Beyond First Impressions: Crafting Characters with Depth

EPISODE DESCRIPTION – What is Character? Why do we have trouble really nailing that down? And why does it seem so hard to create 3D characters? Does that really matter if the plot is great? The answers to these and more in this episode where Zena gives tips on how to create characters with depth.


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Transcript

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[00:00:10] Today what I want to dive into is what is character? What is character? What does that look like? why are we so obsessed with characters and how come characters are so essential to our stories? Because if we don't understand these things, we're unlikely to use them well in our story.

[00:00:29] We're unlikely to complete a compelling page turning story that the audience can't wait to devour. So today I want to break down what is character and what are the two most essential character qualities that any character must have.

[00:00:46] All right. So first of all, let's talk about what is a character? 

[00:00:51] Well, most of us would be able to say that a character is a fictional person that's been made up by a writer and is the subject or the primary focus of a particular story. That might be a good definition of a character. 

[00:01:08] Now, if the definition of character is a fictional person in your story, then of course there's going to be a lot of characters in your story. But we are primarily interested in the main character, the main character, because they are the focus of the story. The story is always there because of them.

[00:01:28] Because your main character is the person who ought to be driving the action of your story. the plot ought to be unfolding according to the choices that that person makes. And there are certain aspects about that character that we need a better understanding of So that we can incorporate those aspects accordingly or appropriately in our story and make it compelling to the audience.

[00:01:51] Because if the audience isn't connecting to your character, then nobody's gonna read your story, no matter how good you think your plot is. Which means that your character is the single most important part of your story. It really isn't about the plot. The story is about the character. It's about a journey of that character.

[00:02:13] It's about what they go through, how they change over the course of the telling. Every single story is primarily about an arc of a character, what I'm going to get to in another session. But right now, I want to look at some aspects of what makes a character interesting, what makes a character compelling, and why are we so attracted to characters, because these are important things for us to know as writers, if we want to do it well.

[00:02:40] Okay, so first of all, why do we even start with characters? Well, because the heart of every story is a personal paradox. We cannot ask what is more important, plot, structure or character because structure is character and character is structure.

[00:03:00] The story will unfold based on the character, based on the choices that he or she makes. which means that everything in that story is created, is constructed, and is made. To have to do specifically with your main character and what makes them tick and what their flaws are.

[00:03:22] Everything that you design has to be made for that particular character. Which means there's some things that we have to do. Now by the way, I cannot dive into all of the aspects of character that are important It would be too complex. We'd go too far down the rabbit hole because there's so much I can say about character.

[00:03:42] instead I'm going to highlight the most important parts that have to do with story structure. The parts that you must know as you're structuring your own story. And then there will be another course that you can take down the road that really dives into character deeper.

[00:03:59] Alright, so having said that, why do we call them characters and not real people? Well, characters are better than real. They're better than real. Flannery O'Connor once said, Sometimes people have accused me of creating characters that are not like real people.

[00:04:18] I'm not trying to write real characters. I'm trying to write good characters. I'm trying to write good characters. Characters are better than real. One way that they're better than real is that they are compressed in time. Just try to fit a real person's life into a story. It's really difficult to take Napoleon, for example, and put it in a two or three hour movie.

[00:04:44] You have to select the right details. You have to choose the details that fit. You have to vet their lives for our entertainment. You also have to keep your character in a state of heightened conflict. Normal life does not have sustained heightened conflict.

[00:05:03] Normal life is boring in large chunks of time. But you leave all that stuff out when you write a good story, and you keep your character In the heightened conflict. If we had to live there in real life, we would all die of heart attacks because it would be so impossible to stay there. So in a story, your character is either just about to go into a period of intense conflict or crises, or they're coming out of it, or they're actually in it.

[00:05:34] And once they come out of it, we might have a moment to take our breaths, but guess what? Then they're going to go back into it again. So your character is always in a sustained state of heightened conflict. Also with characters, we have extraordinary access to them. We can know our characters better than we can 

[00:05:56] ever know anybody in our real life. That's what makes relationships so scary because we can never really know a person and they can be a mystery to us. Edith Stein said, I am not a book to be read and understood. I am a person with all her complexities. So people are hard to understand.

