Creating Convincing Characters is an online community that I set up in 2000.
Initially, it was to promote and to back-up the TypeCasting workshops that I run from time to time.
I had hoped it would develop into a thriving community, buzzing with actively creative people who wanted to give and get feedback, share ideas, learn from each other, and so much more!
Well, it didn't work out that way, sadly. Who knows, though, perhaps this blog will help to bring new life the that group!
The reasons are many ... but that was then and this is now. Blogs, My-Space, YouTube and other wonder of the web have since appeared and evolved and, having been weaned on (if not quite weaned off) science fiction, I delight in all things high-tech. I don't understand most of them any more than I did as a boy, but I certainly benefit from them.
So, I decided to resuscitate and blog the CCC content, which includes articles, guidelines, links, frameworks for people who create fictional characters and want them to be full of life and conviction.
I have already revised and posted a few articles, which I hope you will find interesting and useful. You are invited to comment, question or contribute in any way you want.
And, of course, let people know about what you are doing, writing, reading, playing.
go well
MM
TypeCasting Workshops
Showing posts with label writing. Show all posts
Showing posts with label writing. Show all posts
Sunday, 14 January 2007
S C R I P Ts
Situation Challenges Resources Intelligence Plot Theme
NB: hir is intentional
I created the SCRIPT model as a framework for analysing the structure and the progress of a story (plot) and its relation to the transformational arc of the protagonist i.e. the story's main Character/s, the antagonist(s), key supporting characters and lesser characters who do more than merely make up the crowd.
SCRIPT can be useful for mapping out a story's structure or for exploring - and amending - any weaknesses during and after the actual writing, always with reference to the character/s development and transformation as the story unfolds.
The three act structure, like the Script model, provides another underlying framework, even if it invisible, that is not restricted to drama on stage or screen but useful for any of the venerable and ancient art of story-telling, ranging from sagas to short stories.
Both the three act structure and the SCRIPT model are intended to help the flow of your creativity. They can also work well as skeletons, frameworks or templates for giving and getting feedback on the material we offer up for other people's kind or cutting comments!
OK, let's expand on each item of the acronym:
Situation
The basic story outline; the environment - the time and the place - in which your Character/s act and interact. The external forces that impact on the Character/s and influence their decisions, which could be anything from the weather, the sea, the living room, the workplace, the bedroom, the mean streets of the naked city, or some fantasy future scape.
Do your Characters create or stumble across situations? Does everyone except the Protagonist know what's going on? Is the Protagonist the only one - as far s/he knows - in the know?
Is s/he losing hir way, or hir mind? Is s/he hoping to find her True Self, or merely waiting for Godot?
Is this the Last Action Hero or the End of Days? Much Ado about Nothing or Everything you ever Wanted to Know about Sax but were too Winded to Ask?
Challenges
What demons or devils will your Characters meet? Do angels or anxieties, temptresses or terrors visit in the wee small hours? Does seduction or sedition compel them to change the situation they are in? What secrets or lies will be disclosed, and what demands or deficits await to be discovered? And, of course, we will thrill as we join our key characters, rising to meet the challenges on their journeys of self discovery and personal evolution!
Resources
What can the Character/s call upon in an hour of need? Who will be on their side, offering support or sympathy? Who will proffer, or withhold, clues, connections or contact?
What skills, experiences or expertise, does your Protagonist already have or will need to call upon? What resources must s/he demand or develop? Is hir partner, hir bank manager, hir former best friend, hir worst enemy the one with just precisely what s/he needs?
Are there more inner resources than s/he realises or admits?
Intelligence
Smart Alec? Beautiful Bimbo? Cold and calculating or intuitively sympathetic? Intellectual? Emotionally authentic? Does s/he know how to deal with people, or is s/he out of touch with humanity?
Intelligence may be intellectual or emotional, spontaneous or calculating. Is your character depriving a village somewhere of an Idiot? Is Mensa keeping a space warm just in case? Is s/he one ball short of a tennis match, or is s/he a match for anyone s/he meets?
Plot
The story itself as it unfolds. This may conform to the 3-act structure, and can be related to the development of the (main) characters i.e the transformational arc of the protagonist.
