Wednesday, December 30, 2009

Pierre-Alexandre Garneau's "Unforgettable" Game Design Blog

Unforgettable
by Pierre-Alexandre Garneau

I’ve played pen & paper role-playing games quite a bit in the past. Being a game master is great training for game design: you have to create an exciting and entertaining experience for your friends on a regular basis.

One thing a game master must do is create a lot of non-player characters. The challenge is to create memorable characters on a regular basis. After creating what must be a few hundred characters, I figured a few simple tricks. These tricks are useful whenever you’re creating new characters, whether they’re for a pen & paper RPG, a video game or even a novel.

The key to a memorable character is distinctiveness. The character must stand out from others — nobody remembers the average Joe. If your character is distinctive in multiple ways, that’s even better. I try to create characters that are distinctive in 3 different aspects:

  • Appearance: The character should be obviously different by simply looking at her. This is particularly important for characters that are not actually seen, only described — like in a novel. A character with a peculiar haircut might be good enough for a movie or a comic book, but it would probably be hard to describe memorably in a novel.
  • Actions: The character should act in ways that are different from the norm. This can take the form of special abilities (like a superpower or a peculiar weapon the character always uses) or the way the character acts (a weird way of speaking or is she’s paranoid, for example).
  • Background: The character’s past should be interesting, to somehow hook into whatever you’re creating. A character could be an orphan, or have trained with a secretive order of ninjas for example (or both, like Bruce Wayne).

Let’s take Captain Jack Sparrow as an example of a memorable character. He has a distinctive appearance, what with the thick black eye-liner, the dreadlocks and the bandanna, he most definitely acts in a memorable way, thanks to Johnny Depp’s wonderful acting, and he has a distinctive past, having been the captain of a mutinous pirate crew turned undead.

Another good example is Darth Vader. Vader’s apperance is definitely unique, with his black outfit that doesn’t show a single inch of skin. His mastery of the force gives him unique abilities that make his actions distinctive. As for his past, it’s interesting enough that it spawned a whole trilogy of hit movies.

Of course these guidelines aren’t the most subtle thing in the world, so they’re probably not ideal for stories with very realistic characters. The broad strokes these guidelines create are very good at creating memorable larger than life characters however, and that’s a type of character that’s useful in a lot of games.

Thursday, December 24, 2009

Writing Consistancy: Vatican paper says 'The Simpsons' are okely dokely

Writing Consistancy: Vatican paper says 'The Simpsons' are okely dokely

Wed Dec 23, 3:37 AM PST

To put it as the devout Ned Flanders would, the Vatican's newspaper thinks "The Simpsons" are an okely dokely bunch.

L'Osservatore Romano on Tuesday congratulated the show on its 20th anniversary, praising its philosophical leanings as well as its stinging and often irreverent take on religion.

Without Homer Simpson and the other yellow-skinned characters "many today wouldn't know how to laugh," said the article titled "Aristotle's Virtues and Homer's Doughnut."

The paper credited "The Simpsons" — the longest-running American animated program — with opening up cartoons to an adult audience.

The show is based on "realistic and intelligent writing," it said, though it added there was some reason to criticize its "excessively crude language, the violence of certain episodes or some extreme choices by the scriptwriters."

Religion, from the snore-evoking sermons of the Rev. Lovejoy to Homer's face-to-face talks with God, appears so frequently on the show that it could be possible to come up with a "Simpsonian theology," it said.

Homer's religious confusion and ignorance are "a mirror of the indifference and the need that modern man feels toward faith," the paper said.

It commented on several religion-themed episodes, including one in which Homer calls for divine intervention by crying: "I'm not normally a religious man, but if you're up there, save me, Superman!"

"Homer finds in God his last refuge, even though he sometimes gets His name sensationally wrong," L'Osservatore said. "But these are just minor mistakes, after all, the two know each other well."

----
That's my Homer. Whether climbing the Himalayas to talk to the Lama, being chased by Ganesha's representative, or taking a baptism for Bart, Homer is searching and fumbling his way through spirituality much better than some who go to church/temple, or whatever every week or day. --Neale Sourna

Thursday, December 17, 2009

Susie Bright's Sex Consultant to the Stars: Her Consultation for "Bound" by The Wachowski's

Susie Bright's Sex Consultant to the Stars: Her Consultation for the film "Bound" by The Wachowski's

First, I sent Larry and Andy a picture from the cover of the book I was working on, “Nothing But the Girl”, about lesbian erotic photography.

When I first met Gina [Gershon], I carried the same picture in my hand: a beautiful butch woman sitting a la Rodin’s “Thinker”, tattooed and muscled with a cowlick like Elvis’, but with all the shadows and soft curves of a woman’s figure. The model’s name was Ronny, but when I sent the picture to the filmmaker’s, I said, “This is your Corky”.

Corky’s character is a revelation in Hollywood cinema, because it is the first time since the days of Marlene Dietrich and Greta Garbo that female masculinity has been eroticized. Usually when
we see a woman who looks like a “dyke’ , a mannish woman, she’s the psychopath, the social misfit , the pathetic creepy person who there’s no hope left for.

She’s the prison warden, the weird jock, the brutal nurse, the fucked-up punk.

When have we seen a gorgeous woman of our generation on screen who moved like Jimmy Dean, sulked like a young Brando, drew a bead on you like Eastwood? Corky had to be the kind of woman that everyone in the theater would be dying to go to bed with, and she had to do it without acting the least bit like a girly-girl.

Violet [Jennifer Tilly], on the other hand, couldn’t just be any straight girl on the drift. She had to be a femme queen, as calculating and sensual as a cat; a woman who’s lost a bit of her soul fucking men for money, but who knows exactly what kind of touch she needs to find redemption.

Most of all, and this was the part that cracked the cliché about dangerous femme fatales--she had to be a dangerous femme you could count on---whether it was getting you off or getting you out of a jam.

The Wachowskis had the character and dialog ready to roll in their script, it was just a matter of how to keep...MORE

Susie Bright's Sex Consultant to the Stars: Her Consultation for the film "Bound" by The Wachowski's

Monday, December 14, 2009

Game Writer Exchange at LinkedIn.com

GAME STORY WRITERS

WANTED: Established game writers, rank beginners and working in-betweeners. Share your latest job and career notice finds, give information and advice, or submit education hookups concerning game story writing and/or requests for short to long fiction for games or comics.

Writers are often THE LAST TO BE CALLED into the game planning and development process, but are expected to pull a gigantic elephant out of the tiny hat.

Just like art graphics and programming code good writing and especially GREAT WRITING needs time to build its understructure and then layer on muscle and flesh.

The more WE WRITERS share and give one another a hand up to get each and every one of us into projects earlier, the better our writing will be and THE BETTER THE GAMES WE WRITE WILL BE, and the sooner we’ll be asked to the party.

No more last minute literary rescues and trying to piece together plots that makes all the already chosen graphics work. Which can be great—if it works—and disastrous and a blame on the writer when it doesn’t.

Let’s all move ahead, together.

--Neale Sourna at GAME WRITER EXCHANGE

*******************************

An open letter:

GAME WRITER EXCHANGE just needs to be simple. It seems there are few writing gigs, or we don't hear about them until late. Or, we're busy and want to pass on something we've found to another, who's qualified.