[00:06:19] People are hard to nail down or to comprehend in all their complexities. But with characters, we can have a confidence about them that we can never have about the people in our real life. We can feel like we truly know them. And that's a wonderful thing. Now, in that knowing, They have to be consistent.

[00:06:40] They must be comprehensible to us and yet they must be complex because we all know that a character needs to be 3d, right? Three dimensional and that's what everybody talks about. It has to be a complex Three dimensional character and I'm gonna talk more about that because I think that we get confused.

[00:06:59] How do you do that? Everybody talks about that. It has to be there, But very few people have a solid grasp on how, just how do you create a 3D complex character. And I'm going to teach you how to do that. But the idea is that when they are comprehensible, it means there's a consistency to them so that we can feel confident that we know who they are.

[00:07:22] We know who Rick Blaine is. We know who he is. And this is why when we feel like we have a confident grasp on a character and we know who they are, when they do something that is outside of that character, we know it. And we're like, no way, he would never do that. And it ruins the story for us because we know that character.

[00:07:47] So they must have a degree of consistency, which is not to be confused with with the notion of paradox, which I'll get to in a little bit.

[00:07:58] Okay, well, part of the difficulty of understanding what is character is that we tend to confuse two different aspects of character. And I want to divide those things right now and give you a definition. there is something called character and there is something called characterization.

[00:08:20] Now, what are the differences and why does that matter? Well, characterization is the sum of all the observable qualities that we could see in a person simply by following them around and taking notes. By observing them, by watching them, by doing research on them. We could assemble a list of traits and facts about that person 

[00:08:43] And we could write all those things down and that might include things like their IQ level, their gender, their sexual preference, their education level, their regionalisms, their style of speech and gestures, their basic personality traits.

[00:09:00] Things like that, whether they have a lot of nervous energy and they're hyper or whether they're cool and collected and suave,do they like to go sailing or do they like to race cars or do they like to stay home and read books? 

[00:09:13] Whatever the case may be, that is characterization. Education, occupation, values. What do they think is important? Attitudes about things. Politics. They all play into character. They're religious beliefs.

[00:09:29] Their habits, their athleticism, any of those things, the things they did in high school, their friends even, who they surround themselves with, how they treat other people, all of those things are absolutely aspects of who they are, but they are not true character. That is characterization, the singular assemblage of traits.

[00:09:54] is characterization. It is not character. True character is revealed in the choices that a human being makes under pressure. The greater the pressure, the deeper the revelation of that person's true essential nature is.

[00:10:12] So, for example, let's say you have a brain surgeon and an illegal immigrant, and they come across a bus of children on fire. Okay, now, right now, the characterization is different. Right? You've got the brain surgeon, which probably implies they're affluent. They're probably wealthy. They might drive a nice car.

[00:10:35] They're educated, certainly. They're already considered heroic by society because they're brain surgeons. We even say that phrase. Well, it's not brain surgery because that's so difficult. So they're very accomplished. They probably were very disciplined to get into that field. field. They're probably very good at what they do to have made it to be a brain surgeon, and they regularly have people's lives in their hand.

[00:11:02] On the other hand, The illegal immigrant probably isn't very rich, probably doesn't have a nice car, has a lot at stake because of the fact that they're illegal. And so technically, if they get arrested, they should be deported. That sort of thing. They're here in secret.

[00:11:21] and who knows about their education level, but let's say that they don't have a high education. Now we have characterization that is completely in contrast, right? The brain surgeon is not like the illegal immigrant.

[00:11:38] That doesn't really tell us who they are deep down inside. So you bring them to this bus on fire and what happens? Well, let's say they both get out of their cars and they start trying to save kids on that bus. Their actions tell us who they are on the inside.

[00:11:56] And right now we could say, okay, they're both heroic because they're both risking their lives to save these kids. That's pretty heroic. And then you might ask, well, who has more at risk? Who's more heroic? Well, whoever has more at risk. Now, you might say, well, it's the brain surgeon because if he damages his hands, that's it.

