HOW TO WRITE A SCREENPLAY (SCRIPT) PT. 5

HOW TO CREATE CHARACTER TRAITS AND ARC
Your main character, the protaganist, and their evil counterpart, the antagonist, as well as other cast members, must have certain personality traits. This can be reflected by the way they look, talk, walk, habits that they may have, their occupation, where they like to vacation; it's just like people in real life.

Creating this can be a judgmental process, we all know particular stereotypes for people. The point is to break out of that box, to surprise your audience with character traits, especially for your main character, that they do not expect.

For example, Clark Kent is described as a mild-mannered reporter, but he is really Superman.

From Clark's glasses, to his hairstyle, job in journalism, and his work attire, nobody could ever guess that he is a super-hero. It's his alter-ego, and it makes him special.

Using my LOGLINE and OUTLINE for the character Monique, I can create some character traits to make her more interesting to the audience. My idea started with a relative that I know, who moved fourteen times in two years. A person like that is probably:

*irrational
*compulsive
*never satisfied

I need to reflect these character traits in the script. Whenever my main character is making a decision, one of the above three factors will probably apply. By the time we get to ACT III, the RESOLUTION phase, I have decided that she will have learned some lessons from all of her ACT II CHALLENGES. She will be changed. This is called the ARC of the character, sort of like a learning curve, or how much they have evolved.

James Bond, for example, does not have a strong character arc, and he doesn't need to. We know who he is and what he does in most every one of his films, we don't want him to change.

Going over the outline again, I can develop some more character traits. It says she is a "routine 9 to 5er with a dull desk job in Boston". I have the right to change that, and I should. Let's make it a miserable job, that works with her motives of wanting her life to change.

"She works for a collection agency, calling debtors".

That would suck alright, but it doesn't describe any character traits. What if she is cold and brutal with the people that she calls, is that good? No, it's not a character trait that the audience will like. We want the audience to back Monique, to feel as sorry for her as she really is.

"She works for a collection agency, calling debtors, but rarely collects, sympathizing with them in long, drawn out personal conversations".

That's interesting, and it shows that our character is not mean-spirited, she is almost too much of a softie. That also needs to be reflected throughout the script and it doesn't need to change in the arc, we don't want her to evolve into a tough outer shell.

As far as look, someone who is irrational and compulsive might dress mismatched, or really "out there", being a poor planner and not in tune with what is considered the norm. We need to be careful with this character trait; overdone and it has lost its effect. The story doesn't revolve around the way she dresses, it should just be reflected.

For example, maybe one day it's raining and she wears her rubber boots to work, but forgets to bring her shoes, so she has to wear rubber boots at work all day. Of course, if jeans are the uniform, that's not so funny, so let's make her wearing a pantsuit or skirt. And her office has to be way out in the boonies, not that she can run off during lunch and get some shoes.

My mentors, and I, strongly advise against having your protaganist do something negatively out of character. In my first description of my relative, who the story is loosely based on, I said that she was a pill addict. This trait will not work well with the type of story and character that we are developing. We cannot make an illegal as well as harmful habit seem acceptable to the public. It would also be too "dark" for this type of genre, which seems to be developing into a "romantic comedy".

Work on your character traits, brainstorming in the process. If you have four women hanging out in a group as friends, dating, going out, in a "Sex and the City" sort of way, they each need to be uniquely different, and to an extent, opposites. Getting this down before writing your script will let you focus on the content of dialogue and actions while writing.

And don't forget the ARC, how much of it is necessary, and in what ways you want your character to evolve.

Have a good write!