Some of us are getting fairly regular hits, but if we writers can pool or resources and therefore--like attractive gazelles at a watering hole a women in a women's college attract the interests of power hitters; once they see us here.

Although the women's college thing is better but way too similar to lions hunting gazelles!

If we can gather a decent, solid range of starting, medium, and advanced writers in an easier to find virtual location, I think it will improve our access, our writing, and our marketing and cash flow.

Hopefully, this open approach will encourage the planners, developers, and recruiters to see us. We're here! We need to be added to the planning and the payroll way before all the artists and whomever find they have logic holes.

We game writers just need to be gathered together much as the artists and coding programmers here at LinkedIn; together like them, but highlighted and spotlighted in our own element, away from them.

And if anyone has questions, we can share answers.

I've seen game writer and game comic, etc questions spread out around my other author, scriptwriting, and game groups; but not specialized to it. I see comics, and even script planning art boards, in a similar area as game story narrative.

Also there are narrative articles and blogs at Gamasutra.com and other places, and it wouldn't hurt to gather those. I've been pulling a few into my own character writing blog [http://writing-naked101.blogspot.com/ ] but ... I'm a little lonely, I think.

I'm alone when I write, edit, layout, and publish my works or write or rewrite other peoples scripts, novels, and games.

The programmers I work with are sometimes helpful but busy cranking out their games and my questions are normally only in what they do or do not want, which leaves me with more questions on how to improve, what others skills and game design programs [like Neverwinter Nights] from a writer's approach is best--and EASY and SENSIBLE--for the next step, in writers helping the game from concept to player.

I felt it was a burning idea and I didn't see it repeated anywhere else here, or I would've joined.

So, I've no desire to play dictator or mess up anybody's stuff but writers of every kind need to gather our power and use it to get us more: power, respect, reputation, opportunities, and the cash.

And, as always, I'm open to positive, useful suggestions for our project here in gathering game writing info, news, jobs, etcetera.

Neale

www.Writing-Naked.com
www.Neale-Sourna.com
www.PIE-Percept.com

Neale Sourna Game stories:

"Heartwild Solitaire" 1 & 2 pc games
"Margrave Manor" & "Margrave Manor2: The Lost Ship" pc games
"Berlin'61: The Wall" RPG

Sunday, December 06, 2009

Character of the Viewer: On Tiger Woods and Other Supposed "Roll Models"

Character of the Viewer: On Tiger Woods and Other Supposed "Roll Models"

Some of us want to write, to create and craft characters that will inspire.

Some of us want to be one who inspires and leads. Well, it is better to inspire than to lead, and it is better to allow the viewer of you or of your works to discover for themselves what about you or your well-crafted works gives them inspiration.

So....

Don't worry about "roll models" letting you or another you love down, because the true nature of a roll model is to APPEAR to be what you BELIEVE them to be, not what they ACTUALLY are every moment of the many seconds of a long, real life.

Drug addition, sexual infidelity, etcetera ALL MEAN NOTHING, the only thing that truly means anything is if your roll model MADE YOU BE or FEEL BETTER at a particular time.
  • Made you try again.
  • Made you succeed, as they did.
  • Made you improve yourself within and without.
That is all a roll model owes you. Nothing more.

--Neale Sourna

Wednesday, December 02, 2009

J.C. Hutchins at Tor.com: Why the best sci-fi TV and movies don’t *feel* like sci-fi

Why the best sci-fi TV and movies don’t *feel* like sci-fi

Last week, I suggested that sci-f/fantasy readers and authors could benefit from reading genres other than SFF. I contended that the quality of SFF stories can improve from exposure to mainstream genres, reduce the barrier of entry for newcomers to SFF, and create an even larger community of fans.

Today, I’d like to illustrate this by geeking out on some movies and TV shows that inject high doses of SFF elements into their stories, yet proved to be completely accessible to mainstream audiences. Some of these stories aren’t usually classified as sci-fi by norms, which is awfully cool: it shows us that SFF need not alienate audiences with a high barrier of entry, and that the surly “us vs. the world” underdog/junkyard dog attitude a vocal few SFF audiences and authors have need not exist.

I’ll then follow up with why I think these SFF-in-sheep’s-clothing stories are so successful, and what we fans (and writers) can learn from them.

  • Back to the Future: A time-traveling DeLorean. Often found in the comedy section.

  • Groundhog Day: A loop in the space-time continuum. Comedy.

  • Somewhere In Time: Accessible time travel. Drama.

  • The Truman Show: Super surveillance, for a society of one. Comedy/drama.

  • Who Framed Roger Rabbit?: Toons in the real world. Comedy.

  • The Road Warrior: Post apocalypse. Far more often considered action than SF.

  • E.T.: Often considered a “family” movie, but sci-fi all the way.

  • The Time Traveler’s Wife: SF packaged as romance.

  • Jurassic Park: Cloned dinosaurs. Nearly always found in the action section.

  • The Abyss: Aliens in the ocean. Typically associated with action.

  • Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind: Mindwipe technology. Found in comedy/drama.

  • Galaxy Quest: Funny SF movie. Found in comedy.

  • Cocoon: Biological rejuvenation thanks to alien pods. Drama.

  • King Kong: Giant ape terrorizes Manhattan. Action.

  • Iron Man, Batman Begins, X-Men, Superman: Most often found in action.

  • Contact: Sagan’s SF masterpiece, often found in drama.

  • Quantum Leap: Time-jumping. Often classified as comedy/drama.

  • Third Rock from the Sun: Brilliant show about incognito aliens. Comedy.

  • The Six Million Dollar Man: They rebuilt him. They had the technology. Action.

  • The Boys from Brazil: Hitler clones. Drama.

  • Short Circuit: Sentient robot. Comedy.

  • Ghost: Victim’s soul sticks around to solve his own murder. Drama.

  • The Matrix: We all live in a computer simulation. Action.

  • Innerspace: Submarine inside a dude’s bloodstream. Comedy.

  • Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure: Time travel. Comedy.

  • Gremlins: Muppets gone bad. Comedy.

  • Honey, I Shrunk the Kids: The title says it all. Comedy/family.

  • Deja Vu: Space-time paradoxes. Drama.

  • Sliding Doors: Parallel universes. Drama.

I’m certain there are dozens more (which you can share in this post’s comments). So why were these movies and TV shows so successful at attracting non-SFF fans—especially when the beating heart of each of these stories is a skyscraper-sized SFF conceit? Nearly all of them take place in present day, which helps: the storytellers don’t have to send much time building a brand-new world.

But I believe it’s far more than that. Examine wildly successful properties that are known as SFF, yet attract millions of mainstream viewers—Star Wars, The Lord of the Rings, Alien and Aliens and The X-Files. These stories sport the same successful characteristics as the list above.

Yet they rarely let the SFF elements eclipse the story or characters. They give enough information about those fantastical elements to deliver understanding and relevance for the audience, but not so much as to alienate them. They focus on characters. Their protagonists—even if they were born on other planets—are immediately grokable thanks to their very “human” behaviors and characteristics. Audiences want to emotionally identify with characters, and whenever possible, the world in which they occupy.

I believe these are the most successful traits of great SFF (and stories, period): nigh-universal appeal. To be clear: I’m not criticizing fans or writers who love to deep geek in their fiction—one of my favorite novels, Vernor Vinge’s A Deepness In the Sky, is hyper-granular in its worldbuilding and geekery. There is absolutely a place for this content, and a thriving subculture exists that will support it.