Act 1 Let's call this the set-up stage. We know the situation, and we may have some idea of the challenges s/he (the protagonist - and the other characters, of courses) will face - clues and hints can be given. We may also know something of the way hir limited resources or intellect will impact on how s/he will or will not handle the challenges ahead.
Act 2, when s/he'd rather retreat to the relative comfort of ignorance or indifference portrayed in the set-up, our Character begins to discover, painfully, reluctantly, intriguingly - if we create interesting enough challenges - that s/he is more (or perhaps less) than s/he imagined. If we skilfully plot hir progress both in story terms and in personal evolution terms, and if the 3 Acts harmonise with the stages of hir personal development, our stories will have greater subtlety and substance, and our Characters will be more real and more rounded.
Act 3 we start to tie up loose ends. Cliffhangers from Acts 1 & 2 are resolved, although there will still be doubts, obstacles, threats, uncertainties. The Character/s discover that they are wiser, warmer, wittier than they imagined. One or other of them saves the world, or hir marriage, or hir dignity.
Our audience will, by this time, either like or dislike our creations. Whether they celebrate because s/he got hir due reward, or seethe because s/he didn't get her just desserts, they are more likely to remember them if we have given them substance as well as surface.
Such is life - and, after all, whose plot is it anyway?
Theme
Every story, real or created, can be made more compelling and convincing with a central theme. In real life, this theme can recognised as a form of 'currency.''
In some families, for example, the currency may be academic success, in others athletic prowess. Physical attraction, public acclaim, notoriety are themes / currencies than can be recognised in real life, as well as in fiction.
Some say there are only 7 basic plots, e.g. boy meets girl, loses girl, gets girl. Or, girl loses her way, finds her way, gets in the way, and so on.
Clarity about the your theme, will enable you to enrich and embellish the story by weaving the theme through various scenes and chapters.
Theme can also echo in snatches of dialogue, be reflected in vibrant images, hidden in subtle metaphors, emphasised by the dynamic tension between characters, and be reinforced in the connecting links between the '3 Acts.'
Remember, the 3-act structure is simply a scaffolding to support the elegant detail of your wonderful creations. It can also help in deciding where to put cliff-hanging moments (e.g. just before the commercial breaks?)
go well MM
TypeCasting Workshops
NB: hir is intentional
I created the SCRIPT model as a framework for analysing the structure and the progress of a story (plot) and its relation to the transformational arc of the protagonist i.e. the story's main Character/s, the antagonist(s), key supporting characters and lesser characters who do more than merely make up the crowd.
SCRIPT can be useful for mapping out a story's structure or for exploring - and amending - any weaknesses during and after the actual writing, always with reference to the character/s development and transformation as the story unfolds.
The three act structure, like the Script model, provides another underlying framework, even if it invisible, that is not restricted to drama on stage or screen but useful for any of the venerable and ancient art of story-telling, ranging from sagas to short stories.
Both the three act structure and the SCRIPT model are intended to help the flow of your creativity. They can also work well as skeletons, frameworks or templates for giving and getting feedback on the material we offer up for other people's kind or cutting comments!
OK, let's expand on each item of the acronym:
Situation
The basic story outline; the environment - the time and the place - in which your Character/s act and interact. The external forces that impact on the Character/s and influence their decisions, which could be anything from the weather, the sea, the living room, the workplace, the bedroom, the mean streets of the naked city, or some fantasy future scape.
Do your Characters create or stumble across situations? Does everyone except the Protagonist know what's going on? Is the Protagonist the only one - as far s/he knows - in the know?
Is s/he losing hir way, or hir mind? Is s/he hoping to find her True Self, or merely waiting for Godot?
Is this the Last Action Hero or the End of Days? Much Ado about Nothing or Everything you ever Wanted to Know about Sax but were too Winded to Ask?
Challenges
What demons or devils will your Characters meet? Do angels or anxieties, temptresses or terrors visit in the wee small hours? Does seduction or sedition compel them to change the situation they are in? What secrets or lies will be disclosed, and what demands or deficits await to be discovered? And, of course, we will thrill as we join our key characters, rising to meet the challenges on their journeys of self discovery and personal evolution!
