Screenwriting : What to you are the elements of a good character-driven story? by Alden Tan

Well, character-driven writing is also about the internal change of the character. Whereas plot-driven places more emphasis on the plot itself. So plot-driven will have more twists and action, etc. Character-driven is more an internal story. It will focus on the character's discovery of who that person is as a human being. What makes a good character-driven story? A great character and a powerful theme. ;)

To add... Of course many stories are a combination of both. Within character-driven story discussions you'll hear the catch phrase "character arc"—the transformation of a character's internal change or self-realization or resolve over the course of the story. Personally, I don't think a character arc is always necessary, nor is it always present. Of the films you listed, Alden... The Machinist (what I can remember?) has a character arc, facing guilt. Nightcrawler, One-Hour Photo, The Wolf of Wall Street... those characters are psychopaths or sociopaths, and did not change. They may have gotten what they wanted by the end (or not), their external goal, but as human beings they did not change; a person cannot change if she/he does not have a conscience. No emotions. No guilt. No shame. Thus no internal change. I never saw Wolf of Wall Street and never will, but Owen's comment above pretty much confirms my assumption. Wolf of Wall Street has a compelling character that is interesting/shocking in that an audience may want to see what horrible things he may do—or did, as it's based upon a true story. It's the extraordinary in an ordinary world; things people wouldn't normally do, good, bad or worse. The film points at the horrible goings-on on Wall Street at that time. As we all know there are psychopaths on Wall Street. The power-hungry, cutthroat business world attracts them—there's some very interesting studies about that fact. ;)

Holy canoli answer Beth Fox! Awesome per always! PURR! My cats on my lap. I actually read to chew the whole entire thing. "Beverly Hils Cop" popped into my head where Axel's character does not change, he's the same person the whole entire way through and the characters around him have an arc change I believe. I learned that stupid song as a teenager on my casio. Please shoot me! Yes, concurrently with my character that I'm presently working on he has to have a deep belief from within and focus on that inner flame to find his courage, convictions and his wherewithal to move forward and make his own choices. Awesome thread! Warm Regards, RJN

Wolf of Wall St. wasn't character-driven; that story could have been told from the POV of literally any of the characters in that film - or one of their victims, or one of the investigators, et. al. - and it would have been the same. I think Scorcese intentionally modeled it after Goodfellas to make the point about it being the same. I don't know about the others.

Good narrative drive, really know your character, and try not to over play a character, don't ever worry about where you are or who's putting the kettle on.

Their was guy on my creative writing course who couldn't off a hill....

Dan M. Lol! ;) Oh, I'm sure there are people who may have psychopathy within the industry, no doubt. However, I did not say anything about beats, or structure... What I said is that there is no character arc in Wolf of Wall Street—a term I personally don't care for, but "internal change" is often part of character-driven films, the topic of this thread. I never said I agreed with Alden; he listed it as character-driven. Plus many stories are both—character and plot driven—it's not always one or the other. I said: "The film points at the horrible goings-on on Wall Street at that time." So, yeah... No message. Just pointing. Again, it's the extraordinary in an ordinary world; people are fascinated/interested in watching other people (compelling characters) who don't behave or do what people normally do. They'll watch because they're curious; what will this guy do next? The audience gets a window into some other social world or lifestyle, like Wall Street. And, sorry, but the film certainly has one character front and center—why the hell else would DiCaprio have done it? Scorsese, sure. But DiCaprio is the main character, as prominently shown on the poster. I also said that I have not seen it and I will never see it. Never. Reading about it is enough. Now, Nightcrawler... that I liked very much. Love the original writing style of the script. Lol!

Wolf of Wall St. is a damn good flick! But there's no denying its similarity to Goodfellas so, if you've seen Goodfellas and Wall Street, you've basically seen Wolf of Wall St. Still a great film, though! But totally not character-driven; it's a true crime flick.

Citizen Kane is often cited as one of the best character-driven stories. Taxi Driver, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, Raging Bull, There Will Be Blood, The Wrestler... these often come up and are cited as great examples. Personally, I think of this whole notion of character-driven versus plot-driven as some outside-imposed dichotomy. All stories have character. All stories have plot. They are tied together. It's really some kind of spectrum, is it not? Some stories emphasize different elements over others. And many seem to fall somewhere in the middle. I understand people like categories... But stories are complex and are often subject to opinion. ;)

Anyhoo... Alden, here's a "tip of the day" from William Martell's website that may be helpful to you: http://www.scriptsecrets.net/tips/tip364.htm. ;)

Night crawler does rock Beth Fox. Hope you are all great! RJN

No Dan - the character is driving the limo.