But I do believe that these movies and TV shows (and more—sound off in the comments!) can provide priceless inspiration for SFF storytellers, and opportunities to grow our community well past the SFF section of our book- and video stores. If storytellers and evangelistic SFF fans can accomplish that, then we all win. MORE, including comments at http://www.tor.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=blog&id=58311


J.C. Hutchins is the author of the sci-fi thriller novel 7th Son: Descent. Originally released as free serialized audiobooks, his 7th Son trilogy is the most popular podcast novel series in history. J.C.’s work has been featured in The New York Times, The Washington Post and on NPR’s Weekend Edition.

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StoryLink: Melissa Rosenberg on Writing "Twilight" Series and "Dexter"

http://www.storylink.com/article/329

You Asked ... Melissa Rosenberg,"Twilight" Series, "Dexter"

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Melissa Rosenberg


StoryLink

We are thrilled to have Melissa Rosenberg as our November Featured Screenwriter.

The head writer and producer for Showtime's Dexter, Rosenberg also wrote the screenplays for the Twilight series (from the novels penned by Stephenie Meyer). Dexter is currently in its fourth season. Twilight: New Moon, the second in the saga....http://www.storylink.com/article/329

When adapting a novel for the screen, especially one as loved as Twilight, how do you determine what parts go into the film and what parts don't? Especially under the potential wrath of crazy fans? Kelsey

The most important element to bring from the book to the screen is the emotional journey of the characters. That should never be sacrificed. There are important scenes and plot points that enable those characters to go on that journey, and they become the framework of the story. As to what parts don’t make it in… I guess I’d say… in a novel, conversations that last for chapters can be utterly compelling. Certainly that’s true for the Twilight books. But film is a visual medium, and you want to keep it engaging visually. So it’s probably those conversations that tend to get pared down the most, condensed or cut.

So much of the way Dexter is written is internal thought processes, and the "dark rider" who seems to be an alter-ego of Dexter operates almost as an additional character. I'm wondering how difficult it was to write to this character (the dual-faceted Dexter)?Deborah

I love writing for Dexter’s character because he’s so complex, and has such conflicting elements to his personality. His secret, alter-ego is the source of so much of the show’s humor. But his voice-over can also be the hardest part to write – it often distills a scene or an episode or an emotional arc down to its most minimal form. It’s like writing haiku; the fewer words the better. But those words need to say so much.

When creating smoldering romantic chemistry between characters, what are some of the most magical/powerful equations between dialogue and action that absolutely "grabs, locks and loads" the female audience? What the heck is the secret to writing romantic chemistry? Joann

For me, I guess it’s about what’s not said in a scene. The subtext. It’s also the conflict between two characters; the obstacle keeping them apart, together with the longing drawing them together. But of course, you can’t actually write chemistry. I could write the sexiest scene ever, but if two actors were cast who didn’t have chemistry, the scene would still fall flat. I – we – got very, very lucky with Rob [Pattinson] and Kristen [Stewart] for Twilight]!

When did you start feeling the inspiration to....http://www.storylink.com/article/329

...
As a writer who has written for both film and T.V., what do you see as the main differences in writing for those two mediums? As a writer, how do you have to jump mentally and technically from T.V. writing zone to feature writing zone?Bill

T.V. writing is much more collaborative. You have a staff of writers who sit around in a room all day inventing a story. It’s energizing, exhausting, inspiring, hilarious, and frustrating. It’s a little like being on a submarine together. At one point you’re going to hate each person in that room, and they’re going to hate you. It’s like family that way. In the end, you love them all, but it takes navigating a lot of personalities, and that takes energy.

Writing features, it’s just you alone in your little office with your keyboard. You don’t have to listen to anything but your own creative voice. There are no office politics to deal with, no feelings to hurt, no one to piss you off. Then again… there’s no room full of talented, creative people at the end of the hall that you can run to any time you’re stuck.

I love doing both equally, but both come with their own sets of challenges. Jumping back and forth has been perfect for me. Just when I need a break from the writing room, I get to go home and write a feature. Just when I start getting lonely in my little office, I get to go back into that writing room with some of my favorite people in the world - writers....http://www.storylink.com/article/329

Monday, November 30, 2009

Christine Borden's The Sexual Manifesto: Women Sex Writers and Their Trolls

Culture/Entertainment

The Sexual Manifesto: Women Sex Writers and Their Trolls

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Violet Blue (image in post NSFW) has a point. Combine online sex writing from a woman with anonymous, seemingly unmoderated comments and you're bound to come across some of the most hateful, odious speech on the internet. I should know: I came across much of it when I was the sex columnist for the Daily Cal, UC Berkeley's student paper.

Luckily, that was before the website installed commenting for every article. Instead, I got the vitriol and sexual harassment sent straight to my inbox. Emails ranged from queries about the state of my pubic hair (that was sent by a Berkeley staff member), remarks on my fatness or general hideousness, complaints about my vulgarity, and good old-fashioned name-calling. Once, I responded to a guy who insulted my columns and he in turn apologized. A month later, he sent the same insult again, perhaps forgetting that he had previously forgiven me for my printed obscenity.

Sometimes it makes you wonder if newspapers think it's okay for commenters to treat women writers like that, especially ones who write about sex.I did experience the wrath of the semesterly AnonCon, the Berkeley forum that pops up during finals. I have never experienced a public flogging, but I'd imagine it would be much more enjoyable than wading through pages of defamatory comments while freaking out about an impending final paper. There was one point in one of those womens' classes in which I just broke down and cried during a presentation that involved exhuming a few old comments from the forum. Good game, trolls.

But back to Violet Blue. What puzzles me is why a site like SFGate would allow such defamatory comments. Surely a publication that (despite declining prestige) employs copy editors like all good libel-fearing periodicals do would want to eliminate all libel on its pages, online or in print. Sometimes it makes you wonder if newspapers think it's okay for commenters to treat women writers like that, especially ones who write about sex.

From my own experience, from discussing with other sex writers, and from a little bit of snooping in the previous Daily Cal columnist's inbox, it seems to me that these haters more often than not hate the game, not necessarily the player. The game in which:

1. Women can derive pleasure from sex and write about it.
2. Sex doesn't have to be shameful or bear nasty consequences.
3. It is okay to talk about sex, even sex in the butt, sex in the mouth, or sex in other creative orifices.
4. It is okay for women to talk about this kind of sex.
5. It is okay for women to have opinions, period.
6. You can print words like "penis" and "vagina" and even "fuck," "cunt," "pussy," and "ass" in the right context without losing your journalistic ethics.
7. Sex is not necessarily vulgar but rather a topic that should be discussed, in print and online.
8. Dissemination of sexual information is necessary and serves the common good.
9. Women don't have to be cute, hot, sexy, attractive, banging, bootylicious, or skinny to have, enjoy, or write about sex.

Still, dude, don't shoot the messenger. 'Cause we keep coming back. Sex columns provide not only a creative and delicate writing challenge but also a channel to educate and communicate with other people about public (and private) health matters. I mean, do you remember sex ed in high school? I certainly don't, so I made it my responsibility to learn about sex on my own terms (read: the internet). And until women writers and sex writers and women sex writers stop getting harassed, I don't think the job is done.