Resources
What can the Character/s call upon in an hour of need? Who will be on their side, offering support or sympathy? Who will proffer, or withhold, clues, connections or contact?
What skills, experiences or expertise, does your Protagonist already have or will need to call upon? What resources must s/he demand or develop? Is hir partner, hir bank manager, hir former best friend, hir worst enemy the one with just precisely what s/he needs?
Are there more inner resources than s/he realises or admits?
Intelligence
Smart Alec? Beautiful Bimbo? Cold and calculating or intuitively sympathetic? Intellectual? Emotionally authentic? Does s/he know how to deal with people, or is s/he out of touch with humanity?
Intelligence may be intellectual or emotional, spontaneous or calculating. Is your character depriving a village somewhere of an Idiot? Is Mensa keeping a space warm just in case? Is s/he one ball short of a tennis match, or is s/he a match for anyone s/he meets?
Plot
The story itself as it unfolds. This may conform to the 3-act structure, and can be related to the development of the (main) characters i.e the transformational arc of the protagonist.
Act 1 Let's call this the set-up stage. We know the situation, and we may have some idea of the challenges s/he (the protagonist - and the other characters, of courses) will face - clues and hints can be given. We may also know something of the way hir limited resources or intellect will impact on how s/he will or will not handle the challenges ahead.
Act 2, when s/he'd rather retreat to the relative comfort of ignorance or indifference portrayed in the set-up, our Character begins to discover, painfully, reluctantly, intriguingly - if we create interesting enough challenges - that s/he is more (or perhaps less) than s/he imagined. If we skilfully plot hir progress both in story terms and in personal evolution terms, and if the 3 Acts harmonise with the stages of hir personal development, our stories will have greater subtlety and substance, and our Characters will be more real and more rounded.
Act 3 we start to tie up loose ends. Cliffhangers from Acts 1 & 2 are resolved, although there will still be doubts, obstacles, threats, uncertainties. The Character/s discover that they are wiser, warmer, wittier than they imagined. One or other of them saves the world, or hir marriage, or hir dignity.
Our audience will, by this time, either like or dislike our creations. Whether they celebrate because s/he got hir due reward, or seethe because s/he didn't get her just desserts, they are more likely to remember them if we have given them substance as well as surface.
Such is life - and, after all, whose plot is it anyway?
Theme
Every story, real or created, can be made more compelling and convincing with a central theme. In real life, this theme can recognised as a form of 'currency.''
In some families, for example, the currency may be academic success, in others athletic prowess. Physical attraction, public acclaim, notoriety are themes / currencies than can be recognised in real life, as well as in fiction.
Some say there are only 7 basic plots, e.g. boy meets girl, loses girl, gets girl. Or, girl loses her way, finds her way, gets in the way, and so on.
Clarity about the your theme, will enable you to enrich and embellish the story by weaving the theme through various scenes and chapters.
Theme can also echo in snatches of dialogue, be reflected in vibrant images, hidden in subtle metaphors, emphasised by the dynamic tension between characters, and be reinforced in the connecting links between the '3 Acts.'
Remember, the 3-act structure is simply a scaffolding to support the elegant detail of your wonderful creations. It can also help in deciding where to put cliff-hanging moments (e.g. just before the commercial breaks?)
go well MM
TypeCasting Workshops
LOGICAL LEVELS: Transformational Arcs
Attitude Relationship Identity Values Beliefs Skills Actions Environment
See also Evolution of Character
This framework relates Character development to the structure of a story.
As you read what is written below, picture a series of concentric spirals. Each relates to or connects with all the others, and there's a constant 'flow' or feedback of data between them.
That said, it is also useful to recognise a basic hierarchy from bottom to top.
In real life, if you want to effect lasting change on any level, something MUST happen on the level immediately above. If you omit a level, for example trying to change beliefs without realising that someone lacks a basic skill or capability, then, although they want to behave differently, they may literally not know how!
For our Characters, let's start at the end and end at the top!
What attitude, character or 'spirit' do you want your Characters to develop, evolve or manifest at journey's end i.e. what kind of person (Identity) do you want your protagonist to be by the closing credits?
For them to have achieved this, how do their actions, reactions and transactions differ as the story unfolds, in response to the issues or relationships s/he meets along the way? And in what ways does the audience hear, see and feel these changes taking place?
