I just glanced through my many unfinished scripts, and noticed that I almost always write about the same kinds of people, or people in a similar situation, although they may handle it very differently.

Almost all of my scripts feature a young female protagonist, often a teenager, that somehow feels completely disconnected or rejected by soceity in some way.

And I'm a guy.

I don't know what compels me to write about girls, or women, but I guess I just find them fascinating...

On the other hand I never ever write about doctors, lawyers, firefighters, cops, journalists (unless they're down and out doing obits and sitting in bars all day) and so forth. Something that's really well anchored in soceity's routine quickly gets predictable and boring to me. My characters are almost never bound my a carreer, or work, undergoing education (unless it's set in school) or knows what they're doing with their lives. Or what they want.

I don't know if Catcher in the Rye being my favorite book has something to do with this though...

It made me think. Do you find that you write about a specific group of people or people who share certain traits, or do you manage all layers of soceity, classes and genders?

And how, or why, do you choose the characters you write about?

I always seem to write about teenagers because I know what type of situations they go through (plus, I am a teenager myself). But I figure once I get older and find out the difficulties of being an adult (or the fun parts), I will begin to learn how to write scripts concerning adults. But right now I stick to teenagers.

I usually have the typical average teen, maybe the "I'm so popular" jock, maybe a punk, but usually I set it at average so I don't create stereotypical characters.

Sean

Yeah, people always chant the mantra "Write what you know" and although I often pour some of myself into certain characters, the female characters I create are never rooted in anyone I know or myself. It's strange...

I usually steer clear of types, like jocks, because I have no idea what makes them tick. I don't understand them and I fear if I did a script about them I'd oversimplify and end with something a la "Revenge of the Nerds" where the jocks are mean for no particular reason other than they're popular and are allowed to be mean.

I always try to understand why my characters do what they do, even the villains, so they don't become too 2-D. Although it is hard...

My lead character(s) is almost always some facet of myself and that character often behaves as I believe I probably would in the same situation. These characters are always varied in their outward appearance and the plots are varied as well, but psychologically, I write about who I know and just place me into the plots I create.

If the character isn't me, it's often someone else I know or knew. It helps to make them a little more real.

I feel sometimes I write who I would like to be. Traits embodied in someone I aspire to be, rather than who I necessarily am.

And other times I simply create a character who's more based in characters I remember from stories I heard when I was a kid, or influenced by old movies.

In the simplest terms and most convenient definitions...I usually write about freaks and misfits mostly as the protagonists. Or people faced with a tough situation. I like writing about the darker side of life, to me that's more intersting than everybody just  lives happily ever after. Yeah, but I like writing for the underdog. So far my screenplays have depicted punks, freaks, serial killers, a deaf person, people who are dissatisfied with society or the hand they were dealt in life, drug addicts, and my newest one deals with a heavily afflicted nerd with tourettes. So yeah, I just like dealing with real issues that make people think, or whip a little bit of message in there somehow, about some issue I find unfair.

There have been parts of me in a lot of my characters, but they're also circumstancial to what the story needs to be told right. So, it's like 50/50 usually.

Usually, the antagonists are the rich, and the popular crowd, ie jocks (although my new one I think shows a jock in a more positive light than I'd normally do) and people who aren't tolerant or understanding of other people basically,  and judge others, and think their shit don't stink. But others are also like domestic abusers and drug addicts, and of course the occasional zombie.

No matter who I'm writing for, I always try to make them seem real all the time. I don't usually make strict guidelines between the protagonist and antagonist. Usually, I have the protagonist do bad things sometimes too, or make things difficult to tell who the real "villain" of the story is.

I usually stick to what I know. I usually write for my own race, gender and age range(16-24) Is usually the type of people I writie about, and I've never been another race or gender so yeah. But I try to throw in other races in there to mix it up, and I have one feature with a main female protagonist.

