character introduction RSS

The lowly script reader, tucked in a windowless back room at a production company or agency, holds massive power when it comes to newer writers breaking in. A poor reader’s report will sink a script from a newer writer. That lowly script reader is often the one who decides what his or her boss is going to read (or in plenty of cases, is not going to read, but will simply trust the reader’s report about). For this reason, it is in a writer’s best interest to write a script that a reader will like. This seems obvious, but there...

Writing an effective character introduction is a tricky thing to wrangle for screenwriters at every level of the field. But there is a progression that tends to happen, which may shed some light on the subject.

Newer screenwriters tend to either give no character introduction at all apart from a name and age, OR to give too much of a character introduction, with three sentences about the character’s internal life and personal backstory.