By the end of the story, how do the Characters perceive themselves differently? If asked, 'Who do you think you are'? how would they answer? Do they - and the audience - have a different sense of their identity?
In what ways are the answers obvious in their actions? Are they less arrogant or more self-assured? Do they have more self -esteem or greater insight? Less restraint along with greater responsibility?
How have their values changed? Do they value other people more, or material goods less? Does principle now matter more than profit, or do they value Mammon more than God?
What are their beliefs about the world? About themselves? About other people? About ambition, emotional authenticity, beauty, gender, people who are different? What do they now believe about their past or hope for their future?
What skills did they develop as they dealt with the challenges that you set up for them? Are they more capable of standing on their own two feet (assuming they have two!)? Are they better able to stand up to the bully in the boardroom or the playground? Can they read when once they were illiterate? Cry when once they were impervious even to onions? Can they cope with a class room of unruly 7 year olds, or quell a seething mob with nothing more than a sharp wit and a blunt penknife?
And, to develop those skills and capabilities, what actions or non-actions, what behaviours did the Characters use or not use? In what way did s/he act or react to challenges and people? What strengths or weaknesses did s/he overcome in the face of opportunities and threats?
In the setting of your story, in what environment did Characters start out, and what path led them to this, the hoped-for plaudits? The necessary punishment? The fitting end of the story?
Roll final credits!
go well MM
TypeCasting Workshops
See also Evolution of Character
This framework relates Character development to the structure of a story.
As you read what is written below, picture a series of concentric spirals. Each relates to or connects with all the others, and there's a constant 'flow' or feedback of data between them.
That said, it is also useful to recognise a basic hierarchy from bottom to top.
In real life, if you want to effect lasting change on any level, something MUST happen on the level immediately above. If you omit a level, for example trying to change beliefs without realising that someone lacks a basic skill or capability, then, although they want to behave differently, they may literally not know how!
For our Characters, let's start at the end and end at the top!
What attitude, character or 'spirit' do you want your Characters to develop, evolve or manifest at journey's end i.e. what kind of person (Identity) do you want your protagonist to be by the closing credits?
For them to have achieved this, how do their actions, reactions and transactions differ as the story unfolds, in response to the issues or relationships s/he meets along the way? And in what ways does the audience hear, see and feel these changes taking place?
By the end of the story, how do the Characters perceive themselves differently? If asked, 'Who do you think you are'? how would they answer? Do they - and the audience - have a different sense of their identity?
In what ways are the answers obvious in their actions? Are they less arrogant or more self-assured? Do they have more self -esteem or greater insight? Less restraint along with greater responsibility?
How have their values changed? Do they value other people more, or material goods less? Does principle now matter more than profit, or do they value Mammon more than God?
What are their beliefs about the world? About themselves? About other people? About ambition, emotional authenticity, beauty, gender, people who are different? What do they now believe about their past or hope for their future?
What skills did they develop as they dealt with the challenges that you set up for them? Are they more capable of standing on their own two feet (assuming they have two!)? Are they better able to stand up to the bully in the boardroom or the playground? Can they read when once they were illiterate? Cry when once they were impervious even to onions? Can they cope with a class room of unruly 7 year olds, or quell a seething mob with nothing more than a sharp wit and a blunt penknife?
And, to develop those skills and capabilities, what actions or non-actions, what behaviours did the Characters use or not use? In what way did s/he act or react to challenges and people? What strengths or weaknesses did s/he overcome in the face of opportunities and threats?
In the setting of your story, in what environment did Characters start out, and what path led them to this, the hoped-for plaudits? The necessary punishment? The fitting end of the story?
Roll final credits!
go well MM
TypeCasting Workshops
EVOLUTION OF CHARACTER
APPROPRIATE LEVEL OF CHANGE?
See also Logical levels and Transformation of Character
NB Hir is intentional
The internal or external factors and forces that our characters have to deal with are as important to our creation as the Characters themselves. Those forces will determine any changes in the Characters’ thoughts, feelings and actions - and thus hir development and transformation.
The Logical levels model offers a framework for understanding and deciding which level(s) we need to focus on, tune in to or grapple with.