As I write more, I also find that I get more experimental, and am trying out new things, and going in different directions than I normally would've done in the past.

Yeah, I've found the antagonist is often the hardest characeter to write, or at least for me, to write to my satisfaction. If I don't know what drives them or sympathize just a little with them I find them boring.

Most of my villains are vicious and cold, but ultimately they're also pathetic. I think the most interesting villain is the one you pity in the end. And not in the "Aww, you poor thing" kinda way, but more when the character reveals himself to be so crippled by his malevolence and 'evil ways' that you see him/her for what they truly are.

That's not always the case, but I tend to avoid using Bond clichés like courteous villains who invite the protagonist over for Tea to discuss their plans or reveal how they 'got away with it'.

I usually never spend time with well-meaning messages in my scripts, since that aspect never really interested me. I never had a desire to be political (in one way or another) or start a discussion on a subject. I really just want to tell a story, nothing more.

For me, I write for just about any kind of character. I find that character studies are very interesting. Like one stated,"Write what you know" I do that very thing in that when I look at a particular character I attempt to identify with a trait or an aspect. Somtimes it's their drive sometimes their motivation, (what would I do). I always instill a bit of myself, whether it's past feelings or questions that I asked of myself(Sometimes it is intentionally the opposite so by default I'm still in there).

What's interesting to me is to see how similar my characters come to my own beliefs sometimes and how different they end up being. I wonder, if things went different in my life, that one Butterfly effect moment happened, would I be that character?

It's always interesting but no matter how deranged or far removed from me, a character that I write for, I can always see a bit of myself in there.

Before starting a new screenplay I always do a little exorcise where I jot down feelings I may have had recently then write those into a character or into their backstory so that is another reason that they tend to emulate me in some way albeit small.

--Kotton

Quoted from Death Monkey I just glanced through my many unfinished scripts, and noticed that I almost always write about the same kinds of people, or people in a similar situation, although they may handle it very differently. Almost all of my scripts feature a young female protagonist, often a teenager, that somehow feels completely disconnected or rejected by soceity in some way.

I, too, generally write about the same kind of people -- outsiders, outcasts. The script I'm focussing on now, "Blood is Pretty," involves a kinda faceless collection of misfits. My lead character, in fact, steals an Amish doll -- it, as all Amish dolls are, is faceless. I like the faceless, the homeless, the drunks, the ones that most of us, as we come and go, try to ignore.

Even the one short I've submitted, which is far different from what I usually write, is based on the idea that society honors what it shouldn't -- normalcy. Let's face it, the world's a fucked up place, and it's not the "fuck ups" that have fucked it up. It's the "good" people." That, I think, sums up my scripts. At least that's what I'm striving for.  

In short, the characters I sketch, usually, in RL, are shunned.

Quoted from Death Monkey And I'm a guy. I don't know what compels me to write about girls, or women, but I guess I just find them fascinating...

I like female leads. And, really, in terms of movies, there aren't enough of them.

Quoted from Death Monkey On the other hand I never ever write about doctors, lawyers, firefighters, cops, journalists (unless they're down and out doing obits and sitting in bars all day) and so forth.

lol, I'll have to read your work -- sounds like stuff I'd enjoy. Ever read any Bukowski poems?

Great question,

Seth

Men that have an innocence about them. That fumble through what life hands them and usually come out on top. An underdog that isn't trying to be a hero.  

Incompetent manipulative sons of bitches. To whom the hero is considered less than a pawn.

Strong willed women with ulterior motives and mysterious origins.

I haven't wrote anything long enough to create a defining character. With my short i concerntrate more on the story and just use my characters as pawns. Character is something i need to work on.

