Hello, creatives!
I hope you're doing well.
As I'm writing my second script, Contradiction, which is something entirely new for me, I've realized something interesting.
Our personalities as screenwriters seem to change depending on the story we're writing.
While writing one project, you might find yourself thinking like a scientist. In another, you think like a teacher, an AI, a detective, or even someone completely different. It's as if your mind starts adapting to the world and characters you're creating.
I actually think that's a good sign. If we, as writers, never truly feel our characters or understand the way they think, how can we expect the audience to?
Have you ever experienced this while writing?
Have you ever found yourself thinking the way your characters think?
SCIFISPY
4 people like this
Hi, Meriem Bouziani! Hope you're doing well too. I think like a scientist, teacher, etc. when I write scripts, but I don't think it means I'm changing personalities. I still have my personality.
3 people like this
Yeah, absolutely. I mean, we only change while we're writing. Once we finish the story, we go back to being ourselves Maurice Vaughan
4 people like this
Hey Meriem Bouziani this is part of my writing that I really struggle with. They say write what you know but sometimes I want to write something beyond my experience. I am hoping that through lots of research and trying to immerse myself into the character's worldview I will experience what you are describing. Great post!
4 people like this
Yeah, writing about characters who work in a field you don't know much about can be challenging, but it's also a great opportunity to learn and discover new things.
Another idea I've developed, but haven't written yet, is called The De-Evolution Game. It's all about time paradoxes. I didn't study physics at university, but the story raised so many questions that, in order to develop it, I found myself researching and learning a lot.
To me, that's one of the most beautiful parts of the journey. You don't have to force yourself to write about specific things. Just let your mind wander and ask questions freely. Then dive into research, learn, and write.
Good luck with your projects! David Hall
4 people like this
You don't have to trust your characters, you can only trust yourself that you know how to write them authentically.
4 people like this
Your personality does not change, but like actors you partly become the character in your imagination. Except if you are Daniel Day Lewis - he becomes the people he plays for the entire period of playing them I understand. I find more that the characters actually live with me, some for quite a while, then they fade away - like a real person you used to know but no longer see.
4 people like this
Funny ... my characters think the same way I do. Sometimes, they want to run the show!
3 people like this
Good point, I agree with you Zorrawa Dolton
Haha, not completely, but sometimes I feel like I start thinking like my characters in their professions — like a neuroscientist in a lab, trying to understand what is happening inside the brain in a particular case, or like a physicist trying to uncover time paradoxes David Taylor
So the work gets a little competitive between you and your characters Claude Gagne
3 people like this
Meriem Bouziani ... I let them. There's a lot of conflict. Sometimes, I need to take a walk to work it out.
3 people like this
A good walk definitely helps refresh your mind so you can write better.
Best of luck with your writing! Claude Gagne
4 people like this
Hi Meriem,
100% yes! Writing is deeply empathetic work—you constantly have to shift your internal compass to match your characters' logic and emotions. When writing intense thriller or high-stakes scenes, I definitely find my own thinking adapting to that tension.
If we don't feel it while writing, the audience won't feel it while watching. Great reflection, and good luck with Contradiction!
4 people like this
Yeah, you're right. Empathy is so important to telling a good story. Good luck with your projects too Emilio Briceño
3 people like this
I don't always think like characters that I write, but I try to see the world through their eyes, which is about 1 or 2 steps before actually thinking like a character. Some characters are just too different.
2 people like this
Character descriptions are very important also when you write. The film is like rolling in your mind whilst you click away, but you need to visualize what the character is like. I keep thinking of Jerry Lewis and The Nutty Professor. Why is that? Hahaha
2 people like this
Yeah, some characters are completely imaginary, so we can't simply mimic them. We just have to understand them deeply enough to express them authentically Michael Dzurak
2 people like this
Exactly! That's one of the screenwriter's most important roles—to teach us as much as possible about the character so the actor can truly understand them and bring them to life effectively Claude Gagne
2 people like this
This is the reason I have to be working on a comedy script while I write a drama. It keeps me grounded.
1 person likes this
I love that! It truly sounds like a great plan. Good luck Tamara Green