CHARACTER QUESTIONS
Overall
Who is your main character?
Why should we be interested in him?
What attracts you to him? (Always read: "or her”).
How do you make us empathize with him?
Why do you believe we will find him sympathetic?
What is the reason exactly?
What makes us curious about him?
What is his "mystery "?
What is his "magic ", his charisma?
How does it show?
Family
What does he think of his father?
What does he hate and like about them?
What influence did his father have on him?
His mother?
How does he think of her?
What does he hate and like about her?
What influence did she in his opinion- - have on him?
His brothers, sisters?
What does he like about them? Why?
What does he despise?
What type of discipline was he subjected to at home?
Strict? Lenient?
Was he overprotected, did he feel rejection or affection as
a child?
What was the economic status of the family?
Any adverse situations?
Divorce, illness , alcoholism, etc . ?
What was the religious atmosphere in his family?
Personal Life
How does he feel about religion himself?
Is he smart, intelligent, slow-witted or clever?
How did he do in school?
What grade did he graduate (or drop out) from?
How does he see himself?
Smart? Intelligent? Uneducated?
How does his education and intelligence reflect in his
speech pattern, vocabulary and pronunciation?
Did he like school, his teachers and his schoolmates?
What was he interested and involved in most?
What are his political beliefs?
What does he do for a living?
How does he see his profession? As a “job “or as a “career”?
What does he like about it and what does he dislike?
Did he travel? Where? Why?
What did he find abroad and what does he remember?
What were his deepest disillusionments in life?
What were the most deeply impressive political, social,
national, or international events that he experienced?
What are his manners like?
What is his type of hero?
Who does he hates?
Who are his friends? His love mates?
What is his 'type' of the opposite sex, his 'ideal' partner?
What does he want from his partner?
What does he think and feel about sex?
What social groups and activities does he attend?
What role does he like to play?
What role does he actually play, usually?
What are his hobbies and interests?
What does he do for fun?
What does his home look like?
His taste? His dress? His furniture? His hair, beard,
whiskers, (make-up)?
How does he relate to his own appearance? How does he dress?
Style of it? Quality?
Who is his mate?
How does he relate to her? How did he make this choice?
What role does he play at home?
What role would he like to play?
Does he have children?
How does he feel about his parental role? About the
children?
His ambitions? How do the children relate to him?
Inner Life
How does he react to stressful situations?
Defensively? Aggressively? Evasively?
Does he drink? Take drugs?
Does he feel self-righteous? Revengeful?
Does he always rationalize his errors?
How does he accept disasters and failures?
Does he like to suffer? Does he like to see other people
suffering?
Is he manipulative?
Does he abdicate responsibility for things?
How is his imagination? Daydreaming a lot?
Worried most of the time? Living in memories?
Is he basically negative when he faces new things?
Suspicious? Hostile? Scared? Enthusiastic?
What does he like to ridicule? What does he find stupid?
How is his sense of humor?
Is he aware of himself, his weak spots and idiosyncrasies?
Is he capable of self irony?
Is he tall? Short? His weight?
How does he feel about his size, weight?
His posture? His walk?
Does he want to project an image of a younger, older, more
important person?
Does he want to be visible or invisible?
What are his habitual physical gestures?
Vigorous? Weak?
Controlled? Compulsive?
Is he energetic or sluggish?
His voice? Pitch? Strength? Tempo, rhythm of speech?
Pronunciation? Accent?
In Conclusion
What does he want most?
What does he need really badly, compulsively?
What is he willing to do, to sacrifice and to obtain what he
desires?
How badly does he want to get what he claims as his life
objectives?
How does he pursue them?
Do you like him? Hate him?
Why do you need to write about him?
Why should people be excited about him?
And most importantly
WHOSE STORY IS IT?
Who is the "main character” or "protagonist”?
With whom do we really identify?
Whose plight or problem do we worry about?
They don’t have to be a "good guy" but we should have some
sympathy for this character. Sympathy comes from creating an
interesting character for whom we have some empathy.
Is this person compelling? How so?
Why are you interested in this character?