I like to write about people at some critical point in their lives when something happens to it, whether it be an epiphany or a near-death experience or whatever it is. Anyway, this thing makes them look back on their lives and they realise that they've made a big mistake and are out for redemption. This is basically the story of Godfather III, which is why I like and respond to it so much. Whether or not they achieve their redemption depends on the story. I've never really done this very well and I've certainly never posted a script on here in which I have tried a redemption story, but I find them the most emotionally moving. Part of the reason why GFIII makes me tear up every time I see it. Does that make me sound absolutely pathetic and emotionally unstable? That GFIII makes me cry? Oh well, I don't care.


Cheers, Chismeister.

Quoted from Seth I, too, generally write about the same kind of people -- outsiders, outcasts. The script I'm focussing on now, "Blood is Pretty," involves a kinda faceless collection of misfits. My lead character, in fact, steals an Amish doll -- it, as all Amish dolls are, is faceless. I like the faceless, the homeless, the drunks, the ones that most of us, as we come and go, try to ignore. Even the one short I've submitted, which is far different from what I usually write, is based on the idea that society honors what it shouldn't -- normalcy. Let's face it, the world's a fucked up place, and it's not the "fuck ups" that have fucked it up. It's the "good" people." That, I think, sums up my scripts. At least that's what I'm striving for.   In short, the characters I sketch, usually, in RL, are shunned. I like female leads. And, really, in terms of movies, there aren't enough of them. lol, I'll have to read your work -- sounds like stuff I'd enjoy. Ever read any Bukowski poems? Great question, Seth

I don't think I've ever done a story about homeless people; most of my drunks are well-natured people fallen from grace at some point. I don't think I've ever handled alcoholism as social issue; with me the issues are always personal and never representative of something bigger than the story.

But yeah, outsiders are the most fun! I've made a niche for frustrated outsiders who don't understand how life works, or how you're supposed to 'play' the game, or at least shun the way you're supposed to play. I think that's a great driving force, that they don't know where they're going or why, because that allows them try anything to get there!

I agree about female leads. And these days, if you have a female lead she's pretty much always a carreer-woman of some sort (to counter the old stereotypes). Why can't we have a woman like Bill Murray in Broken Flowers? A girl like Holden Caulfield? A woman who is neither an accessory to the male protagonist nor an empowered ambitious go-getter? I want a gal who's confused about life, who doesn't know what she wants but is damn sure what she doesn't want! Desillusioned, naive, and neither sex-kitten nor feminist!

Well this is turning into a rant, but it made me think of the reason I might like female leads; the variety in motion pictures right now is pretty slim.

Although, I actually liked Gwyneth Paltrow in Proof.

I haven't actually finished any of the scripts with these kinds of themes or protagonists (hell, I've only finished one short), but when I do, I'll let you know...

I've never read Bukowski but often been told I should. So I probably will! Got any suggestions where to start?

Haha did I just get censored because of the word "d a m n"?

Gosh Darn it, that's a fudging load of...barbecue sauce!

My protagonists are usually twenty-somethings with alternative interests (filmmaking, cartooning, foreign culture, heavy metal, etc.), as opposed to your typical party animals, and tend to have some sort of philosophical yet simplistic outlook on life. My antagonists tend to be in some position of power or influence, self-righteous, stand behind some sort of banner larger than themselves (science, religion, etc.), and who have little or no respect for human life other than their own or... they're just downright sick freaks.

I prefer not to limit myself to only certain types of characters. In addition to those mentioned above, I try to write about everyone in between as well.

Quoted from Seth I like female leads. And, really, in terms of movies, there aren't enough of them.

That's where the Descent comes in. That is what's unique about the movie. People usually think that girls are some sort of type of people who are obsessed with how they look, talk about hot guys, and don't do anything that exciting. But in this movie, they're hardcore bitches with attitude and learn how to kick butts.

I always want to write a movie with a lead female character who are hardcore and tend to get a little cooler then men, but I'm afraid I might write it wrong. Such as the girl starts out as a nobody and looks innocent and you think her future is helpless, but suddenly she turns into some sort of fighter and ends up saving everyone from whatever's coming to them.