The Sexual Manifesto is Christine Borden's weekly column on sex in the city, sex and culture, and, well, sex. Got a tip for Christine (and it's not in your pants)? Email her at christine@sfappeal.com.

Wednesday, November 25, 2009

“Prolonged Foreplay/Diddling. Or Fun, Creative Stuff!”

“Prolonged Foreplay/Diddling. Or Fun, Creative Stuff!”
from "Neale Sourna's CuntSinger"

Start with the simple, sensual, and kind stuff.

Brush her hair.

Give her a gentle head and neck massage.

Touch and caress all her erogenous zones, such as: skin, lips, spine, neck, shoulders, etc.

But do stay away from the more racy bits, like buttocks, thighs, and breasts, until she’s warmed up to you and how you’re making her feel with the less sexualized bits of her.

Better yet, make your seduction an all day affair, with sexy phone calls, text messages, snail mail cards or letters, if you REALLY planned ahead, email, flowers, horseback riding or other things she, as an individual, loves and is excited about can prepare her all day to be with you.

Without protest.

You may even have to go to the opera. Or cuddle up and watch female talk television, instead a male sports / news / add useless banter type here television.

But, she’s worth it, to you.

But also, do be careful....more fun, useful tips in "Neale Sourna's CuntSinger"

Adobe ebook version coming soon!

Monday, November 23, 2009

From Gamasutra--Upping The Craft: Susan O'Connor On Games Writing

Upping The Craft: Susan O'Connor On Games Writing
By Christian Nutt

Veteran video game writer Susan O'Connor believes that there's a lot of room to improve the writing in games -- and she would know; she's been involved in many of the top projects in the industry, from both commercial success and narrative quality standpoints.

Epic's Gears of War takes (some perhaps deserved) dings for its storytelling, but Ubisoft Montreal's Far Cry 2, on the other hand, was experimental and deeply considered from a narrative standpoint -- and O'Connor worked on both games, as well as titles like 2K Boston/Australia's BioShock, which she won a Game Developers Choice Awards for co-writing in 2008.

In this interview with O'Connor , Gamasutra had a chance to discuss not just the intricacies of what game narrative is capable of, but exactly how development studios should handle working with a writer. What is the best possible process for delivering story that enhances the gameplay experience rather than simply interrupting it?

The following in-depth discussion considers both narrative "tricks" to engage the player, alongside the philosophy and craft of storytelling. It's intended to help spark some discussion of precisely what games and developers can, should, and will be doing in the future with regard to game narrative.

How did you get into games writing originally?

Susan O'Connor: Well, it was really through the back door. When I started I knew that I wanted to be -- the goal was -- to get a job being paid to be a writer. I knew from the age of four that I wanted to be a writer. Then I was like, "I don't understand how writers get paid. I can't connect the dots here." It was really confusing to me.

So, I started talking to people in all different areas and tried to decide if should relocate to Los Angeles or New York. What kind of writing? Playwriting? Do I want to do screenwriting? Television? Do I want to write haiku? Do I want to write crap like on the back of cereal boxes? It was like everything was on the table.

Then, I met somebody who worked at a studio here in [Austin] who made kids' games. At the time, just coincidentally, they were making a slumber party game for girls. There are these four little girl avatars that were on screen jibber-jabbering the whole time. So, they had this immense need for writing, which they never did for kids' games.

I was qualified because, A, I'm a girl, B, I'd been to slumber parties. I was an expert in this area. So, that's how I got started. There was so much work that needed to be done that they hired me on. I was like a writer/producer.

I did that for a few years. We're talking six to eight month production cycles, really for kiddos, really simple stuff. But it was great because it was a chance to make a lot of mistakes without a lot of people noticing. Kids are a very forgiving audience. You can screw up, and they don't get on the internet and go berserk [laughs], not when they're five.

It was really good. None of us had any experience making games. All the designers had architecture degrees. I had an art history and English degree. Nobody knew anything. We were all just a bunch of doofuses. There were experienced people at the time who worked in games, but we certainly weren't any of them. So, it was really fun.

It felt like college again, just sort of banging around and making a mess and learning some things and kind of getting some things done. [laughs] They're not award winning stuff, but in a way it was some of the best times I've had in games because it was really fun. I liked that. Anyway, that is how I got started.


Gears of War

Obviously all games have text in them, but there is still a sort of lag on the importance of having a dedicated writer in games, as a role. How do you get studios to take it seriously?

SO: Well, I think that it's tricky. In a way the pressure is on the writer to articulate what it is that they do. In a way one, of the problems can be that you treat it like a black art. I'm just going to go into a room and shut the door. Six months later I'm going to open the door and, "Wham! Check it out! Here is a story."

I think that it really helps if you can talk to people who aren't writers about the writing process in a way that not only do they understand, but it interests them. That is, I think, a huge barrier to appreciating it.

It's really analogous to design. It also sort of gets pulled out of the ether, but there are enough designers in this industry that there is an acknowledgement that that is a craft worth practicing. There are not many writers in the industry, so we don't get that sense of legitimacy.

You can look around and say, "Well, there are 47 million designers. There must be something to this design stuff." It's not just that you are making up stuff. There is actually a methodology.

There is one for writing, as well. It's a bit softer than design. You're trying to work more on the right side of the brain than the left, but I think it really helps if you can work with teams and help every step of the way articulating what it is that you do and how it can help them. How you can take what they're doing and run it through this writing prism.

Usually, what tends to happen is that at the end of games, they say, "Gosh, we wish we'd hired writers sooner." Yes! That is correct! But that is starting to get better. The game I just finished, I came on at the last minute, which is rough. But the game I am about to start, I am coming on at the very beginning. So, that is really starting to change.

I guess your question was, "How do you make that transition?" I think that anyone who writes anything good helps other people. It just helps me as a writer if someone else writes a great game. Look, they did it. How did they do it? Well, they spent a long time on that project.

Valve's got a great process. They run through it. They iterate like crazy on stuff. They throw stuff away when it doesn't work. They find ways to rapidly prototype. I think everything else in games gets iterated a gazillion bazillion times. When I look at these poor level designers and how much of their work gets thrown away, it's heartbreaking. But, it's what you have to do to get a piece of art finished.

It's the same with writing. Once people make that connection, "Oh, good stuff takes time. If I want the writing to be good, I'll have to invest some time in it."

I get the impression that people think that with writing -- maybe you don't have the same opinion -- you sit down and you write the whole thing in order from top to bottom. Then you're done. I think people even think that novels are written from page one through page 300, just linear and then it's done. It is really not true.

SO: I don't think that is true. I've heard stories that there are writers like that in the world, but I have never met one. I've never met someone who works that way. I'm not. I'm totally all over the place. I'm the queen of the four-by-six index cards and the push pins.

Every writer seems to have a different process, but especially with games, it's not possible.

You want to experience the story and there is going to be a beginning, middle, and end to it. But how it gets told in the game, when the ground keeps shifting beneath you, I think having a nonlinear approach to writing is really helpful when you're trying to integrate it with game design. You've got to be willing to let go of stuff all the time, but somehow be able to hang onto some skeleton, some thread.

When I work on stories, I try to just get down to the absolute, the most bare bones concept you're trying to get across. That is what has to get protected. The story has some meaning; everything else is up for grabs.

