How to Write a Screenplay

CHARACTERS

Now you know what a finished story looks like.  You know that there is conflict, a character who has flaws, opposition and growth.  But how do you create such growth? How do you make the conflict clear?  How will the audience ever know what the character’s flaw is without a specific explanation?  Effective storytelling might seem like a truly daunting task.  Fortunately, you are not alone.  You have help.  Meet your characters.

If your character is selfish or greedy or insensitive, a friend, confidante or mentor is going to gently (or not so gently) call him on it.  If your protagonist is impulsive, a good antagonist will be there to distract him from the important task.  If there is some tiny and specific trait you want the audience to immediately see in your protagonist, a foil character’s exaggerated demeanor in that area will shine a light on it.

In fact, all of the other characters serve the protagonist.  They are flashlights aimed at him from different directions to illuminate different facets of his personality.  The supporting characters will come into conflict with the protagonist to allow him to reveal himself via action and conflict.  The fact that supporting characters are orchestrated around the main character may seem to limit your creativity.  But just the opposite is true.  This expansion enhances your creative options.  The relationships give unity to the ensemble of characters so that the better-developed your supporting characters are, the better-developed your protagonist can be.

Let’s examine a few of the essential and important characters that will show up in your story.  Notice how each one functions in relationship to the protagonist.  Your protagonist can only be as strong as the people opposing him and supporting him.  Through these relationships, we will come to understand the protagonist.

PROTAGONIST—There seems to be a popular misconception that the word “protagonist” comes from the prefix “pro,” which means “for” (as opposed to “against”) and the Greek “agon” which means “battle.”  Although, it’s a great way to think of a protagonist, as the person who is fighting on the good side of a battle, it’s not how the word is actually derived.  It comes from the prefix “proto,” which means “first” as in “prototype.”  Also, “agonist” refers to a person embroiled in a struggle.  So “protagonist” refers to the first character in a dramatic work.  He is the character who is struggling to achieve or accomplish something; to enact change.  The transformative nature of Hollywood storytelling often burdens the protagonist with a flaw, which he must overcome.  The flaw is orchestrated in such a way that the protagonist will not get that which he pursues unless he can grow and overcome that flaw.

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