Our decisions will be determined by the type of Characters we want to create, the challenges we set them, the story or plot line itself, and whether they are reactive or proactive personalities. It also depends in what sense, if at all, we want our people to develop or grow.
The (bracketed words) below refer to different Logical Levels.
These levels form a hierarchy, and the relationship between them is highly significant, and extremely helpful for Creating Convincing Characters – and for developing more cohesive stories.
Typically, in ‘real’ life as well as in fiction, impulsive gut reactions (behaviour) may prevent hearing or acknowledging the beliefs and values that underpin other people's limiting or limited behaviours.
Your protagonist may, thus, appear a cold, callous and calculating schemer who, frankly my dear, doesn’t give a damn!
Are other Characters impulsive? Reactive? Myopic? Deaf to anything that doesn’t fit their world map? Pathologically spontaneous? Are they the effervescent, fun loving, life and soul of the party or the wilting wallflower who neither has nor goes to the ball? Is s/he warrior or wimp? Whinger or winner? Liberator or loser?
Does hir tenacious hold on opinions, beliefs or values lead to or stem from arrogance and aggression to exclude other viewpoints? (identity and relationship).
Does low self-esteem (identity/ value) prevent hir from learning (behaviour) the skills (capability) required to improve the quality (beliefs/ values) of life and relationships?
When Destiny or design brings Bubbles (him) and Brainy (her) together, how do they affect each other? Is this one wiser and that one weaker? Is one stronger, and the other, enigmatically, stranger? Does one grow in stature as the other shrinks?
Do you want your Characters to transform slowly and tortuously, or will you, they, the audience, be delighted - or downhearted - by a short, sharp shock?
Changes will happen or be required either to remedy, generate or evolve some aspect of Self, Other or Situation.
REMEDIAL
Changes on the levels of environment and behaviour will usually be remedial as we, or our Characters, attempt to adjust what is awry, mend what is broken or heal what is wounded. Obviously some changes will build on what is already good, other changes will make for improvement, and yet others will be made proactively in anticipation of, rather than in reaction to problems.
Hints and clues in act two may be the first signs of the Character’s potential transformation. Assuming the three-act structure, problematic attitudes, assumptions and actions that have been set up in the first act will need to be addressed in the second act to generate plot and people possibilities. The issues will then need to be redressed, loose end tied, in the third act so that key Characters are seen, heard and felt to have evolved, or at least to be in the process of evolving.
GENERATIVE
Changes in capabilities, beliefs, and values will generate new possibilities, either plus or minus, desirable or not, in environments, individuals and relationships.
Act-two, or the middle section of the story, will be more satisfying if the Protagonist has some awareness of the benefits - or at least the necessity - of change, although s/he may resist or be stymied at every attempt.
Hir assumptions, hir horizons, hir aspirations and attitudes must expand. Even though s/he may not yet be ready to grow as a person, we see that it is possible – and if we like hir, we may also hope that s/he makes it - or doesn't suffer too much!
EVOLUTIONARY
Changes in identity, relationship, and spirit enable Characters to evolve and to develop their full potential as individuals and in their relationship to a world of people, things and ideas.
Of course, they must still face obstacles, deadlines, self-doubts and other people's scepticism.
They may recognise that basic needs have gone too long unmet, or only been met at terrible expense to others; or they may have learnt that a hovel in Huddersfield with the One True Love is preferable to a Mansion in Manhattan or Mayfair with Old Money-Bags (Get Real). Or they may realise that, by settling for Ms, Miss or Mr. Right Away, they have lost Miss, Ms. or Mr. Right!
Yeah, Right!
Anyway, if all goes well, by 'Act-three', if you want to mock or mimic Reality with a happy ending, the Characters will be more fully rounded. They may be poorer but wiser. Knowing more, they may be less sure of themselves - and nicer for it. Our audience, and our bank manager will be well satisfied with our creation - and our audience well pleased by our Characters.
And if that sounds like a happy ending, doesn't it just show how life can imitate art?
go well
MM
See also Logical levels and Transformation of Character
NB Hir is intentional
The internal or external factors and forces that our characters have to deal with are as important to our creation as the Characters themselves. Those forces will determine any changes in the Characters’ thoughts, feelings and actions - and thus hir development and transformation.