But I usually tend on using men as main characters (not to be sexist in any way).

Sean

I'm a big fan of strong female characters as well, especially in horror movies. It's just such an intriguing concept to me. The Descent did a great job with it but for me, it all goes back to Ripley in Alien, who takes the cake as the strongest heroine of all.

I've written two scripts featuring a strong female protagonist thus far and hope to write more in the future.

Quoted from Death Monkey I haven't actually finished any of the scripts with these kinds of themes or protagonists (hell, I've only finished one short), but when I do, I'll let you know...

Cool. Myself, I'm having a difficult time finishing my feature. I've worked up a couple of different drafts, neither of which I like. I just can't seem to bring it all together -- not in a way that's satisfying.

Quoted from Death Monkey I've never read Bukowski but often been told I should. So I probably will! Got any suggestions where to start?

I haven't read any of his books,  but I've read many of his poems -- which, imo, are great. He's the kinda poet that people either love or hate. Anyway, there are hundreds of his poems on line. I'd start there.

Seth

Quoted from Zombie Sean That's where the Descent comes in. That is what's unique about the movie. People usually think that girls are some sort of type of people who are obsessed with how they look, talk about hot guys, and don't do anything that exciting. But in this movie, they're hardcore bitches with attitude and learn how to kick butts. I always want to write a movie with a lead female character who are hardcore and tend to get a little cooler then men, but I'm afraid I might write it wrong. Such as the girl starts out as a nobody and looks innocent and you think her future is helpless, but suddenly she turns into some sort of fighter and ends up saving everyone from whatever's coming to them. But I usually tend on using men as main characters (not to be sexist in any way). Sean

Exactly.

What was great about The Descent's characters were the fact that none of them were really tough chicks per se, at least those flaunting that attitude quickly faltered (like Holly), and they felt like genuinely real people who realized what they had to do to survive. Throw some already existing tensions into the mix and you've got some great suspense.

And I don't think there's anything sexist about using men as main characters. If so, then it's sexist to tend to use women like I do.

I don't think sexism applies here, unless you vehemently make your girls fragile og scared and your men smart and strong, and that's not the impression I got.

Most of my leads tend to be men in their late 30s or early 40s who've lead violent lives and, whether they realize it or not, must do something to redeem themselves.  The women they love are usually much smarter than they are and know what's wrong with their men, but love them anyway.

My protags are a bit more diverse, but usually fall somewhere along the lines of a character who seems to do nothing but evil, greedy things, but why he does them makes perfect sense to him.

Every now and then I'll write something about a character in his teens or a love interest who's dumb as a rock, but I tend to stick to the types I like the most to write.  I could be pigeon-holing myself by doing so, but at least that way I remain interested in what I'm writing.

Quoted from Death Monkey Almost all of my scripts feature a young female protagonist, often a teenager, that somehow feels completely disconnected or rejected by soceity in some way. And I'm a guy. I don't know what compels me to write about girls, or women, but I guess I just find them fascinating...

Females are easier to write in screenplay or theater form because women are much more outward with their feelings.  Since screenplays are image oriented and visually orented, it would make sense that writers would use women characters as their main characters.  Espcially in drama stories and/or romance films.  Men just don't show their feelings.  If they do they are probably considered soft, gay, or just not manly enough.

You ever notice that almost every romantic comedy has some sort of "main" female character that is very insightful of everything and everyone, and most actioin films have male leads?

Or how about most of the males in romantic comedies are just pathetic excuses of nice guys and dudes (just die already Hugh Grant, or get a sex change) that let the women lead them?  Or in an action movie the women are either just damsels in distress or if they are antagonists, they hardly ever say a word?  They just stand there and kill people with a poker face?

It's just how the two sexes are.  Women are much more emotional and show it, and men just want to accomplish a goal, get the girl, and save the day.  