[00:12:15] He can't work anymore. Or you might say, no, it's the illegal alien because if he gets arrested, he gets deported and he gets sent back to a bad country or wherever he has to go back to. And he loses everything. Maybe they both have equal risk at this point. So we don't know who's more heroic. The point is they're both acting heroically.

[00:12:34] Okay. But now let's say they get down to a point in the fire where they can each only save one more child. And let's say that the brain surgeon has the choice between a boy and a girl and they are equally distant to him. He could save either one of them but he has to choose one or the other and he chooses the boy.

[00:13:00] What could that mean? Well, that could mean even though he's a hero, deep down, that could mean that he is a sexist, that he thinks the boy is more valuable than the girl. What about the illegal immigrant? well, let's say he has the same choice.

[00:13:18] He has one more child that he can pick. And on this side, he's got a little black boy and on this side, he's got a little white boy. And he could choose either of them. And let's say he chooses the white boy. What might that mean deep down, even though he's a hero, it might mean that he's racist because you see the greater the pressure.

[00:13:43] The deeper the revelation of that person's true essential nature. Now, that doesn't mean that they're truly bad. It just means that even a hero has secret hidden biases, prejudices, bad things, right? Nobody is perfect. And so you're revealing who they are at their essential core. 

[00:14:07] okay, so we're looking at the difference then between what is true character and what is characterization. And true character is revealed through action. It is revealed through the choices that a character makes under pressure. But notice something else that's fascinating about this. True character is also revealed in contrast, in contrast to characterization.

[00:14:32] what's interesting about this, I think Jesus knew how to tell stories because he understood the contrast between true character and characterization. and one of the best examples of this that we can clearly see this and that everybody has heard of is the story of the Good Samaritan.

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[00:14:51] So Jesus is sitting there and he's teaching people, and on one occasion an expert of the law. said to Jesus, Teacher, what must I do to enter the kingdom of heaven or to inherit eternal life? And Jesus said, What is written in the law? How do you read it? and the expert in the law said, Well, love the Lord, your God with all your heart and with all your soul, with all your mind and with all your strength and love your neighbor as yourself.

[00:15:17] And Jesus said, you have answered correctly. Do this and you will live. But this expert in the law, the man, he wanted to justify himself. So he questioned Jesus further and he said, but who is my neighbor? And Jesus said, in reply, he tells the story of the Good Samaritan. Now in this story, he says that there was a man who was going down to Jericho and he was set upon by thieves.

[00:15:40] They stripped him of his clothes, his donkey, his belongings. They beat him, and they left him for dead on the side of the road. Now, a priest happened to come along, going down the same road, and when he saw the man, he stepped to the other side of the road and walked on by.

[00:15:57] A little bit later, a Levite is passing down the same road, and he, too, sees the man and steps to the other side and walks by. But finally, a Samaritan, as he traveled, came down the same road, and he saw the man,and he had compassion on the man, and he put the man on his own donkey, and he took him to an inn, and he cared for him.

[00:16:20] For several days, he nursed him. I mean, this man was really, really beaten. probably almost dead. And then the Samaritan had to go on his way and he said to the innkeeper, here is some money. Take care of this man and I will return. And when I do, if you've had to spend any extra money, I will reimburse you for any extra costs.

[00:16:42] And so then Jesus asked the expert in the law, which man was the neighbor? And the young man said, the one who had mercy on him. Now this story is fascinating on so many levels. But, we're going to focus on this aspect of character versus characterization. A priest and a Levite. Those are the first two people to have walked down the road to have seen the man. Now, characterization says that these are the religious leaders of the community.

[00:17:17] Both of these ought to have been good people deep down. They are the examples for the community. They're the ones that are the experts for the community. They're the ones that are considered holy and good, and yet their actions revealed that they weren't that their characterization was one thing, but their true character was revealed something else.

[00:17:39] The Samaritan, on the other hand, was considered a dog in Jewish culture. He was less than human because he was a half breed and the Jews hated him. So at the end, when Jesus asked the expert in the law which of these was the neighbor, the expert in the law can't even say, The Samaritan, it is so anathema to him to say that word instead, he says, Oh, the one who had mercy on him because they did not like the Samaritans.