What is the special problem this character has that you
would like to explore?
LIFE DREAM?
If this character had a magic wand and could change the
world to his/her favor, what would that ideal world be?
What does he envision life to be like for himself?
This dream may not be explicitly presented in the script, but
knowing it can give the writer (and audience) a window into the
soul of the character.
LIFE AT ODDS WITH LIFE DREAM?
How is the world in which the story takes place making it
difficult for the character to reach his ideal?
If it’s easy for the character, then where’s the conflict?
An easily achieved life dream doesn’t leave room for much of a
story. The “world" of the story is a subjective and particular
milieu unique to each film, the rules of which are established
for the audience early in the script.
WHAT HE/SHE WANTS?
What does the character want?
Not last week or next year but now within the confines of the
story.
What is the objective or “goal" the character pursues during
the film?
Not exactly the same as the life dream; his life dream may be
beyond the scope of the story. For example: A character’s dream
might be to play football like Ronaldo, but what he wants in the
story is to make the university team. Another character may dream
of running in the Olympic marathon but what he wants is to get
out of his wheelchair and re-gain the use o f his legs. This
"want" usually leads us to a particular question o r "main
tension " which will shape the character ' s pursuit (and
audience ' s experience) in Act Two.
WHAT HE/SHE NEEDS?
What doe s the character need in the world of the story?
It can be identical to what he / she wants (if the character
wants to survive, the world of the story is one that horrendously
threatens that survival and what the character needs is to
survive) but the need more often is quite different from the
want. The soccer player may want to make the university team but
he needs to learn that he’s a capable and worthy human being
regardless of his achievements on the field. A man may want to be
President of the United States but he needs to maintain his bond
with his family. A story in which, a character sacrifices his
"need" for what he wants or fails to recognize his need in time,
is usually a tragedy.
POLARITY or "ARC"
How is the protagonist affected psychologically/emotionally
by the story?
Is he/she changed in any profound or meaningful way?
Do the circumstances of the story explore the weaknesses
this character has when the story begins?
Does the story test the character in any substantial way?
Where does the character start in the story and where does
he end up?
They should usually be at polar extremes from each other - 180
degrees apart - from ignorance to knowledge, from bigotry to
compassion, from distrust to trust, from uncertainty to self-
confidence, etc. If the character undergoes no change, learns
nothing and simply remains constant -- a drama of internal
conflict can't really be achieved. A comic character (not a
character caught up in a comical situation, but one that “on his
own” is comical) and a comic book character may not change much
in a story. A central character in a realistic story generally
needs to experience some kind of growth/change for the audience
to leave the theater with any feeling of completion.
THEME?
In a word. Distilled down to the simplest possible statement,
what is the story about? Trust? Responsibility? Self-acceptance?
Power? Generosity?, and so on. No matter how convoluted and
sophisticated your story, there should be one central element,
some focal point which all the story machinations revolve around.
How is the theme (or a variation on it) reflected in the
main character's plot, as well as in the subplots?
Thematic layering adds resonance to the simplest of stories.
MAIN TENSION?
What is the main tension that the AUDIENCE FEELS through the
story?
Example from North by Northwest: Will Roger Thornhill clear his
name before he's killed or arrested?
The main tension implies an "either he will/or either he won't "
situation.
HOPE VS. FEAR CONCEPT?
What does the audience hope for?
Which way do they want the character to go?
What does the audience fear?
What's the wrong, frightening turn the story could
realistically take?
Both outcomes must be possible in order to create a strong main
tension.
WHAT'S AT STAKE / RISK?
If the story goes this way or that (Audience’s hope vs.
fear) what is the "price" that the character must pay?
If there are no consequences to the character’s actions (in
emotional terms, financial terms, etc.) then why should we
care which path the character takes?
Generally speaking, the world should be at stake.
In a James Bond film it literally is the world that’s in jeopardy
but for all stories the outcome of the Main
Tension should mean the "world to the main character, emotionally
or otherwise.
If the consequences aren't vitally important to the
protagonist, why should the audience care?
Writing Studio – Skopje
12. 2019