The Logical levels model offers a framework for understanding and deciding which level(s) we need to focus on, tune in to or grapple with.
Our decisions will be determined by the type of Characters we want to create, the challenges we set them, the story or plot line itself, and whether they are reactive or proactive personalities. It also depends in what sense, if at all, we want our people to develop or grow.
The (bracketed words) below refer to different Logical Levels.
These levels form a hierarchy, and the relationship between them is highly significant, and extremely helpful for Creating Convincing Characters – and for developing more cohesive stories.
Typically, in ‘real’ life as well as in fiction, impulsive gut reactions (behaviour) may prevent hearing or acknowledging the beliefs and values that underpin other people's limiting or limited behaviours.
Your protagonist may, thus, appear a cold, callous and calculating schemer who, frankly my dear, doesn’t give a damn!
Are other Characters impulsive? Reactive? Myopic? Deaf to anything that doesn’t fit their world map? Pathologically spontaneous? Are they the effervescent, fun loving, life and soul of the party or the wilting wallflower who neither has nor goes to the ball? Is s/he warrior or wimp? Whinger or winner? Liberator or loser?
Does hir tenacious hold on opinions, beliefs or values lead to or stem from arrogance and aggression to exclude other viewpoints? (identity and relationship).
Does low self-esteem (identity/ value) prevent hir from learning (behaviour) the skills (capability) required to improve the quality (beliefs/ values) of life and relationships?
When Destiny or design brings Bubbles (him) and Brainy (her) together, how do they affect each other? Is this one wiser and that one weaker? Is one stronger, and the other, enigmatically, stranger? Does one grow in stature as the other shrinks?
Do you want your Characters to transform slowly and tortuously, or will you, they, the audience, be delighted - or downhearted - by a short, sharp shock?
Changes will happen or be required either to remedy, generate or evolve some aspect of Self, Other or Situation.
REMEDIAL
Changes on the levels of environment and behaviour will usually be remedial as we, or our Characters, attempt to adjust what is awry, mend what is broken or heal what is wounded. Obviously some changes will build on what is already good, other changes will make for improvement, and yet others will be made proactively in anticipation of, rather than in reaction to problems.
Hints and clues in act two may be the first signs of the Character’s potential transformation. Assuming the three-act structure, problematic attitudes, assumptions and actions that have been set up in the first act will need to be addressed in the second act to generate plot and people possibilities. The issues will then need to be redressed, loose end tied, in the third act so that key Characters are seen, heard and felt to have evolved, or at least to be in the process of evolving.
GENERATIVE
Changes in capabilities, beliefs, and values will generate new possibilities, either plus or minus, desirable or not, in environments, individuals and relationships.
Act-two, or the middle section of the story, will be more satisfying if the Protagonist has some awareness of the benefits - or at least the necessity - of change, although s/he may resist or be stymied at every attempt.
Hir assumptions, hir horizons, hir aspirations and attitudes must expand. Even though s/he may not yet be ready to grow as a person, we see that it is possible – and if we like hir, we may also hope that s/he makes it - or doesn't suffer too much!
EVOLUTIONARY
Changes in identity, relationship, and spirit enable Characters to evolve and to develop their full potential as individuals and in their relationship to a world of people, things and ideas.
Of course, they must still face obstacles, deadlines, self-doubts and other people's scepticism.
They may recognise that basic needs have gone too long unmet, or only been met at terrible expense to others; or they may have learnt that a hovel in Huddersfield with the One True Love is preferable to a Mansion in Manhattan or Mayfair with Old Money-Bags (Get Real). Or they may realise that, by settling for Ms, Miss or Mr. Right Away, they have lost Miss, Ms. or Mr. Right!
Yeah, Right!
Anyway, if all goes well, by 'Act-three', if you want to mock or mimic Reality with a happy ending, the Characters will be more fully rounded. They may be poorer but wiser. Knowing more, they may be less sure of themselves - and nicer for it. Our audience, and our bank manager will be well satisfied with our creation - and our audience well pleased by our Characters.
And if that sounds like a happy ending, doesn't it just show how life can imitate art?
go well
MM
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