Turn, Turn, Turn

Get characters dumped. While you'd sit in your pants all day, crying into a tub of budget ice cream and violently agreeing with everything that Jeremy Kyle has to say, fictional protagonists have a different take. You only see misery, but they see potential for greatness.

The Guardian, Newspaper 30/9/10

10/2/10, 2:15pm SHORT URL: http://tmblr.co/ZPK-Fy19C61i FILED UNDER: #social network #facebook #characters #romance #character #obstacle #setup #inciting incident

I apply for jobs online, in character. I once got Gene Hunt a job as a night watchman, on the basis that he was ex-police.

Tony Jordan, writer

NOTES: 6 10/2/10, 2:09pm SHORT URL: http://tmblr.co/ZPK-Fy19C0HF FILED UNDER: #character #tony jordan #gene hunt #life on mars #tv #biography #bio

Explore the darker stuff, like a door you don't want to go through.

Michelle Goode

8/11/10, 11:31am SHORT URL: http://tmblr.co/ZPK-Fytqlbf FILED UNDER: #Dark #tone #character #theme #secrets #risk #ideas

He lies and we know it: he lies and we don’t; the other character knows/doesn’t; we think he’s lying but he’s not; the other character thinks he’s lying but he’s not; they’re both lying to each other. Nothing makes plot happen like a good lie.

8/3/10, 12:54pm SHORT URL: http://tmblr.co/ZPK-FyrWe59 FILED UNDER: #Lies #irony #character #plot #truth #secrets

Structure is the ribcage, character is the muscle, but CGI is just a nice looking T-shirt. Use the T-shirt to show off your natural assets - people only really care about what’s underneath.

NOTES: 8 7/15/10, 12:32pm SHORT URL: http://tmblr.co/ZPK-FymaWnD FILED UNDER: #Structure #plot #character #body #metaphor #cgi #effects #computers #special effects

You can hit certain beats twice - the big reveal to the audience and the big reveal to a character. It’s a good way to build tension in the gap between the two.

7/13/10, 11:47am SHORT URL: http://tmblr.co/ZPK-Fym2umf FILED UNDER: #Tension #reveals #events #beats #character #structure #plot

Writing Batman is like working on the shoulders of 70 years of great writers, all thinking about the same character. It’s like writing with a posse.

Jonathan Nolan, co-writer, ‘The Dark Knight’

7/2/10, 1:49pm SHORT URL: http://tmblr.co/ZPK-FyjOhQW FILED UNDER: #Batman #history #adaptation #character

Anyone can do plots, that's easy. The difficult thing is creating fresh characters and dialogue.

Robin Kelly, ‘Introduction To Writing TV Drama’

6/29/10, 1:00pm SHORT URL: http://tmblr.co/ZPK-Fyigjx8 FILED UNDER: #Plot #character #priorities #ideas #dialogue #spec #calling card #TV

Someone dies at the end of the film, you feel empathy. Someone dies after five years in a TV show, you feel genuine loss.

NOTES: 1 6/27/10, 11:15am SHORT URL: http://tmblr.co/ZPK-FyiCr5K FILED UNDER: #Character #endings #film #TV

Two men are coming out of the pub.

Wrong:
Alright mate, well, I had a good time tonight, give me a call and we'll do it again. See you later.
Right:
Later.

6/27/10, 12:40am SHORT URL: http://tmblr.co/ZPK-Fyi6JPO FILED UNDER: #dialogue, #advice tony jordan was once given #character #editing #rewriting