5 Tips For Creating Great Characters In Your Screenplay

5 Tips For Creating Great Characters In Your Screenplay

5 Tips For Creating Great Characters In Your Screenplay

Sara Sparrow
Sara Sparrow
a month ago

There are so many different aspects to your screenplay that will guarantee its success. A compelling story is one such aspect, but without interesting characters, the story will just fall flat. Here are some tips to help you write the best characters possible, and bring that story to life.

1. Make The Lead A Likable Person

You may want to avoid this, as trying to make a character likable can often make the story dull and uninteresting. After all, if there's no one creating conflict, then the story isn't interesting. However, you want the audience to be rooting for that character. As such, they need to be relatable in some way.

There are lots of different ways that you can write a main character to be likable. Showing them doing something positive early on will help audiences warm up to them. Making them witty and charming also works.

Remember that while you want your character to be likable, of course, they don't have to be perfect. A character can be shown to be good by doing selfless acts, but they can also be a criminal that steals from others. You can make them complicated, but there needs to be something there that will make an audience like them.

5 Tips For Creating Great Characters In Your Screenplay

2. Build Up A Realistic Characterization

The character of anyone in your script is who they are on the inside. What makes them who they are? Are they someone who has good or bad intentions? When you know who they are on the inside, that can tell you a lot about who they are as a person.

For example, you can have a character that's very much driven by their need to be seen as a success. When you know that about them, you'll see that perhaps they drive a sports car, flash their credit card in restaurants and stores, and talk a lot about the deals they make. These are the results of their characterization.

This is important in writing a character, as it tells you who they are and what they may do in any given situation. That makes them much more vibrant as a character too, as one who hasn't been well characterized will feel flat and lifeless.

5 Tips For Creating Great Characters In Your Screenplay

3. Give The Characters Breathing Room

In the last tip, you saw how giving the character their own voice and personality helps them become believable. When writing your screenplay, you may want to give the character breathing room, to see what they do. It's easy to have everything planned out before you even write the first page, but that can lead to a story that feels rote, and the characters won't seem as though they have any agency at all.

Instead, step back and see what your character would do in a given situation. If faced with danger, will they run away? Scream? Stop and fight? If you've built the character up using the above tips, you'll know what they'll do. In some cases, they may even surprise you.

For example, say you have a character who currently works in a bank, but dreams of being a superhero. He goes home to an empty apartment every day, and his best friend is someone who's very successful. That makes him feel rather inadequate, but he's never voiced that out loud. Now, but him in a scene where a bank robber comes in and tries to hold him up. What will he do? In this case, he may fight the robber and subdue them, becoming the hero he always wanted to be. Maybe he'll duck and cower, and he'll feel as though he missed his chance to become that hero. You won't know until you put him into the scene.

When writing in this way, you'll see that the characters feel very dynamic. It gives the characters the chance to feel real and interesting, and you'll get a lot more out of any scene you put them in.

5 Tips For Creating Great Characters In Your Screenplay

4. Create Strong Dialogue

Dialogue is so important in a screenplay, as it tells you so much about a character. For example, an accent will tell you where they're from, their vocabulary will reveal how educated they are, and how much they speak will tell you if they're more introverted or extroverted. As such, a good section of dialogue can tell you a lot about a character, without you having to go into lots of exposition.

When creating dialogue, remember that you don't have to add lots of it to show the viewer everything about the character. It's not about volume, but quality. A small scene where the character takes their car to the car wash will tell you more than exposition, if it's done right.

Many screenwriters say that you should be able to cover the character's names on a script, and still be able to tell who's talking. Everyone should have their own voice and manner of speaking, and that should come across on the page.

5. Think Like The Actor

Once your screenplay is picked up and filming starts, actors will have to take the words on the page and start bringing that character into reality. As such, you'll need to keep this in mind as you write. Actors are often said to have to find their motivation for a scene. As the writer, look for this too. What is it that's driving the character at that moment? What happened on the last page, and how does that affect them now?

If you do this, then you can create a stronger character that has a lot of life and interest to them. Starting to consider their motivation on the page means you'll get a much better final product.

There are lots of ways that you can create strong characters in your screenplay. These are just how a few basic tips, but if you start with these you'll be on your way. Create them as real people with their own thoughts, feelings, and emotions, and you'll be able to create characters that audiences love.

Let's hear your thoughts in the comments below!

Got an idea for a post? Or have you collaborated with Stage 32 members to create a project? We'd love to hear about it. Email Ashley at blog@stage32.com and let's get your post published!

