Weakness should be the force stopping the character from growth.Desire should be superficial and the main motive should be the need.

Character Definition

These are some major events happening in our story. Write them in a rough order.

Story Events

Linear: Sequential story telling. Cause and Event based.Non Linear: They are branched and at times spiral ending up at the centre.

Some Types Of Storytelling

Hero, Opponent, Ally, Fake Ally-Opponent, Fake Opponent-Ally, Sub plot characters.Sub plot characters need not be an ally.

Characters

Link every characters either by their function or the type of role they perform.

Character Web by Function/ Archetypes

<ul><li>Weakness & Need</li><li>Desire</li><li>Opponent</li><li>Plan</li><li>Battle</li><li>Self Revelation</li><li>New Equilibrium</li></ul>

7 Steps To Focus

<ul><li>Good vs Bad</li><li>Tragedy </li><li>Pathos</li></ul>Satire and Irony<ul><li>Black Comedy </li></ul>

Variants Of Moral Problem

This needs to be used for both the characters and the world they live in to ensure everything is in a flow and connected.

Symbol Web

Give as many Weaknesses as possible to the hero. The opponent should be able to attack all the weaknesses of the hero and should try to achieve the same goal.

Weakness And Need

The bigger the vehicle driving the story, the more unified the arenas become. Ensure there is no forcing of characters in a particular scene or story event if they are not required. There were many movies mentioned in this book. Special mentions are: The Godfather, L.A.Confidential, Star Wars, Tootsie, Shining, Psycho, Gone with the wind, A Streetcar named Desire, Citizen Kane, Braveheart, Batman...

Epilouge

<ul><li>Travelling</li><li>Single Grand Symbol </li><li>Connecting two grand symbols in a One Line process</li></ul>

Some Metaphors

Weakness, Need, Desire(Want) are three important traits important for defining the perfect character.

It should always be shown why the hero acts a particular way.All the characters should be related some way or the other. Every character should have a purpose to exist in the story.

Most Important

1) Coming of Age2) Adult to leader3) Cynic to Participant4) Leader to Tyrant5) Leader to Visionary

Character Change/Development

Ocean, Outer Space, Forest, Jungle, Desert and Ice, Island, Mountain, Plain, River, Weather

Arena Examples

King or FatherQueen or MotherWarriorMagician or ShamanWise man or Old manTricksterClown

Archetypes

We must have a Premise line, an one liner of our story. We can create a lot of ideas as our wish list and filter out the best one by removing redundancies.Frame the premise line in the following way:WEAKNESS * ACTION = CHANGE

Premise

We all tend to write a story by following a three act structure and end up creating beats with highs and lows for the characters artificially designed. Let's dive deeper into creating a story where all characters are useful and connected with each other.

Prologue

Write down the Central Moral ProblemShow Variations in Central Moral Problem among every characters.Bring about Hero's Character change

Moral Problem

1)Create a large umbrella and then crosscut and condense(Multiple arenas under a larger arena)2)Send the hero on a journey through generally the sameareana, but one that develops along a single line.(Linear movement)3)Send the hero on a circular journey through generally the same arena.(Returning to the start point)4)Make the hero a fish out of water(bringing suddenly from one world to another)

Arenas

This stash has some key points on creating a story organically.

"If you're ready to graduate from the boy-meets-girl league of screenwriting, meet John Truby . . . [his lessons inspire] epiphanies that make you see the contours of your psyche as sharply as your script." —LA Weekly John Truby is one of the most respected and sought-after story consultants in the film industry, and his students have gone on to pen some of Hollywood's most successful films, including Sleepless in Seattle, Scream, and Shrek. The Anatomy of Story is his long-awaited first book, and it shares all his secrets for writing a compelling script. Based on the lessons in his award-winning class, Great Screenwriting, The Anatomy of Story draws on a broad range of philosophy and mythology, offering fresh techniques and insightful anecdotes alongside Truby's own unique approach to building an effective, multifaceted narrative.

Characters

Similar ideas to Characters

Supporting characters and villains

On Characters

Continued comparisons