That one core bit has to stay in place, otherwise you have a meaningless story. That happens in games. You're like, "I care, why?" [laughs] when you are playing the game.

One issue is when the writer gets brought in late and there are already a whole bunch of levels that are well into production. You have to go, "How can I contextualize these?" Do you run into that a lot?

SO: Yeah, that can definitely happen. Sometimes it falls into place, and sometimes it doesn't. That's a good question. Like on Far Cry 2, there wasn't so much of an issue because they had an overarching structure for the whole thing. In a way it was designed to be more sandbox than freeform. But other games they are. Each level has its own distinct personality.

I worked with this guy Danny Manley, who was a writer on one of my recent projects. He's a playwright from New York. I love working with him, he's so great. He thought about each level as having its own little short story, which I think is correct. The overarching story had to be an anthology that held it all together somehow.

So, I think in terms of how you tie everything together, it seems that most of the time the best bet is to use a really light touch. You have to do a bit of hand waving. If you really try to get to get literal with it, then people are like, "What? That doesn't make any sense," which is always a danger in game writing. At some point, it doesn't make any sense. That's right. [laughs]

People have been experimenting with structure. Some games more explicitly deal with this, but the concept is that each one is like an episode. It has its own little self-contained story arc in each chunk of the game.

I think that, certainly, if you're dealing with a development where you're going to get or lose pieces or shift things around or whatever, that is obviously beneficial. It's practical. But do you think that's a good way to work, or do you think that you'd rather plot it all out as best as possible?

SO: Well, that's a good question. I don't know. I mean every project is different. This is a copout answer. I don't mean to give you a copout answer.

It's true; sometimes episodic is the way to go. Sometimes having one driving narrative is the way to go, like God of War. That's right. I love that game. I talk about it a lot. I really do think it worked. It was just deceptively simple.

I think there's a lot to be said for keeping the content of the story really simple while trying to make the emotions complex, like not asking people to remember a lot. People are like, "Okay, I get it. I need to go kill the God of War. Right. I got it." or, "I need to save the princess."

You just don't know how much player... Ken Levine called it "player RAM". How protective do you have to be of that? They only have so much room in their head, in their brain, to hold things.

How often do you have to get them synced back up again? Keeping the content simple and the emotional subtext complex, for me as a writer, is the goal, so that you don't get this wall of words when you play a game. You get a simple story that resonates with you and sticks with you.


BioShock

As regards that, something else he talked about is how they cut a lot of characters from BioShock 1. They took the original ideas, and they condensed them down into way fewer characters. "How can we make these four characters, their story functions, descend into one character?" Ultimately, people on the creative side don't always realize what people are actually capable of following and what they're actually interested in following.

SO: Yes, I know. It's funny because you live with this stuff day and night, and you can recite it all verbatim. It's really easy for me, or for anyone, to forget that when you're playing the game, it's just washing over you. People who work on movies kill themselves, but people watching movies tend to just kick back. It's the same with games.

Just trying to find what's going to stick with the player and really playing to that, instead of giving them a massive dose of stuff and trying to make something epic that then becomes noise, none of which goes through.

If you talk to different people, you get very different approaches on what even game narratives should be. Even games you've worked on, from game to game to game, like Gears of War.

Obviously, it has a very straightforward narrative presentation. It's basically cutscene, mission, cutscene, mission, and then the barks are character-building, but they don't really contain much narrative, everything from just "Shit, yeah!" to a little bit more than that. It's basically about adding tone.

BioShock doesn't stop for cutscenes. There are character interactions, but there are a lot of the recordings that you find. And then you've got Far Cry 2, which is an open world game. It's all different.

SO: I think on Far Cry 2, they tried some really great stuff. One of the things I really loved... They had a narrative designer on that game, Patrick Redding, who's just unbelievable. How does this man's mind work so fast? It's ridiculous.

He and [creative director] Clint [Hocking] really had some smart ideas about trying to change the way we tell stories in games. They developed incredibly complex systems, which I cannot do justice to.

I can give a really simple example. One of the things I really loved was how they talked about... You have one triangle this way and one triangle that way. You can imagine a Star of David, basically, and then you bisect it twice.

The triangle that's going this way is gameplay information, tons at the beginning and very little at the bottom. The opposite is story information. You've got two lines running through it, right?

So when you walk up to an NPC, you're at the top end of the gameplay triangle. He'll say, "Go across the hill. Go in the hut. Shoot the dude." End, right? You've got almost no story there. You've got tons of mechanics. For players who are interested in just that, that's all you needed to know and you could walk away. If you stay and you hit X, then the next thing he says is going to be equal amount of gameplay and story information.


Far Cry 2

So you've got sort of the inverted pyramid, which is how you write news stories. And then on top of that you have the... I've never heard of the "right side up pyramid", but that's how it is.

SO: Yes, so the first, the middle part of that triangle would be like, "Grab the ledger. It's got all the bribes," you know what I mean? So like there's an equal amount of mechanics and meaning. And if you stick around again, what he says is all story. Like, "I don't give a shit if he's my brother, kill him anyway."

And because it's a pull model, the player asked for it, then that is the story he wanted to hear. That's the biggest challenge for games stories. How do you tell it to them when they want to hear it in a way that means something to them? That's huge.

I've been doing a lot of thinking about cutscene-based narrative, because initially when I started going to conferences, I started to hear people say, "Cutscenes suck. Don't use them." I would always go, "But they don't always suck. Sometimes they are good, actually."

Originally, my first thought was then like, "Well, some games just have bad cutscenes. Some have good cutscenes." It's not that simple, either. It's also about pacing. Pacing is probably even more important. Quality is important, but pacing is super important.

SO: Yeah, I totally agree. Yeah, absolutely. And that involves so much more than the writer. That's why it's really great to have an opportunity to have the writer working with the team for an extended period of time. They don't have to be staffers, but just have them around.

First of all, I think it really helps to have a sense of trust with each other. A sense of respect for what the other person brings to the table. When I work with a designer who I really come to really respect and admire, I just want to know what he thinks about things. And we can talk back and forth.

If I can get their respect as well, then you can really do some great stuff together. And you can think about things like pacing, and "How are we going to integrate?" and "What kind of gameplay experience are we talking about having here?"

Is this the level where we take a deep breath, because the story went nuts in the last level? What do we do here? The last level was a flight of fancy -- so are we getting more into reality, with cold water in the face? Because we're almost at the end, and it's like, "Let's get this done"?

And then we can start to get a sense of momentum, how the designer wants to drive the car. And then how you can build a story to really enhance that. And sometimes, in counterpoint to that. What experience is he trying to create, and then, how can I expand on that, make it more meaningful?

When it comes to team structures, you referred to Ubisoft Montreal, where Patrick Redding is a narrative designer. In this structure, he interfaces with the writers and flows the content to the designers. Do you think it's important to have a narrative designer at that nexus point that can interface with the team and manage that process?

SO: Yeah. Yeah, I think so. I think you can have a narrative designer that is more involved with the systems design -- that's huge, especially when you are talking about a game that is as big as Far Cry 2. They can really get immersed in the technical side of things, then translate it back to the writer, and vice versa. It's literally like having a U.N. simultaneous translator. [laughs] I think that's what a narrative designer can be.