Please help support your fellow Stage 32ers by sharing this on social. Check out the social media buttons at the top to share on Instagram @stage32 , Twitter @stage32 , Facebook @stage32 , and LinkedIn @stage-32 .

Get engaged
16

About the Author

Sara Sparrow

Sara Sparrow

Producer of Marketing & Distribution

I'm a film industry lover and a marketing and distribution producer

Want to share your Story on the Stage 32 Blog?
Get in touch

16 Comments on Sara's Article

Morgan Aitken
Producer, Executive
I especially like your last point, Sara: "think like an actor." This is sadly overlooked by writers, in my experience, and it's a production breaker.
7 days ago
Maria K. Singh
Director, Cinematographer, Screenwriter
This is wonderful. Thank you.
7 days ago
Sandra Isabel Correia
Screenwriter, Executive, Director
Thank you Sara. Characters and dialogue are the real tricks in any script and your blog has great advices. Thank you
a month ago
Göran Johansson
Director, Screenwriter, Playwright
To write better characters, tell your filmmaking friends that you are willing to act in their no-budget films. When you are forced to learn about the character you will play, you will learn how to write characters better. I have myself been the main character in my no-budget films, and learned a lot from that.
a month ago
Pamela Jaye Smith
Author, Director, Producer, Screenwriter, Acting Teacher, Script Consultant, Story Analyst
Very good suggestions, Goran.
a month ago
Pamela Jaye Smith
Author, Director, Producer, Screenwriter, Acting Teacher, Script Consultant, Story Analyst
Well said, Sara. Thanks for sharing these tips.
a month ago
Diana Martinez
Actor, Crew, Screenwriter
Thank you. Your advice is something my beloved screenwriting teacher would say during class.
a month ago
Jim Boston
Musician, Screenwriter
Sara, I really like the tips about creating great dialog...and about thinking like the actors. Thanks so doggone much for the blog!
a month ago
Susan Joyce DuBosque
Content Creator, Editor, Screenwriter, Songwriter
Great tips! Thank you!
a month ago
Doug Kayne
Actor, Comedian, Director, Screenwriter, Studio Teacher
Good tips and great reminders of things that work in creating dynamic, interesting characters. Thank you!
a month ago
Haley Mary
Actor, Songwriter, Comedian
I love that tip about stepping back and see what your character would do in a given situation. A couple years ago I was writing a play and I wasn't sure how a character would react when learning that the other character they were interviewing would end up being someone they had worked with in a previous life. My first thought was, should I make the character react in disbelief and outrage? Then, I thought, no, maybe it would be more realistic if the character reacted with shock, calm and understanding and it ended up being this deep connection between two characters who might otherwise never have connected due to their opposite personalities.
a month ago
Sandra Isabel Correia
Screenwriter, Executive, Director
Thank you Sara for all the tips and insights. They will be useful always.
a month ago
Lauren Hackney
Screenwriter, Author
This was great advice, thank you. I like stepping back and thinking what a character would do. I get so excited when I have an idea that I write it out so quickly. Stopping and taking a break THEN writing is such a great idea!
a month ago
Wyman Brent
Songwriter, Playwright
I totally agree that the audience needs to be attracted to the character. The title character in my proposed crime drama Ron Biohazard is a defense lawyer. He helps the downtrodden because his family were once the same. As a teen, he saw his father murdered for standing up for what was right. Ron then studied law to help protect others. He also helped to in a way atone for the bodies he left behind. A landlord chooses to evict an innocent family. Ron just might visit and make sure the landlord can never evict anyone else. Ron has a good heart, but he knows good intentions alone often do not solve problems. I have all the characters already fully thought out. I know what they will say and how they will react in any given situation. At the same time, I believe in letting actions, scenes, movement and music also help carry the load. Not everything needs to be spoken. I already know my ideal actors for Ron Biohazard. None of them are famous yet. However, they fit perfectly my vision of each character. They will grow into the characters, just as the dialogue will reflect how they are in real life. Reality meets fiction meets a melding of the two. Now just have to find someone who believes in my ideas. I am on the extreme end of creative synesthesia. Plus, I have ADHD with hyperfocus. Each of my projects is transmedia ready with a deep ecosystem and a highly developed promotional system. I can fully flesh out a project in days. Now just to get those projects across the finish line.
a month ago
Thank you, Sara
a month ago
Maurice Vaughan
Screenwriter
Great tips, Sara! I think like an actor when I outline and write scenes. I find a character's motivation for the scene. It helps me write great characters and bring my story to life. I also like to read a character's dialogue out loud and act out a scene. Thanks for sharing the tips.
a month ago
Anselmo Garcia
Screenwriter
Extremely helpful.
a month ago
16