writing a script: -- 1/30/2026

30 Jan 2026

writing a script: -- 1/30/2026

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Today's selection -- from A Hero's Delusion by Wendell Wellman. Advice to screenwriters on how to craft a compelling character in a script:

“In Hollywood, there are a number of theories floating around about what constitutes a great character. I've seen multiple lists offered up of character traits; alcoholism, addiction, the widowed wife with child, some brutal past, spoiled entitlement, loneliness, Aspergers, and so on.

“The thinking is that you select two or more of these traits and meld them together into one character. The idea is that one trait is lighter, and the other trait is darker, and at certain points, the audience can witness a kind of inner clash.

“I've got no problem with this thinking, finding opposite colors to allow the character to demonstrate inner conflict. I was trained to do this as an actor.

“But, for me as a writer, it was not enough. I need to find that inner monologue within myself. I need to find a past experience that gives me a kind of continual emotional perception of the world, the people, and everything I do. Then I transfer all of that to the character. So the hero faces a crisis. Out of the crisis she forms a present goal, which is hopefully lighter and brighter. Maybe if she can achieve this goal, her life will be better. This is key: every character needs a past and a goal.

“Let's look at the past. Consider it like a cloud that hovers over her, wherever she is, when she is walking, when she is alone, when she is listening to another character. You keep her goal constantly in front of her; she is almost obsessive with this goal. In her mind, this goal is the only way out. But the past can resurface at the most inopportune time, and inform her bad decisions. This is where her faulty thinking (argument) comes in. She may have to compromise, but if she does, she does. Everything will work out. You can still add character traits if you want; the addictions, the anxiety attacks. What is most important is the past and a goal. The two together, along with the faulty argument, help to form the emotional through-line. I know this could come off as very cerebral for you as writers, but you've got to get it.

“Let's do a review. The goal drives your hero, and it also drives the narrative. It is important to reveal that goal early on to allow the audience to follow the journey. The past basically informs your protagonist on how she's going about achieving that goal.

Example of a page from a screenplay formatted for a feature-length film.

“What is important about the past? Why is it needed? It only appears once or twice in the story. In my book, A Writer's Roadmap (2001), I labeled this as the wound.

“Twenty years later, I see it as much more than that. It is something that will always fuel the hero's goal. More importantly, it provides the hero with a set of assumptions and rationalizations on how to achieve that goal. 'What happened to me when I lost that job was wrong. Now I'm living in this dump. Now I'm going to get this goal accomplished. If I have to break a law or rule, so be it.' This is an example of your argument.

“The goal, the past, and the argument all contribute to the hero's thinking. This is the emotional through-line. To review, the goal drives the narrative. Why is this important? It provides the audience with a narrative line that they can follow. In the new writing, the crisis is already present. So, our hero sets for herself a goal. She's determined to achieve it. The audience gets it. They can now identify.

“The screenwriter usually adds some sort of physical affliction: hating middle age, hating old age, a secret cancer. All of these traits can be helpful. But, in the new writing, we see these elements less and less. In the new writing, references to these kinds of afflictions or annoyances occur maybe once or twice. It's as if the entire industry has been taken over by a feeling of ‘move, move, move’.

“In the 80's and the 90's, writers handled the past with a series of flashbacks. These days, writers put both these elements: goal and past, together, in a short, revelatory speech the hero shares with a friend. I like to call it the hero's aria: a revelatory, operatic outburst. The important thing for you to realize is that you need to do it early on, in the first act. In this short speech, the hero reveals his goal, his past, and a hint of his faulty thinking (the argument).”