This week’s quote comes from Paul Graham:
If you’re on Pinterest, why not follow my Pinterest board for these weekly motivational posts? It will be updated weekly, so you can keep track of quotes and inspiration I have found uplifting.
]]>
Welcome back to Writing Exercises! Hope you enjoyed the last few weeks of Halloween fun and Community-themed content, but now it’s back to the writing gym!
As well as a relevant video essay I’ve found, I’m giving you writing exercises to use if you’re keen to either explore and experiment or need some motivations to start a new script or novel.
It’s exercises like this that form part of my One Hour Screenwriter course, which will help you write an entire feature film script in 22 weeks. You can purchase it at the shop here. You can also read testimonies here that show my methods have worked for a variety of writers.
This week, you’ll be writing about talking:
Create Distinctive Speech Patterns
Each of your characters should have a distinctive way of speaking. A reader should be able to tell who is talking by the dialogue alone, without necessarily looking at the character’s name. Check out Talk Like a Gangster on Types Tuesday.
Use the following exercise to practice creating a distinctive “voice” for each of your characters.
First, find a physical practice subject. Cut out a series of comic strips (all featuring the same characters) from your local newspaper, buy a comic book, or find a series of comics on the web. Use comic strip characters you don’t know well but which interest you visually.
Block out or white out the dialogue in the individual speech bubbles. Photocopy the story panels with the now blank bubbles.
Look at the visual element of the comic, without the words. Note the style and tone of the drawings. Re-imagine the characters and story. Make it your own.
Fill in the blank speech bubbles with your own imaginary dialogue. Find a different rhythm and sentence construction for each character. Make your characters’ speech patterns reflect how they look visually.
Is one character’s speech more verbose and flowery than another? Is another character crisper and minimal in the way he or she speaks? Does one character joke in order to make a point? Does another preach and scold? Does another always try to impress?
Experiment with different speaking styles. Be consistent in creating each individual character’s way of communicating. Make each character’s speech pattern reflect that specific person.
Can you make the visual images work with the dialogue? Can you use the visuals as an interesting counterpoint or contrast to what is being said?
What happens when characters have a serious discussion in a silly setting? What happens if they have a silly argument in a serious setting? How can you reveal character by small discussions or ridiculous disputes that reflect much deeper underlying concerns?
For example, create an argument about taking out the kitchen trash. Make the deeper underlying concern about a larger issue in the relationship or a more fundamental personal dissatisfaction between the two.
Now how can you apply these principles to the characters in your screenplay? How can you make each of your characters’ speech patterns more distinctive?
How do their speech patterns reflect their individual personalities? How does it match or is it at odds with their physical appearance?
How can you use setting or location to underscore, be a counterpoint or comment on the discussion?
How can your characters reveal themselves by the mundane or foolish things they argue about? How does the argument reflect larger disagreements?
Video Essay of the Week
How Characters communicate tells us everything about them, from how to talk to others and also how they express themselves (or avoid exposing themselves.
We communicate with family members in a different way to friends than with enemies, for example. This excellent video essay talks us through the different ways three brothers communicate on the road-trip of a lifetime in Wes Anderson’s The Darjeeling Limited:
Let me know what you think of this week’s writing exercise by emailing me at [email protected]. I’d love to hear from you as we go forward with more of these writing exercises. Next week, we’ll be writing about… nothing…
Until then, remember- all you need to do is Get Started and Keep Going!
– Laurie
Power of Will characters fear showing any sign of weakness or vulnerability. They fear that remorse, compassion, empathy, compromise or forgiveness leaves them soft and open to possible attack by others. These characters believe there is no mercy in the jungle that is the world. There is only survival of the fittest. The biggest, toughest, meanest dog wins. Might makes right. Demand what you want and back it up with a big gun. Case in point, John Wayne in the 1948 movie Red River:
These characters speak in a manner that is:
Confident, Robust, Lusty, Passionate, Direct, Bold, Commanding, Incendiary, Ebullient, Decisive, Strong, Energetic, Aggressive, Powerful , Authoritative, Assertive, Forceful, Magnetic, Unyielding, Larger-Than-Life
They can be in speech and action:
Brutal/Brutish, Rash, Impulsive, Thuggish, Exploitive, Reckless, Controlling, Implacable, Territorial, Vindictive, Confrontational, Cruel, Loutish, Pugnacious, Dictatorial, Paranoid, Obstinate, Predatory, Belligerent, Oppressive, Autocratic, Bellicose, Savage
These are all action words. Put “to be” in front of any of these words and you have what the character plays in any scene. If the character is not playing one of these actions in a scene it’s probably a good idea to rethink the scene and its objective.
For more on Power of Will Character, both heroes and villains click HERE
For more examples of all the character types, you can purchase my in-depth e-books at the ETB shop, or you can read more articles on all the “Power Of…” types including James Bond, Doctor Who, Batman and Sherlock Holmes, every Tuesday. There are also 9 Pinterest boards full of character examples online. Check them out and let us know at [email protected] if you have any other suggestions.
]]>
Time Magazine has compiled a montage of some of the greatest one liners and famous catch phrases in movie history. Watch them here and remember your favorites–
]]>