thinking... In a boring way."
Because who on earth goes about their daily life talking purely in subtext and not saying what they want to say?!
Maybe some pretentious people do, but most people are typically trying to convey exactly what they think and feel. It just doesn't always come out right. That's where the "characters should never say exactly what they're thinking" comes into play.
While, yes, the characters are talking about business cards, what they're all really saying here is "I'm better than you."
They're all saying exactly what they want to say, but they're not saying it in the boring way: "I'm better than you."
They're saying it the interesting way: "Eggshell. With Romalian type. What do you think?"
And Paul Allen doesn't say anything at all. He whips his card out, knowing damn well he's got the best one.
By doing this, he's expressing exactly what he's thinking and feeling without the need to say it.
It's pretty clear that each of these characters' motivations is to one-up the other men.
Clear motivation is the key to ensuring your characters' dialogue is distinct.
Motivation drives what a character says and how they say it. This is the main thing that makes their voices clear and distinguishable from other characters.
So please... I beg you... Stop trying to write pretty, flowery lines for your character to express a very simple emotion or thought.
You may think this makes you a good writer, but actually it's creating a huge divide between your characters and your audience. Which is a hallmark of bad writing.
Identifying Your Character's Emotions
You could argue this is the same thing as motivations, and in a lot of cases I think that's true.
However, there are so many times in life where people have good intentions but let their emotions get in the way.
Or, simply, they have clear motivations AND an emotional response, changing the meaning of their words.
There's a very strong example of this in THE TRUMAN SHOW.
The protagonist often says this catchphrase:
Every time he says it, he truly means it. He genuinely wants to ensure the people he interacts with know that he cares about their relationship.
At the very end of the movie, when he's discovered everything in his world is a facade, he says the exact same phrase:
As you can see, he says the same words he's always said, and even his motivation behind those words is the same.
He wants the people he's talking to to know that he genuinely cares about their relationship.
But now, he's feeling a much different way about it.
Of course, a lot of this is conveyed through Jim Carrey's performance. But on a script level, we can infer this emotion based on the context of everything that we've seen happen to him leading up to this point.
We've gone on this emotional journey with him, and we understand exactly how he feels in this moment because we feel it with him.
Identifying Your Character's Backstory
A character's backstory is what creates all the other elements listed above.
We wouldn't understand the stakes of the AMERICAN PSYCHO business card scene without knowing Patrick is a cutthroat (literally) businessman whose motivation is to be known as the best in the game.
We wouldn't understand the emotions behind the final scene in THE TRUMAN SHOW without knowing Truman has spent his entire life living in a false reality.
I saved this point for last because, although it's so inherent to defining your characters, it's something I see a lot of writers rely way too heavily on.
I've read several scripts where the characters explain WHY they're feeling or thinking a certain way, using their backstory as a reason.
It's such a cop-out, and really just makes the character's dialogue even more boring and less personable than if we didn't know their backstory at all.
What we don't want to see in the AMERICAN PSYCHO business card scene is Patrick saying: "Look at this new card I got, because I'm trying to show you guys I'm the best VP in mergers and acquisitions."
What we don't want to see in the TRUMAN SHOW scene is Truman saying: "I'm going to walk out this door now because I lived my whole life inside a TV show, and I want to see the real world. In case I don't see you, good afternoon, good evening, and good night!"
We don’t want characters to tell us their motivations -- we want to see those motivations play out through their actions and interactions.
While you can't (and shouldn't) always show where a character was born, what their family was like, and what they were like in school, who their friends were, etc. these things are often important to shaping a character's backstory.
So how do you express these things more naturally than just having your character say them outright?
1. Use your character’s actions, reactions, and choices to reflect their history (even if it's never stated outright).
In AMERICAN PSYCHO, Patrick Bateman’s obsession with appearances and status is rooted in his backstory as a businessman in a world where image is everything.
Instead of telling us that in his dialogue, we see it in his actions. The way he meticulously compares business cards, becoming visibly distressed when someone else’s is seemingly superior to his.
2. Reveal backstory gradually
Please, for everyone's sake, don't unload you character's backstory all at once.
The information being dumped onto the audience like that pretty much guarantees they won't remember most of it immediately after the scene ends.
But more importantly, in real life, people don't just go around explaining their whole life story. So why should your characters?
Instead, reveal backstory in pieces, hinting at or directly showing elements of a character's past. This creates intrigue and lets the audience connect the dots, which is far more engaging than having a character explain their life story.
One of the joys of experiencing a well-written story is piecing it all together without being force-fed the information. This creates a far more immersive experience for the audience, making them feel more connected to the characters.
3. (don't over-)Use subtext
Subtext allows characters to say one thing while meaning another, revealing their deeper thoughts or emotional wounds.
When they're acting or reacting to something, consider what the character ISN'T saying and what that means about them.
If your character had a difficult relationship with their dad, instead of them saying: “I had a terrible dad,” we could instead see them show discomfort when they see a father and son enjoying ice cream cones together.
Through your character's reactions and subtle dialogue cues, the audience can infer their backstory.
But don't rely only on this -- at a certain point, we'll need more context to show us why the character was uncomfortable seeing a healthy father/son relationship.
And there you have it.
That covers the basics of crafting unique characters.
It's all about giving them distinct voices, motivations, emotional depth, and backstories. Your audience needs to feel like they’re meeting real people, not just hearing your thoughts through multiple mouths.
So take the time to explore who your characters really are, and let their actions and reactions show us that.
Now... Go craft some characters that leap off the page and make us feel like we’re right there with them!
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