“Please allow me to introduce myself…”

It just occurred to me to frame this post with the Rolling Stones song “Sympathy for the Devil,” but maybe there’s a nifty connection: Because the reality of introducing multiple characters in a script can give a writer a… ahem… devil of a time!

[And Myers sinks the shot from half-court!]

5, 10, 15, 20, 25. No, you have not mistakenly signed up for an online remedial math class. Rather these represent the potential number of characters in a feature-length screenplay. Some stories may have as few as five, even less. More frequently scripts have 10, 15, 20, 25 or more characters.

Consider you are writing a script that has 25 characters. You think about each of their backstories, as you should. You ponder their personalities and the way they talk, also as you should. You consider their respective narrative functions, how they look, how they interact, how they oppose or help each other, how they live, love or die. All of that is good and necessary character development.

But here is something many writers do not think about enough or at all: If at the end of the day someone is going to read your script, how are they going to keep straight 25 characters, juggle all these new names, personality types, and agendas?

Even if the script has 15 or only 10 characters, that is still a lot of individuals you are asking a reader to assimilate:

• They have to distinguish between each of them.
• They have to get a feel for each of them.
• They have to remember each of them.

A lazy writer may think, “No problem. After a few pages spending time with this character or that, the reader will get a sense of them.”

To which I would respond, “Really. This is what you want. Someone reading your script, forced to flip back and forth between pages to confirm precisely who this character is. Or the worst case scenario: They see a character whose name is not capitalized, but they don’t remember them having been introduced.”

Have I met this guy? If so, where? Or is this the character’s introduction and the writer forgot to capitalize their name? I’m confused!

At this point, frustration sets in. So seriously, this is the mood a writer wants a professional reader to be developing within the first ten to twenty pages of a script?

No, what you want is to pull the reader into your story universe as quickly and deftly as you can, then keep them there… not flipping back and forth between pages to confirm who this character is, rather moving straight through the script, having a clear sense of each character based upon how they are introduced.

Hence another of my 1-week screenwriting Craft classes: Character Introductions.

Let me add this. A writer who knows how to handle character introductions well is one clear indicator of a good writer. It means: (A) They have an awareness of the issue. (B) They have put in the time to think about a variety of ways to introduce characters. © They care about their craft enough to get their act together on all fronts — even character introductions.

Seems mundane. But in reality it’s both important to an effective story set-up and a tip-off that you know your way around a screenplay.

An example. The interview this week is with screenwriter David Guggenheim. Here is how he introduces Matt (Ryan Reynolds) in his script Safe House:

FADE IN:

INT. ANA’S BEDROOM — MORNING

Early sunlight glows around the corners of the curtains.

A hand feels about a woman’s leg. MATT WESTON makes love to
his girlfriend ANA RAMOS, their two bodies twisting
underneath white sheets.

He is 28. Handsome. An all-American face. Bright, green and
eager to prove his worth — a horse itching for its gate to
open.

Why is this an effective character introduction? First off, there’s sex. Sex is always an attention-getter. It’s an example of using action to create an image in the mind of a reader. Second is what I call editorializing: Here the Narrative Voice is commenting on Matt: “Bright, green and eager to prove his worth — a horse itching for its gate to open.” You can, indeed, should do that when you introduce a major character, your chance to be a bit novelistic (yes, I’m talking so-called ‘unfilmables’). Give the reader a clear sense of the character’s persona. And third, “a horse itching for its gate to open”: A perfect and concise distillation of Matt’s core essence: He is ready for action and yearns for it.

Now how about the introduction of Frost (Denzel Washington):

EXT. STRIP CLUB — SAME

An Audi with tinted windows pulls up in front of the club.

TOBIN FROST

steps out. 55. Ex-CIA field officer. This guy wears his
years. Salt and pepper hair tucked underneath a hat. Steel grey
eyes that burn with intensity — deep and intelligent.
He may not move as fast as he used to — but there’s still
plenty of fight in him.

Again the narrative voice editorializes: “This guy wears his years… He may not move as fast as he used to — but there’s still plenty of fight in him.” Indeed we see that in the rest of this scene where Frost proves to be one tough, smart dude. And with the rest of the scene — again — the use of action to introduce a major character.

So by P. 10, we’ve met Matt. We’ve met Frost. Two completely different individuals. We know their paths are going to intersect. Matt wants action? Frost brings it.

Safe House is a good example of how to handle character introductions.

In my upcoming 1-week online screenwriting class, you will learn:

* Editorializing and Narrative Voice

* Character and Core Essence

* Physicality and Personality

* Introduction through Dialogue

* Introduction through Action

* Introduction through Objects

* Introduction through Surprise

When you introduce a character, you create a lens through which a reader views and understands that character.

As a writer, you want to control that process. You want to set the agenda for the reader. You want the reader to see each character they way you see them.

Moreover you want your character introductions to be entertaining. As you can see from the list above, you have a myriad ways to do that. This is your chance to learn how.

The class starts Monday, April 8. And I’m only teaching it one time in 2013. Go here to sign up.

As part of the class, you can workshop character introductions from your own scripts. I’m just wrapping up my Story Summaries: From Logline to Beat Sheet class, and we had an extraordinary workshop experience with literally hundreds of posts from dozens of participants refining their loglines, then digging into them further in teleconferences. I expect no less of a vibrant workshop environment in this upcoming Character Introduction class.

Want to drill down deeper into the craft? You can take all eight of my 1-week Craft classes with The Craft Package at a significant savings.

I look forward to the opportunity to work with you!

And now, please allow me to introduce… The Rolling Stones!