[00:18:10] Nevertheless, look at that. The one that is considered the worst of the worst, the one that is the outcast in Jewish community and society is actually the one that shows true character. The one who's going to inherit. eternal life. He's the one who is saved and it's revealed through his actions who he is on the inside.

[00:18:33] So what does that mean for our purposes?

[00:18:36] what it means is that the revelation of true character in contrast or contradiction to characterization is essential in all good storytelling. It's a fundamental principle of all good storytelling. It is imperative for major characters. it isn't important for minor characters.

[00:18:58] In fact, If you have a waitress who's just supposed to serve the main character and she is too complex and too paradoxical, we're going to be interested in that character maybe even more than your main character. So, you can't have it for the minor characters, but for the major characters, it is absolutely imperative that they cannot be at heart who they seem to be at face.

[00:19:21] and what we're talking about here is an essential quality of a compelling character. And that is paradox. It is absolutely essential that your character be paradoxical, which again, simply means that their characterization cannot match their true character.

[00:19:40] That's how you make a 3D character. That's how they are deep to us. That's how they become more than cookie cutter characters. They have to have hidden depth. And they have hidden depth because they are not at heart who they seem to be. at face. And we can do this with any type of character at all. It's just essential that our main character has that.

[00:20:05] So you look at Harry Potter. Harry Potter is not at heart who he seems to be at face. He is a young boy who doesn't even know he's a wizard until he gets to a certain age. He is new in that culture. He is innocent. He is untried, untested, and yet He is going to be the greatest wizard that has ever lived, even greater than Dumbledore.

[00:20:30] He is the only one who can take on Voldemort.

[00:20:35] You know who else is not at heart who he seems to be at face? Snape. It's why we love Snape. Snape seems like a bad guy.

[00:20:44] Seems to be rotten at his core, but it turns out he's a hero. He has been playing the long game all along. He's been on Harry's side all along. Spoiler alert, if you don't know that yet, then sorry. It's been out for 20 years, so you should know. Anyway, it's phenomenal.

[00:21:04] And he is not at heart who he seems to be at face. now that doesn't mean that the only way to do that is that if your characters are good at the face, then they should be rotten at the core, or if they're rotten on the face, they should be good at the core.

[00:21:19] No, that's not how you do it. It's that you have to give them qualities that are in contrast to the task that they must face. So, Spider Man. He was a good kid before he turned into Spider Man. He's a high school kid. He was good in both situations. But the point is he's a kid, he's a high schooler. He shouldn't be up against the sort of nemesis.

[00:21:47] the sort of bad guys that he has to go up against. He's out of his league in terms of life experience, but he's still good in both situations. but it's paradoxical to have a superhero who's a high school kid that hasn't even graduated yet.

[00:22:04] Now for your own story, what this means is you need to create. a compelling character by having some sort of contradictory paradoxical aspect. The characterization of your character should contrast to who they are deep down. What that looks like, where they're contrasting might be a different story.

[00:22:26] And it's a mistake to think it always has to do with theirmoral flaws. A lot of people think that's what it has to do with, but again, Spider Man isn't morally flawed.

[00:22:36] That's not how he is complex. There are different ways to do it. So you want to find the right way to cause a paradoxical aspect of your character. 

[00:22:45] One of my passions is to help writers create awesome, compelling main characters that absolutely grab the audience, suck them in, and keep them riveted throughout the course of the telling.

[00:23:00] If you need help in your story, on your character, This is one of my areas of expertise and I would love to be of service. 

[00:23:06] I am available to help you by giving you a professional script critique of either your manuscript or your screenplay. The fact of the matter is you won't get anywhere in your story if you don't have a compelling main character.

[00:23:19] This is not something you can take lightly. So if you have a completed project And you want a professional to help you craft an excellent main character to help your story be excellent, then click on the link provided and check out the script critique service that we have available on the website.

[00:23:38] you want to take advantage of that option while it's available.

[00:23:41] I look forward to helping you.