Or even just having an editor, who has the band width in their brain to actually go and talk to level designers about the levels, while the writer is in his room sort of noodling on a character. I've worked on projects like that as well and it's great. It's great to be the writer in that position and it's great to be the editor in that position.

Because I think what writers need is a combination of really being integrated with the team, right? Like, that's part of it. The other part of it, is you just sort of need space to do your work. And those don't always work together, because most people on the team are not writers.

So if you sit down and you're like, "I want to talk about writing with you all!" It quickly becomes about programming or about design or about what their expertise is, because that's what they have to offer. It would be as if one level designer walked into a room of writers and want to talk about level design, like how long would you stay on topic?

You wouldn't, because before you know, you would be talking about some HBO show. You would be talking shit about Dexter, because that is what the writers would be interested in. And the level designer is like, "Uh, well guys, you know I got a map here I want to draw." "Dexter is awesome!"

And so, as a writer, how do you find a way to carve out the time and space you need to do your work so you have something good to share with everybody, and also have that work fit with what everyone else is doing.

So to answer your point, I think having a narrative designer, or an editor, or somebody is key. I mean that is it. Because when you try to be both, you fail at both. That has been my experience.

Yeah. I mean it seems to me that it takes a lot of time, and polish, and time to rework bits of writing. And that seems to fall out of the possibility with the way a lot of teams have structured it. "Writing is what we will do when we have time to do it," rather than making time for someone to spend time writing.

SO: Yeah, I know. Yeah, that is true. And I don't think it is willful like, "Screw it." I think it is like, "I got a million things I got to do, so I am going to have to prioritize. I know I need programming. I know I need art."

Someone who is the boss is going to have to be the one to say, "I am going to make writing a priority. We are going to make this happen." Because I do think that... Well for one thing, creating a meaningful story, it takes just as long to get to know fake people as it takes to get to know real people. You [as a writer] really have to spend time with your characters to get to know them.

And it takes time for a story to come to life. It is easy to come up with a clichéd, dumb story. It doesn't take a lot of time. But to make something really like, "My God!" it takes time. And frankly, I think it takes as long to develop a good story for a game as it does to create a good design for a game.

I mean, to me, that is the metric. If it takes two years to do that game design, then you need a writer at least involved in the process. Maybe not on site, but coming in and out those full two years. You know?

Because yeah, waiting to the end is nuts. I think that writers... You get the biggest bang for your buck from your writer if you bring them in right away, for a couple of reasons. One, they have more time to sort of do their work. And they have an opportunity to fail, too. They get to try things, be experimental. Whereas if you come in with like a month to go, they want you to hit the target right away.

So what you do in order to hit a target? You play it really conservative. You don't try anything crazy. So even though what you make is serviceable, it is not great. And sometimes you want to do something great. Every writer wants to do something great. Why else would we do this?

Bringing a writer in early, it gives them a chance to be experimental and play with the story and play with what is possible, because this is a medium where we haven't discovered the full vocabulary yet for telling stories in games. We know a few things that work, but there are probably like 20 more things that would work great. We just haven't had a chance to try them yet, because we don't have a chance to experiment.

So there is that side of it, and there is also this side of getting all the other people on the team feeling like they are part of the storytelling process as well. I mean, not everyone is a trained writer, but everybody understands a good story and everyone wants to create a great experience for the player. So if the writer comes on early, he or she can help give tools to the whole team, to create like a back-and-forth exchange between the game design, the art, and the writing and everything. But that just takes time, right? You've got to trust.

You have to build relationships with the team.

SO: You've got to know who you can jive with and who you can just be like, "Dude, come on. Let's just shut the door for a second and let's talk about this." You know?

See, that is why I think it must be hard to really influence the way things are going if you are working externally. I know you move from project to project and you frequently work externally. But sometimes, you spend time at a studio. How does that work? What do you see as the optimal way to go?

SO: Well, I worked on a project that was unbelievable. Oh my God. I loved it. It was partly chemistry. I just really got along with everyone. And that game got cancelled. And I was like... "Print that out." It was like my absolutely all time favorite game. Cancelled!

But I worked with a designer. His name was Pete Low. He was up at Radical. It wasn't like a showstopper, like the world is waiting for it, game, necessarily, but it just worked brilliantly. It was so successful, I thought. And everyone on the team thought so as well.

We got far enough along in the process that the whole story was done and the script was finished. And the cinematics were being made. And everything was sort of integrated, so we could see what we had done. We all felt good about it, which is unheard of, because everyone in games is so critical.

But we were all like, "I think this might be awesome!" And I think it was really successful because I came on early and Pete really set the tone for trying things. He was very accepting. Like, "Yes, let's try that. Let's see how that works."

And we were able to come up with a process where we would take turns. I would spend some time, come up with my story ideas, and then I would present them. And then they would go away and they would come up with some gameplay concepts and come back. And then I would take it. And we would just do this back and forth for a while.

And it was a huge eye opener for me. I mean I had worked on loads of games up to that point. But that process taught me more about what was possible in a game and what wasn't, and how a game designer looked at a story. I could suddenly see my work through their eyes, which was like, "Whoa," and vice versa.

I remember one day having a discussion about the character and how he was going to change at the end. He was going to have a moment of truth. It was going to be like, "What you do in this final moment is going to be who you are," I was like, well, it's because he's a bad guy. And they were like, "What? He is a good guy! What are you talking about?" I am like, "No. He is a bad guy."

Then we had this great discussion about who we thought this guy was, which I thought was so great because we were still getting to know him. It is like we all had different relationships with this guy. And then we all started thinking about how the player would feel about that. "What if he is bad?"


Gears of War

A lot of times when you play a game and you pull back a level, you realize that these characters are the protagonists, but they are not necessarily good people, or doing good things. Usually the ultimate goal is basically good. But they are just sort of running around killing a lot of people in a borderline amoral way.

So when you sort of pull back a level and you think about this on a higher level, then there is more ambiguity. The game situations and the way you actually participate in the game can affect your interpretation of the story naturalistically, but not in a way that is deliberately written.

SO: Exactly. I agree. And that is why I think having a writer in is so helpful, because I think bringing in more ambiguity is great. Like just have things happen and don't explain it. To me, I respond to that as a player, because then I get really intrigued by it. I am not being told what to think; I am just being shown a world. I am being asked to enter a world.

And I think that is the stuff I would love to see more of. And even structurally. Like, whose story is it? Is it the player's story, or is the player going to tell his own story no matter what you do? Why even fight it? Why not let the player tell his story? Screw it! The protagonist is really going to be this NPC. And since you are trying to beat the game as the player, then maybe you are the antagonist.

And maybe what you do really foils the protagonist. We are all protagonists of our own stories. Satan is the hero of his own story! No one thinks of themselves as bad, is my point. And so if you let the player be the hero of his own story...

I just think we have a lot of different ways to think about the antagonist. An antagonist of a story isn't always the bad one. That's what's interesting too. If you get two people operating in shades of gray...

Sure. It's perspectives, right?

SO: Exactly.

Very often I think that stories -- and it's not just in games, but stories in all popular media -- boil down way too far, and that bores me a great deal.

Obviously, something like Star Wars that is bright white versus pitch black, is super popular; it's not like it's not understandable why people like it like that. But I think that very few stories are honestly doing the bright white versus pitch black thing. So, if you're trying to do something with a little more texture, it should be a little less binary.

