How can I CREATE characters that are radically different than ME?

Your question strikes at the very heart of the writing experience.... 
do we only ever write ourselves into our creations or do we 
consciously choose an alternative route and try to write something 
other than ourselves and our own experience?

Now, many people will 
argue that no matter how hard you try to write outside yourself.... 
YOU are in every single piece you write. And I sincerely hope so... 
it is your creative energy that makes a piece/or character 'live' and 
breathe on it's own.

BUT to answer (or attempt to) your question. Whether you actively 
choose to write characters (& I think we're referring to main 
characters here) whose emotional 'toolbox' or psychological makeup is 
radically different than yours is really immaterial. You may write incredibly intense but self- contained characters that really 
challenge actors to dig deep to express ALL these characters ARE with 
just a few small gestures - because that's who you are. OR you may 
study minutely the mannerisms of people you meet that are LIKE the character you 
want to create.... and bring life to a character on the page that 
mirrors those mannerisms - even though they are not your own.

You don't have to be a wildly emotional person to create that kind of 
character on the page. But your characters' emotions need to come from 
a REAL place inside of you that allows you to project all of the 
nuances of that person. So you make a study of people you meet that 
are like your character...and build on that - starting first and 
foremost with actual emotions - love, hate, anger, jealousy. But I 
want to reiterate - wildly emotional or intensely withheld doesn't 
matter.... write what suits the character and the STORY you're creating.

And if you choose to focus on a particular 'type' of character.... and 
you create a series of films about people who are bright, articulate 
and very considered with their emotional displays.... actors & 
audiences will still love them IF they are well drawn and bring us 
stories that illuminate for us something of our own lives.

I hope this helps. And I do wish you luck with your screenplay . I’d love to read your work at Wordsmythe.ca

Your movie story starts with the very FIRST IMAGE on the screen.

The power of image is demonstrated over and over again in film as we use our minds to scroll back over movies that have affected us deeply. Whether it is the famous dying words of Citizen Kane - ‘Rosebud’ that sets the story in motion. Or the loop-de-loops of the flying bug at the beginning of ‘Men in Black’ or the shelf of toys at the opening of Monsters Inc. Each image starts us on our journey.

In the case of Monsters Inc, the shelf loaded with toys is a red herring. It’s put there to lull you into believing you’re inhabiting a human world. A safe world, a world where nothing scary can happen; AND then, POW. In minutes you’ve been up-ended into a world that isn’t human at all - a MONSTER world that actually preys on our most vulnerable element - our children.

So, if you’re engaged in the act of creating a screenplay, I ask you; what IS the first image that flashes onto the screen at fade up? Will it land us exactly in the middle of the world in which the story takes place? Or, will it simply be used to lure us in and have the rug pulled out from under our feet moments later.

The act of writing is all about making choices and that first image is only one in a long series of story choices that will shape your audiences reaction to the film you’re crafting. So give it some serious thought as to how you will use that first image. Is it bait? Or is it a straight forward spring board into your story. Does it set the tone, the mood or the era for us? What does that first image accomplish?

The same is true of how we (as the audience) encounter your hero/heroine for the first time. In Monsters Inc, the first time we see James P. Sullivan (Sully) he’s sleeping. Nothing could be more innocent than that. The writer’s are telling us that Sully is as innocent and likable as the little children he spends every night scaring into tears.

Those first moments are important. Use them knowingly and with care; from them springs your story!

I hope this helps. And good luck with your writing. I can’t wait to read the result!

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IF you can TALK, you can WRITE - WHY take a writing course!

My dad always says this, writing’s not so special - IF you can talk you can write!

You’re dad’s actually right! I say that too - fairly often! But, biggest difference between talkers and writers; especially screenwriters, is whether you actually possess the determination to STOP talking and force yourself to sit down and write.

I assure you all - we (as homo sapiens) KNOW how stories work! We've 
been telling each other stories for 60,000 - 70,000 maybe even 100,000 
years. If you look at the cave art in places like Chauvet - it was ancient people trying to VISUALIZE for their audience the thrilling wild org hunt they just witnessed…Or something like that. We are still doing that today with motion pictures.

What writing classes or seminars do is first of all give you a language or terminology for telling stories. It’s hard to talk to someone else about your writing unless you have a common language or terminology - so classes can provide some formal names for 
different portions of story craft. Words like protagonist, 3 act structure 
and opening scene - montages... that kind of stuff.

The other thing that a formal writing class can do for you is help organize what you already know from years of telling your own stories to friends, 
classmates and acquaintances. So classes can GIVE you terminology for what you DO. And can help you SEE the inherent structure in the stories you’ve already been telling out loud.

AND FINALLY, organized writing classes may help you put your BUM IN THE CHAIR in front of a computer and put your ideas on paper. Classes aren’t for everyone; but they can provide some useful tools for starting the journey or even stoking the fire for putting ideas on paper when you’re not sure how to pursue your goals.

I hope this helps. AND, if you DO decide to put your ideas on the page - I'd love to help..... Wordsmythe.ca I’d love to read your work!