Haha! I was just going to say that, Doug! Lol!

Well, to quote the ever-so-wise William Martell (the link I shared above): "Character Driven... a story that is driven by the character and not an outside plot incident." Boom.

In putting together a compelling story - one that moves from here to there - there must be a vehicle. I see that vehicle as the plot (limo, pick up, tank...) but in any case, somebody gotta be drivin' that sucker. That's where the character(s) enter the picture. They're not there for a free ride, they're there to do the drivein',

Thanks all!

Thanks Beth Fox Heisinger ! Definitely resonating with the idea that films are both plot and character-driven.

I just watched Black Swan again last night. I went into it fully expecting it to be character-driven. But while watching I was like, "But I AM THE ONE watching it..." So in that sense it felt like... well things are happening to the character right?

Hope that makes sense lol.

Beth Fox Heisinger Why won't you watch The Wolf Of Wall Street?

You're welcome, Alden. ;) Yeah, Black Swan is a great film. I strongly suggest you read the script. It's incredibly well written. And do read the link I shared. Mr. Martell also gives tips on how and what aspects to consider when writing something character driven: "If you are writing a true character driven screenplay, you need a driven character." ;) Oh, and my reason for never ever seeing The Wolf of Wall Street: personal taste. I just don't care for the subject matter. Simple as that. Lol! ;)

I think a character driven story is; a story that if you remove the character the story stops. All the action is driven by the actions of the character, as soon as the character stops the story stops. So you need to have a goal that will constantly drive the character and force more action. My cents worth.

That sounds more like ego driven to me. ;)

John, just making a joke about Tom Cruise. :)

Many successful and fun character-driven films are comprised of a "larvae character" who must make the cognitive choice (not propelled into = story driven) to exit (run from) his or her old world because it is either suffocating or there is a prosperity carrot (run to) dangling in the new world. Here, old inner paradigms and outer tools are obsolete as tadpole gills are in trying to drink air. Obstacles that accentuate the "incapable character's" earlier defined fears and inadequacies abound in this flip-flopped world where they suddenly become a "fish out of water character". Who doesn't love when the mentor enters (Yoda to Luke Skywalker) to train the "apprentice character" to face new adversities, obstacles, and the antagonist; whether that be the old world nemesis who has found the new world also or fiery meteorite fast approaching and threatening to end it all. The now "hero character" emerges with a new cape or a new set of internal skill sets that threaten the threat.

For a confluence of literal character driven - Driving Miss Daisy.

Forrest, Forrest Gump didn't do anything; he was just swept along by events. Obviously that was the theme of the movie, and I tried to think of some other examples of less-than-active characters but even though I couldn't come up with any, I'm sure some exist. You could argue that the "butterfly" character arc to which Pidge is referring exemplifies a plot-driven over character-driven story.

THE WRESTLER is a great example of character driven. There's no outside imposed incident. He's a hasbeen wrestler who screwed up his life and wishes to make changes. He wishes to make amends with his daughter, restart his career, and start a new relationship.

MOONLIGHT is character driven... in that, again, there's no outside imposed incident that incites the plot. Yes, it explores the main character's life struggles, abuse endured, both physical and emotional, but it's really a very personal and lyrical film; telling the story of the main character's life in chapter form. What does he want? To be loved and to be accepted. It's a film very rich in tone and theme, not so much plot. It explores what it means to be masculine, and explores sexuality and identity.

Loved The Wrestler and thought Rourke deserved the BA Oscar, was gutted when he didn't win.

Thought Moonlight was great too, really thoughtful look at a child growing up knowing he's an outsider and not knowing what to do about it.

I think both 'broke' a lot of screenwriting 'rules' that people often espouse and presented real people living real lives... hence a lack of obvious antagonist... I mean I don't have an antagonist in my life - who does?

I suppose you could C. Harris. :) At the same time, character-driven does not necessarily mean void of intensifying story like many are referring to. When you have a strong character arc AND intense story what wins out, CHARACTER-DRIVEN or STORY-DRIVEN? That is determined, in my view, by whether the character is making these stark choices which cause his or her butterfly transformation arc, or he or she is being nudged along gently or propelled forward viciously by story.

I have countless antagonists in my life - I don't even know who the majority of them are (yet)! I haven't seen either of those films, but I understand Moonlight was based on a stageplay, so some of the rules it broke may have been due to it being an adaptation.

At root, it's change. I think the dichotomy between character-driven and story-driven is false; both seem to follow the same process, watch videos at https://www.youtube.com/user/clickokDOTcoDOTuk/videos

How can a writer make a character driven book series more intriguing?