SO: Yeah, I agree. You know, it's hard to tell a good story in any medium. If it was easy, every movie would be great; every book would be awesome. It's tough. It's tough to find a good story and then tell it well, especially in games, and I think the trick is just having lots of time to get it right.

I think the ones that have been the most successful have been the ones that have really had the chance to learn from their mistakes during production, instead of shipping something that was a mistake.

I think that a lot of games that I play have bad stories. In the end, it might still be bad, but what's really bothersome to me is not so much that like the story is dumb; it's that it lacks craft. You can tell there weren't many drafts of the dialogue, or it's just jammed together. Just stuff like that. That's what I think is missing actually, is craft.

SO: Well, right. And it's funny. As a writer, you have to find the nerve; you have to steel yourself to sound like a total geek in these meetings. You can talk about exposition and rising action, and all these English terms, that really have to get applied to create great stuff.

You can definitely just write, just [makes quick gibberish noises], but to apply a certain craft to it and structural underpinnings to it, so it works for reasons you don't really see; you're not supposed to see it. It's the scaffolding and it's the foundation and it's the lode-bearing walls. All you know is that the room is bright and sunny. You don't have to think about how they get the windows in. That's the builder's job, right?

I try to take a similar craftsman approach to the work that I do, because I've made that mistake myself. I'm just like, "Well, I'll just write some stuff, and it'll work itself out." No, it's crap. "Why was that crap? I need to learn from that."

And so you're like, "I think I'm not taking craft as seriously as I should be." Because, again, you're not surrounded by other writers, so you don't talk shop very much, right? That's one of the reasons I even started this Game Writers Conference [at GDC Austin]. I wanted to be able to talk to my colleagues about stuff that they would take the ball and run with it.

I think one of the important things about writing is what you leave out. I think that's something that people cannot perceive easily, if you don't know about writing.

SO: Totally agree.

I think people are tempted, if they're not experienced, to just keep shoving things into the narrative. And what you leave out, it could be like what we're talking about with Ken Levine condensing characters, or it can be like, "What does this scene do? Nothing."

SO: Yeah, I think that's right. Especially with games. Because you're building around a void, which is the player. You've got to leave space for the player to insert himself or herself, because they're going to do it anyway. Why fight it, if they're going to take it and make it their own?

And creating a structure that allows that, I think, is really huge. And looking at structure, and finding ways to protect the story from the player. Things like inciting incidents, like "When does the story really start? When does the world get turned upside down?" I think, personally, looking at stories, you really have to have it happen before the game begins. If you do 20 minutes where you're doing your thing, and then suddenly something changed, it wouldn't traumatize you.

You wouldn't be motivated to make it go back the way it was. You'd be like, "Oh, cool, right on. I'm underwater. This is great." Or like, "I'm a bat, sure", you know what I mean? Whereas in a movie, they do that very thing.

Starting in medias res is popular in movies, but usually games are like, "Well, we need to do the tutorial first" or whatever. I've brought this up with other people who work in games before.

I felt like Final Fantasy VII had a really strong start. You know you're going to go blow up the Mako reactor, and then escape. And you go through that part and play the game and it's very easy, and it tells you how to play it, and then it stops. That's like 45 minutes or a half an hour. Then the game grinds to a halt, and starts like a normal game, and it's slow.

But the thing is, you're pretty interested because you had that episode of high-intensity gameplay-focused narrative. The game has built up this good will with you as a player, and then it can slow down again. That's such a really good trick. Tricks like that, I think, are important.

SO: Me too. Did you see Up? I thought, in Up, the story with the wife, not having children, blah blah blah, never living her dreams, was so devastating.

It was the best part of the movie, though.

SO: It was. It was so impactful, so powerful, I think it pinned all the adults in the audience to their seats, because they had to process that. And then, while the adults are stunned, and letting it in and having no influence on what they just saw, the kid story starts. It's like, "Whee, fun!", and it's stuff that normally would have bored an adult. They're too stunned to be bored. They needed that time. The adults needed the time to gather themselves. I had that experience when I watched.

Yeah, it was a very elegant part of the film, really elegant filmmaking.

SO: Gorgeous.

Honestly, I don't think the rest of the film is anywhere near as good as first 15 minutes.

SO: But yes, I think you're totally right. Tricks like that, and just thinking about stuff structurally. And knowing that everything in the game is totally and completely made up -- I would love for us to free ourselves more and not be trying to create hyperrealistic situations, or treat stories as though they're hyperrealistic -- as if they're documentaries? Why? That bullshit is all made up!

I think the characters have to be realistic, but the situations don't have to be realistic at all.

SO: And the structure doesn't have to be realistic. It is not a documentary. You don't have to turn a camera on. Let's speed this up; let's do backwards, Where is the Memento? Where is the game version of Memento? Why don't you mess with us a little bit more? This isn't reality! Tell us at the end of the game that I was 50 feet tall. Reality is really overrated. Let's make it up, here.

That's easy to say. Production realities are crazy. Trying to get a bunch of people on board is crazy. It's hard work. You want to be able to tell a story internally that everybody can understand and get behind.

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Tyler James' Writing Process Part IV: Characters That Make You Give a Damn

This article has a good sense of what writing, especially creative, fiction writing is about. Character, not plot. Character IS plot.


Let's face it the way YOU'd handle an invading vampire army like in Twilight 3: Eclipse probably entails lots of screaming and running or drinking and bathing in sacred salty holy water.


But, "Edward Cullen" and "Wolverine" and "Buffy: The Vampire Slayer" would handle that same exact situation in three (3) very different ways, because they are three (3) HIGHLY DIFFERENT CHARACTERS.


Happy character writing. It's ALL ABOUT LAYERS OF CHARACTER BEING AND PERSONALITY and writing for ALL THE SENSES, including the unknown ones.



--Neale Sourna
, 23. Nov 2009

1/27/09

My Writing Process Part IV: Characters That Make You Give a Damn

Back again! Last week I talked at length about producing "The Perfect Pitch." Prior to that, I shared my view that "Research is Key" to good writing, and explained how it all starts with the "The Great Idea." But this week, the focus is on probably the most important aspect of storytelling. So let's get right to it.

IV. Characters That Make You Give A Damn

Creating characters that your readers will care about is the hardest task you have as a writer. And for good reason. Think about what you're asking of the reader for a moment. Whether you're writing a comedy, a drama, an action story or suspense thriller, at some point you're going to try to evoke some emotion from your reader. You want to make them care.

Think about that. How many times have you listened to a real friend tell you about real problems and thought to yourself "Borrrrrrrring," or "So what?" Of course, you never voiced your feelings and probably feigned interest and empathy. That's what friends are for, right? But truthfully, you weren't that interested. And these were REAL PEOPLE. With REAL PROBLEMS. As a writer, your goal is to make readers empathize with your characters, who are MAKE-BELIEVE PEOPLE, with MAKE-BELIEVE PROBLEMS. You have your work cut out for you.

So, how do we do this? How do we go about creating characters that will elicit the emotional responses we want from our readers? First, just acknowledge that there are no guarantees. Not all of your characters are going to resonate with everyone. But there are some things you can do to increase the chances, and make your characters stand out.

