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Naming/describing characters in scripts is A THING. You very little real estate to do a giant job in that you have to make both things memorable and true. There's so little real estate. A reader shouldn't have to spend brain on who's who or what they're like again #writingisgreat
Basic stuff is to vary the first letter/syllable count of the names of characters. This is yet another reason why "hot but doesn't know it" or really much effort spent on the looks of a character is a literal waste of space.
Ideally, the description is such that when the character says or does a thing, they're fulfilling a promise that you made in describing them that is satisfying to a reader. Ideally they subconsciously think "that's so (character memorable name)!"
When the character does something surprising, it lands huge with the reader as opposed to bumping them.
As a character changes as a result of the events of the story and the in-character choices they've made, it's all teed up perfectly by who they understand the character to be from the euphony of the name and the little bit you say about them at the start
If you're a writers, post character names/descriptions of which you are proud, despite pride being a cardinal sin. Here are some character names/descriptions from the thing I just finished...
#writingisgreat #characterdescriptionsarelit
#writingisgreat #characterdescriptionsarelit
WILCOX, 50, leader of the crew, is a poker-faced hater of bullshit. She sees all the angles all the time and speaks only when absolutely necessary. #writingisgreat
#characterdescriptionsarelit
#characterdescriptionsarelit
PALLIS, 60s, easy-going but fucking sharp, a foul-mouthed bullshit artist with an answer for everything if not a solution
#writingisgreat
#characterdescriptionsarelit
#writingisgreat
#characterdescriptionsarelit
BRICK WALL, 20s, a sensible people-pleaser whose black SECURITY tee is full of muscles,
#writingisgrea
#characterdescriptionsarelit
#writingisgrea
#characterdescriptionsarelit
That's the crew.
Anyway. Economy. Point of view. Maybe humor if it's helpful. Maybe poetry if it works. Shortform. Haiku. Fucking twitter. Style. Hope this helps and/or resonates.
#writingisgreat #characterdescriptionsarelit
#writingisgreat #characterdescriptionsarelit
Once we did a table read of a pilot and @JamesUrbaniak said of his character description “well ‘cadaverous weirdo,’ eh? The part I was born to play.”
When we describe a @MarcEvanJackson character in a script, we usually say “ginger, posh, sporty, a little scary, kind of a baby.”