I'll even prove it to you.  Try to write an action film short with a male lead and a female lead with the same exact plot line.  Watch how differently the scripts come out.  I tried this out and I noticed that with the female there is a lot mroe dialogue and analysis of the "mission" as opposed to the male where he just went in and did it.

I don't mean to come off as sexist either because I love strong female characters.  Especially in action films.  A female assassin is so cool in my eyes.  Everything a female does in an action film seems twice as bettter as compared to if a man were to do it, which can also help with the novelty of your idea when selling it to producers.    

Quoted from guyjackson Females are easier to write in screenplay or theater form because women are much more outward with their feelings.  Since screenplays are image oriented and visually orented, it would make sense that writers would use women characters as their main characters.  Espcially in drama stories and/or romance films.  Men just don't show their feelings.  If they do they are probably considered soft, gay, or just not manly enough. You ever notice that almost every romantic comedy has some sort of "main" female character that is very insightful of everything and everyone, and most actioin films have male leads? Or how about most of the males in romantic comedies are just pathetic excuses of nice guys and dudes (just die already Hugh Grant, or get a sex change) that let the women lead them?  Or in an action movie the women are either just damsels in distress or if they are antagonists, they hardly ever say a word?  They just stand there and kill people with a poker face? It's just how the two sexes are.  Women are much more emotional and show it, and men just want to accomplish a goal, get the girl, and save the day.   I'll even prove it to you.  Try to write an action film short with a male lead and a female lead with the same exact plot line.  Watch how differently the scripts come out.  I tried this out and I noticed that with the female there is a lot mroe dialogue and analysis of the "mission" as opposed to the male where he just went in and did it. I don't mean to come off as sexist either because I love strong female characters.  Especially in action films.  A female assassin is so cool in my eyes.  Everything a female does in an action film seems twice as bettter as compared to if a man were to do it, which can also help with the novelty of your idea when selling it to producers.

Well I think we can agree that a female stereotype is easy to write in a script. but the thing is, all my girls ("all my girls"...I like that ) are the exact opposite of that and often shun the typical female characteristics. That's because the thing I hate most in the world are clichées and stereotypes (unless they're tongue-in-cheek). When it comes to dialogue I live by the rule that says that people almost never say what they mean.    
Like "I love you". I don't think I would ever have a character actually utter this line, because it's been cheapened by 80 years of talkies and sit-coms. The words hardly mean anything anymore. Britney Spears loves her fans, right? She tells them after a show.

So what the most powerful way of showing that someone says "I love you" without actually having they say the line? Well, have them say something trivial, but show in their mannerisms or facial expressions or a simple gesture what they really mean.

In most cases I think feelings should be conveyed in anything but dialogue. At least important feelings.

When it comes to action, I agree having women do it seems cooler. But that's just in the aestetics. Women are naturally more graceful than men. Also there is something really cool about a woman wielding a shotgun and donning other people's blood on her clothes. Like Krista Allen in Feast. Or Milla Jochovich in...well I actually didn't like the RE movies, but still. Maybe that's just me.

I've only written two scripts so far, but I've noticed in both of them that there is a slutty, hot chick, probibly in their late teens, early twenties. In Deadhunt, i think of Emily being Jordan Ladd, in "In the Mind of Satan", I Picture Brenda being Mary Elizabeth Winstead.

The only script I've ever completed (and am in the process of completely overhauling) involved a twenty-something female as the protagonist.  She's an assassin, but not in the Kill Bill vein... more of a Martin Blank/Leon with a vagina and a lot more issues.

Other script ideas I have in various states of development include...
A professional golfer with anger management issues in his late twenties.
A USAAF pilot in his early thirties during World War Two with all sorts of issues.
Boudicca's eldest daughter attempting to finish what her mother started.
An injured private from a dead tank crew in his early twenties behind enemy lines in Holland.
An American football player who falls in love with an English girl who plays soccer for his university's women's soccer team. Winds up following her and becomes a "keeper".