I'm going to borrow copiously from Scott McCloud for a moment, as I think he laid things out exceptionally well in his book Making Comics. According to Scott (and ME!) a good comic book character contains the following traits:

  1. An Inner Life
  2. Visual Distinction
  3. Expressive Traits
Let's take a look at each one of these traits, and apply them to arguably Marvel's most popular and ubiquitous character over the past 20 years, Wolverine.

1. An Inner Life- By an inner life, McCloud (and ME!) mean that your character must have a unique life history that has shaped the character's world view, determines his desires, and colors her actions. And inner life is more than just "personality." It's not enough to say your protagonist is a "tough guy" or "the girl next door." There needs to be a unifying purpose behind your character. You need to create factors or events in your characters' lives that give reason for everything they do. This will help you predict how your character will respond to conflicts and action, and is how they'll start "writing themselves." The best way to flesh out an inner life is to ask and answer a whole lot of questions about your characters. Who were their parents? Where were they born? What's the best and worst thing that's ever happened to them? What secrets do they hold? The more questions you can answer about your character, the more real they'll become.

Does Wolverine aka Logan have an inner life? Bet your ass he does. Behind his rough exterior hides a man with so rich a secret past, even he doesn't know it all. Wolverine is a mutant who possesses animal-keen senses, enhanced physical abilities, retracting bone claws and a healing factor that allows him to recover from any wound (I believe he was tossed into the sun at one point and barely ended up with a sunburn.) He was used by a government program Weapon X, where an indestructable metal was bonded to his skeleton and claws and he was made into a supersoldier. As a parting gift, they also wiped his memory.

That's just scratching the surface of Wolverine's 30+ year history in comics, tv, and film, but there is a character with an inner life. And it pays off in the story telling. Tyra Banks' closet couldn't fit all the skeletons Logan has in his, and his history often comes into play in his adventures. Abuse at the hands of a shady government organization makes Wolverine especially protective of mutant children who are being used and abused. A strong inner life makes Wolverine a character that we can empathize with, and root for when the claws come out.

2. Visual Distinction -
In movies, visual distinction is important, but not as much as in comics. Sure, Jack Sparrow wouldn't be half as fun if Johnny Depp and the costume design team didn't go full on Keith Richards Pirate with him. But there are plenty of movies where all you need is an unshaven Bruce Willis' scowling mug or Jessica Alba in tights to draw a crowd. But in comics, you're not casting A-list actors who have a history with their audience. You're creating something new. Comics is a visual medium, and your characters NEED to stand out. On the practical, you need to give your characters a unique look so that they stand out from each other. There are plenty of excellent artists working today whose male protagonists all look the same, and if it wasn't for costume or color, we'd be clueless who was who. Don't make that mistake. When designing a character, pay attention to their weight and build and their fashion sense. It also helps if their attire or costume is a visual reminder of their personality. Throw a "Got MILF?" t-shirt on a character in your comic, and it'll be pretty easy for your audience to recognize, "Hey, that must be the comic relief, Stiffler-guy."

While Wolverine's back story and compelling inner life make him a fun character to write, he wouldn't be showing up in 20 different Marvel books every month if it wasn't for this simple fact...He's damn fun to draw, too! Whether it's the claws, or the costume, or the muscles, or the sneers, Wolverine just looks cool. And looking cool can take you a long way with a character. Not the whole way, but a long way. Just ask Hugh Jackman, whose career was launched because he bore a strong resemblance to the character and played him well.

3. Expressive Traits- This is often the hardest one to nail down. If you're a good artist, you can probably come up with a killer costume design without too much trouble. And if you're a good writer, you can dream up a fabulous inner life for a character by simply asking and answering good questions about them. But all that will be for naught if all your characters walk, talk, fight, make love, etc. JUST LIKE YOU. Sorry, but you're just not that interesting. When thinking about expressive traits, think about body language, speech patterns, key expressions, and common poses. All the great characters have them. Homer Simpson has his "D'oh!" Charlie Brown has "Good grief." Ebeneezer Scrooge has "Bah Humbug!" House has his cane and his awful bedside manner. Kramer has more expressive traits than I could post here. "Giddy up!" What are your characters' expressive traits?

How does Wolverine stack up in the expressive traits category? Pretty well. Be it calling friends and foes"Bub" or chomping on a cigar, or his trademark "SNKKKT" when the claws come out, there are plenty of ways Logan can make an impact on a scene. And that's really what it's all about. People with expressive traits STAND OUT. And they'll make your stories stand out, too.


So, now you know Scott McCloud's secret for making good characters. It's served me well, and hopefully it'll serve you well, too. One tool that I've been using lately to help me flesh out my characters is a Character Grid. What I do is make a table in MS Word or Google Docs, or even just a sheet of loose-leaf. In each row, down the first column of the table, I list important questions I should answer about my characters. Each column of the table contains the names of major characters in my story. For each character, I answer the questions to help reveal their character.

Here's an example of the types of questions I'll put in my grid, filled out with a character from my recent screenplay/graphic novel project.

CHARACTER

Skate

Full Name

Malcolm "SK8" Skaton

Role/Purpose

Comforts the protagonist, encourages him to get his life back together

Age/Sex/Race

23, M, Black

Main Goal

Wants to be a top comic artist, work for DC/Marvel

Occupation

Comic artist, Pizza Delivery Boy

Motivation

Prove to his brother and parents he can make it as an artist

Inner Need

Validation

Flaw

Lacks confidence, young and fears being taken advantage of

Backstory

Has been sketching and drawing comics since a trip to comic con at 8 years old. Met up with Felix at a con who hired him to draw his fantasy comic. Has been waiting patiently for the last 2.5 months for the script for issue 12, but Felix has been MIA. He thinks Felix is trying to replace him with another artist.

Core Trait

A fighter

Good/Bad Habits

Nice guy, but mischievous. Can fly off the handle, overly sensitive

Secret

Wishes his parents respected him as much as they respect his older brother.

Skills, Knowledge, Props

Outstanding artist with unlimited potential.

Quirks Always has art materials on him. Usually has ipod earbuds in.

Attitude

Defensive

Dialogue Style

A fast talker. Some urban slang thrown in, but educated, middle-class, New England background.

Celebrity Look alike

Bow Wow


The great thing about doing the grid, is that you can see all of your main characters together in one spot. This makes it easy to see where certain characters may be redundant, and you can make changes. Feel free to borrow my grid, and definitely add your own categories.

From this information it was fairy easy to come up with a decent character design sketch. As an artist, character design is not one of my strong suits, but I'm fairly happy with how this first stab at a design for Skate came out.


Remember, when you're creating your stories, you're creating stories FOR HUMAN BEINGS. As a result, the most important part of your stories are the characters that inhabit them. While I said that it's damn hard to create make-believe characters that your readers will identify and care about, the funny thing is, your reader WANTS TO CARE. They wouldn't be picking up a comic or popping on a movie if they didn't want a break from their own problems or the real people in their lives' petty concerns, and to see what someone make believe is dealing with.

So use that. Give them a character that'll make them give a damn.

Next: Part V. Structurally Sound

2 comments:

Lorenzo Fernando said...

well played. some days i am perplexed because i envision my character to be morally ambivalent like the dostoevsky's "underground man." or don draper. i suppose getting existential is way beyond me.

Jason B-L/ DragonFUZE said...

I love the grid, that will be really useful. Thanks!