You're Creating Characters WRONG - Some Writing Tips for You!

[@badandy9716]

"Your protagonist and antagonist want the same thing but for different reasons" - This incredibly insightful quote took me right back to my childhood watching HeMan and Skeletor battling over GreySkull.

[@RB-ru8mv]

Nostalgic

[@riffbaama]

My personal Goal is to write a movie like "Killing them softly" All of the characters are so good, from small to main character, they are all so good and unique.

[@darmogul01]

Awesome Jacob. I love your energy and enthusiasm for screenplays - its really infectious. Great post.

[@ertandbernie7706]

My favorite character is Steve Harrington I think. It’s amazing how they wrote him from being a totally hated asshole to a fan favorite.

[@valleyuno9249]

This method is the one that came naturally to me. Story then characters

[@homebizproms]

Great stuff. Very informative. Thanks!

[@aix83]

The best series on writing out there--and I say this as a novelist

[@creativeprismstudio1003]

Love your channel. Clear and to the point and you seem to really understand writing stories. Thanks again! :)

[@DanielL.Phillips]

These last couple vids have been AWESOME. I sincerely mean that. Thanks.

[@DanielL.Phillips]

Jacob-- This was your best video ever..

[@laurametzger851]

Just off the top of my head, I would say my favorite characters include Nathan Algren from The Last Samurai; Benjamin Martin from The Patriot; Elle Woods from Legally Blonde; and Marianne Beauséjour from Allied. I also like both lead characters in The Painted Veil and Far And Away. Thank you for your channel!

[@charlesmichaud9931]

I like... No! I LOVE your style of teaching, Jacob. Cheers🙂

[@BigRedStripe]

Awesome, thank you!

[@Cato229]

My favorite character might be Jean-Luc Picard from ST:tNG. He is charismatic, dynamic, and intelligent. He understands obligation but also knows he and the system he adheres to (Starfleet) isn't perfect and should be challenged at times. He is unwilling to sacrifice what is good to get what he wants or even defend his own character. Despite his extreme importance to galactic history, he isn't so arrogant as to consider himself of more worth than any other person. He also has things he likes (Archeology, model building, horse riding) and wants to participate in missions. He is the consummate knight/captain, upholding the realm with his own hands (participating in away missions), but also knows there are times he must step back and let others take the risks and make the sacrifices (and thus take the glory he would have loved to earn himself).

[@ricardourroz9322]

Hi. I am liking your videos, they are very down to earth and very informative :). Thanks. And for me one of the best character ever (although is from a tv show) it has to be Walter from Breaking Bad. It´s a master class on character arcs :)

[@BigRedStripe]

Thanks, Ricardo. And _Breaking Bad_ is great for studying character arcs. Vince Gilligan is a master storyteller, for sure (but we aren't gonna hold him responsible for _Hancock_ ). Personally, I'm partial to Jesse.

[@captainfantastardo]

One of my favourite characters is Leon from the Luc Besson film; saw it when I was around 12 and it’s hard to find a more sympathetic assassin.

[@BigRedStripe]

Love _The Professional_ (although I think they renamed it to _Leon_). Great character indeed.

[@captainfantastardo]

Big Red Stripe Yes, I think it was released as Leon here in England, although I know it was different in other territories. Thinking about it, it also had great performances from Gary Oldman and Natalie Portman too. Great characters. I heard Luc Besson wrote it fairly quickly as he was bored of waiting for funding for The Fifth element to come through, almost a bit of a throwaway idea which, in my opinion, produced a better story than the bigger budget offering.

[@neontembane6714]

My fav character :Regina from mean girls

[@briannewman9285]

I don’t agree with you that the protagonist and the antagonist usually want the same thing. To use an example you like, Hans Gruber and John McClain don’t want the same thing. I think that tends to be a bit too “on the nose.” The protagonist and the antagonist should want things that are mutually exclusive. The protagonist and the sidekick often want the same thing, but they have different ideas as to how to obtain it. The struggle between the protagonist and the sidekick explores theme. Then, there’s the lesser opponent (often manifesting as the threshold guardian) who tests and manifests the protagonist’s resolve and rewards him with weaponry. The lesser opponent fits into this want vs. need square somehow, I’m just not sure how yet.

[@matthewlavagna6080]

Agreed. I think a character should be revealed through their actions. The actions that they decide to take should depend on the events of the story. The fact that the events of the story come first doesn't mean that a character isn't active ei actively doing things to change the situation they're in. It just means that it's the events of the story which come first in the writing process.

[@BigRedStripe]

Well said!

[@albertabramson3157]

Pretty much every successful hollywood movie is WORS-- win escape rescue stop. The story is how this particular character keeps trying to solve problem.

[@savanimationz]

Jack sparrow🎉🎉🎉