Writing Notes 1

Alright, putting a 1 there because I know for a fact that I'll have more collected in the future.  Besides, this is p.much just a post for everything that I know that could help Eva, since she's starting screenwriting! Uh, keep in mind that there's gonna be a lot of repetitive stuff since it's me typing this and you probably know a lot of this already, and this is all just from what I know and so it might not work for everyone, and it might not even be correct, but uh yeah.



So uh let's start with the fact that this is screenwriting, aka scripts!  The important thing about scripts is that 1) There's a lot of focus on action, and 2) There's a lot of focus on dialogue.  This means that characterization is super duper important since both of the two points relate to characters.  It also means that characters should rarely ever be alone.

Like I said in my comment on that post, stories have a basis in plot and conflict.  And from what I've seen in your ideas, you have a bit of character ideas down, but just pieces.  If it's "A person who only sees the flaws in a seemingly perfect life", what actions do they take to show that?  What do they tell other people, what do they do, to show those other people (and the audience) that the "perfect life" has flaws?  What or who would be against that (generating conflict)? Internal things can be made physical and made into external things.  If it's an idea, have the protagonist tell it to someone else.  Maybe someone with conflicting interests overhears.

"Cynical, jaded protagonist" is not the only traits that this person would have, right?  Maybe this is only one trait, and it's something else about the protag that generates the conflict.  In "The anti-cupid. A person that goes around not wanting others to be in a relationship", who would be against this?  What are the two characters reasons for thinking as they do? (Since they do what they do because of how they think.)

And remember that the protagonist never starts off being the perfect guy for solving the conflict. (This ain't Aquaman.) (In fact, "Destined One" stories can be a bit cheesy, although if you can't think of a good reason for the protagonist being the hero, you can either use this or rethink the protag.)  Character development is there for a reason!

Oh, speaking of which.  Since I know you're gonna struggle with this-- The protagonist doesn't even need to have motivation in the beginning.  He could be dragged into this in any which way, in the same way people can get roped into things that they might not necessarily want to do.  What's important is that at some point, they gain that motivation.  Maybe they encounter a person or a village or something happens during the journey that suddenly puts the conflict on their priorities. Maybe the protag's initial character development helps them realize how big the conflict is to them, and then it snowballs.

They can pretend to be reluctant, they can fake an outside air of disinterest, but what's important is that the audience understands that deep down, when the conflict is staring the protag in the face, the protag wants to beat it.  Because character development to the level where the protag can beat the conflict will not happen unless the protag wants to solve the conflict.

And uh, this is long now, so I'm just gonna go ahead and put my list of resources in another post oops sorry for word vomit