I guess you could say I'm all over the place.

I don't really have one specific type of person or type of person that I write about, but my main characters are usually male. I usually base my lead protaganist loosely around someone I know, or am familar with.

For example, I have written scripts where the main character has been based upon myself, around friends and around family members.

Quoted from Death Monkey Why can't we have a woman like Bill Murray in Broken Flowers? A girl like Holden Caulfield? A woman who is neither an accessory to the male protagonist nor an empowered ambitious go-getter? I want a gal who's confused about life, who doesn't know what she wants but is damn sure what she doesn't want! Desillusioned, naive, and neither sex-kitten nor feminist!

Juno so owes me royalties. I'm looking at you, Diablo Cody.

Really good thread.

I write within the scope that I know.  I've lived longer so it's easier to write from a few more age perspectives.  

I don't want to write a protagonist that is a lawyer for instance because I just wouldn't do a good job.  I know nothing about law and I don't know any lawyers that I can tap for information.  However, if I met a lawyer who had a story to tell, I could definitely work with him if that's what he wanted.

My characters usually hold regular types of jobs or are self employed in a field which I have a chance at researching.

I remember reading once about how many mistakes are often made in fantasy books regarding horses.  This came from someone who looked after and trained horses.

This is the kind of things writers have to be careful with.  If we start writing over our heads, we are often going to miss the mark.  LOL (Over our heads - Miss the mark)  Explain that to ESL.

Anyways, this is a hard thing I think for writers.  We need to have some kind of experience or knowledge in a field in order to write a character around it properly.  Even if it's just reading biographies or something real regarding first hand experience.  But the best is if we have a personal contact that can help us.  Police officers, Nurses.  I actually received some interesting stuff from a nurse I know.

Sandra

My characters are usually young, and they're usually the black horse in the family, or they're trying to connect with their family in some way.

My characters also deal with death. It's something that's impacted me my whole life, and I can't help but write about it. Positively, of course. I'm no psycho.

I think I have a balance of male and female leads.

I'm still getting a feel for the kind of scripts I'm wanting to write so I'm trying to vary my characters as much as possible. So far I base characters on people I have met, but just using the extremes of their personality.

On a side note. Apparently Tarantino met a stunt man in a bar and got talking about his job, said that he called his car 'deathproof' - thanks very much.

I read somewhere here, when I first joined, to go against the whole 'write what you know' and go to different place, research things you don't know about etc. I try to do that as much as poss.

I like to write what I know, but make it different. Say you just experienced a heartbreak. Keep the situation, but change the setting. The emotions are the same, but the characters, setting, time period could all be different. Those are the things you research.

That's what I think "write what you know" means. Write about the emotions, not the specific situations.

Slightly off topic:
I've read somewhere recently that Aaron Sorkin doesn't bother much with writing specific dialogue for specific characters, but that he likes all of his characters to be sharp-witted and quick; and it occurred to me that when I was watching West Wing I though how pretty much every character in it had clever and bright dialogue... but how funny and good it nevertheless was.

I am one of the "write what you know" types in that there is inevitably a character that is my age and/or acts exactly like me. So I put myself into the scripts almost every time. That character is not usually the lead, but interacts heavily with the lead because my personality doesn't make a very interesting lead character since I tend to be so logical and level headed. Who wants that?

So like I've often been on here, my character is the voice of reason within the midst of the script's madness. The lead is anything that the story requires. They tend to be younger males (sort of like I think I would have been if I had been more outgoing), and though I use females when the story calls for them, I acknowledge I don't write women very well and they are more like me with a sex change.

As such, I lean towards using males because they're more believable.

Theres a great section in the Stephen King book 'On Writing' where he talks about incorporating first hand experience into a story. If we base our story around certain aspects of our lives  (workplace, social environment, etc) then it gives us an opening point from where we can get to know our characters. From our own experiences we know all the details of how our character might be thinking or feeling.