Knowing your characters

Hi

Just been reading the 'plotting ' thread with interest, and noted some people said that plotting is made more difficult if you don't know your characters because you don't know how they're would react to any given situation. I am new to all this and to be honest, I I think This may be he case with the sitcom I am attempting to write.... Certainly with 2 (of 4) of the main characters. I have read that it is a good idea to do a profile or c.v type thing of your characters, which I have done , but hasn't really helped me at all. Is it better to sort of Just freewrite scenes/dialog of them in any situation i.e shopping or going for a meal)just to get a feel for how they act before start thinking up (hopefully amusing) plot lines for them ? Would be interested to hear what anybody else's techniques /secrets were for this ??
Cheers

A trick I found is to give them some questions and have them answer them in theor own voice.

What would they sound
Like if you met them down the pub?

Hi Matt.

Good question. Personally, I don't find CV/profile stuff helpful. The reason being that I want to know about my characters attitudes, not their history.

Take the main character in my script, Ellie. A Profile/CV would tell you that she studied Law at the University of Birmingham.

But what does this fact tell you - really? She's a barrister so there is a strong likelihood she studied law at university. It doesn't really take you anywhere.

However, if I made a list of ten subjects and consider her attitude towards each topic - I will have something that is useful in a script. For example, what is Ellie's views on technology? sport? Feminism? The Syrian crisis?

I have found that doing that sparks ideas for plots. When you have an idea for a plot, create a scenario and ask "how would X respond if Y happened to them?" You can use the attitudes you have uncovered to formulate their responses under pressure.

Another technique I really like is to work out your characters "obsession". Every character in sitcom has one - obsessed with making money, obsessed with being popular, obsessed with getting laid etc. (This is also called the Gross Comic Perspective, if you've read the Jon Vorhaus stuff)

Then pit that obsession against a another characteristic that hinders it.

E.g. Ellie's desire to advance in her career vs her impulsive nature and tendency to make bad decisions.

Rory's desire to be an agony uncle for his young charges vs the fact he is completely out of touch with the real world.

Those are the methods I have used anyway. Hope it helps

Thanks for the advice

I like the idea of doing the list of attitudes on different subjects, as this should help differentiate their personalities and opinions from my own.... Which, of course at the moment, they all have a bit of. My first attempts at writing started with a basic premis, but just read like random banter between people that knew each other, which I gather is what many beginners try to pass off as sitcoms. and whilst I realise that this isnt really how to write sitcom, I did find it more useful in establishing character consistency than say, writing a profile.... a bit like sootys suggestion of meeting hem down he pub I guess. So perhaps carrying on with this naive appoach (combined with list of 10 questions thing jennie suggested) isnt such a bad way to carry on until I really get a feel for the characters and establishing 'their' personalities. Only then should I think about proper plots and structure ?

Don't make the mistake of thinking that sooty's a real person, Tim: he's obviously a comedy construct.

Quote: Mattytheswan @ August 24 2013, 11:56 PM BST

My first attempts at writing started with a basic premis, but just read like random banter between people that knew each other,

View original

Everyone's first drafts are like this. If they tell you otherwise, they are lying.

There are no rules. Do whatever you need to feel you've got a good handle on your characters. A lot of people recommend the 'lock your characters in a room and let them talk to each other' technique, which is seems like you are doing.

Have you tried the Exaggeration, Flaw, Humanity, Gross Comic Perspective technique? I found that most enlightening.

Ultimately the question is are they real people?

Do they have real motives, strengths, weaknesses etc.

How you get there I suppose doesn't matter. Most importantly they shouldn't just be vehicles for jokes.

Have you tried the Exaggeration, Flaw, Humanity, Gross Comic Perspective technique? I found that most enlightening.

No I haven't Jennie, this is from the sitcom mission book right ? I did buy this a while ago but thought I'd lost it , then recently remembered that it was the kindle version I bought so looking under the bed for it was foolish ! I'll download the kindle app and have a look at it later. .... But there does come a time when I need to stop reading (and asking questions on forums) and get writing.

Cheers sooty. Yep the characters are all real people with basic obvious traits that define them ... I think the thing they are lacking is depth.... I.e I don't really know them that well. Still a little bit at the stage where I am kind of rethinking their personalities in order to make a certain situation feasible/and or funny.... Which obviously I cannot keep doing.

Cheers for your help. Will get cracking ..

Exageration is the key tool if you don't exagerate you're just writing about folks.

The question is when does Basil Fawlty stop being a grump, snobbish, arse and accelerate into a monster?

That's the skill.