How to Write a Screenplay

7 Steps to Create a Marketable Script

by Screenwriter Simon J. Michael



STEP: 4 FLESH OUT THE CHARACTERS



Each character has to have something he/she desires. This desire is connected to something which has an emotional meaning to them. This desire is called the B Storyline and it is what creates the actions the character chooses to take - the A Story Action line.

This desire is the one thing you must figure out for each character, the other stuff (usually called the character's backstory - what happened to him in his life before the moment we meet him in the movie) is basically irrelevant! Many people talk about how you need to know everything about your character - his entire life story, when in reality what you basically need to know is the main emotional thing that happened to them that is affecting their present decisions - I call this the character's "defining moment" something that made him capable of taking the actions he does in the movie.




Read Step 5





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This Website was Last Updated on: May 27, 2009
You can E-mail Simon at: author@simonjmichael.com