Last Sunday we had a great start at the "How To Develop, Package, Pitch and Sell Your Limited Series To A Streamer or Network Class" led by Sam Sokolow webinar. My lesson out of this was that I will have to give my characters more drama - Sam suggested that we should think about our series like a soap and if our characters holds the depth and interest for that kind of personal story. How do you guys develop your character? For me it's the first way to block out the plot with "what happens next" and then I try to fill in the needs for the plot with character behaviour - I have the feeling that I could do better with developing a kind of structure - than create the character and then develop the plot further and be inspired by the before created characters. The thing is that for me its very easy to describe what will happen without going through the depth for the characters in first hand. What do you do with this question plot vs character first?
Looking forward to your advice
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How are things, Felix Gorbach? I mainly come up with a logline first (or theme first), then I develop the plot, then I develop the characters. I write bios for the characters (personality, strengths, weaknesses/flaws, backstory, hobbies, habits, goals, etc.). After I finish the characters, I swing back around to plot (because when I develop the characters, I think of new scenes and ideas for the plot).
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Hi Felix Gorbach! I'm similar in that I tend to always think structure first and then character, but in the past year, I find myself asking different questions at every setback to push the story farther. I always ask, how does this reversal/setback/dilemma hit the protagonist's want and emotional need? (whether that's trauma or a flaw) And is this reversal/setback/dilemma is the biggest thing that could happen at that moment? When I read scripts, I find that writers can always make the reversals hit bigger, and that it targets what the protagonist wants/goal but not the emotional "need". And if you're not hitting that emotional need harder and harder with every sequence, then the arc isn't going to be felt by the reader/viewer. And in this way, you're always thinking about character and plot simultaneously. Let me know if this helps!
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Thank you both für your great Tipps. To find out which step to do when is really hard an fulfilling at the same time.
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You're welcome, Felix Gorbach. Finding out which step to take also saves time because once you have a plan how to develop plot and characters, you can use it as a template for future scripts.
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Felix Gorbach have you listened to the Screenwriting Life podcast with Meg LeFauve and Lorien McKenna? Highly recommend the “lava” episode and think it might be able to help you here too!
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For me the development of the plot and the characters is intertwined. Sometimes a character responds to an event. Sometimes the character initiates it.
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I often find the character may pop up first, and then I will map out the structure, and then on other occasions it's the storyline/concept, with characters waiting in the wings.
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Thank you all - you have been a great help - just sitting at the character dev and giving them an authentic background story that makes sense - it all comes together - potholes are often gone :) it really is a combination between structure - than thinking into character and than adopting plot and going back to character dev - really enjoying it right now :)
You're welcome, Felix Gorbach. What genre is the series?
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It's going to be a thriller about what young people can do to fight the climate crisis
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Climate change! I make it an issue in my Jolt Survival Series, too. Lead into the need for nuclear fusion power plants by 2050.
Thriller is one of my favorite genres to write and watch, Felix Gorbach. Ever wrote a Thriller?