Creating character depth

By Timothy Daly

There will be times when you are writing a play, film or radio piece that requires either a narrator or some character who is re-interpreting events from a distance. It may be that a character is narrating the events that occurred in the PAST, but with the wisdom of hindsight is bringing more depth of analysis to the long-gone/recent events than s/he actually had at the time.

In which case, you may need an ‘imagination prodder’ such as the ideas below to allow this character to express a richer view of the past than s/he felt at the time of the events in question.

Thus, some questions that the character may ask him/herself may be…

  1. What was I wanting?
  2. Why do I want this?
  3. What am I doing here?
  4. Why was I so attracted to it (or him, or her)?
  5. When did I know something was going on?
  6. What did I do about it?
  7. What did I think at the time?
  8. Something extraordinary happened in my life. Did I want it to happen?
  9. Something extraordinary happened in my life. Did I have any warning? Was I expecting it?
  10. Did I know what to make of it?
  11. What did I keep saying I wanted?
  12. When did I realise I wanted something else?
  13. What did I do when I realised I wanted it?
  14. What was I risking?
  15. What could I gain if I won this prize?
  16. What could I lose even if I DID gain this prize?
  17. When did I realise I never really wanted this goal?
  18. What obstacles did I overcome to win the prize?
  19. Did I fear I’d lose it at any point?
  20. What emotions did I experience when chasing this goal?
  21. What moral pressure did I feel? Guilt?
  22. What emotional manipulation, blackmail did I use? What other inner strategies did I use?
  23. What external strategies did I use, to get from the people what I wanted?
  24. What lies did I tell to others?
  25. What lies did I tell myself?
  26. What lies might I still be telling myself?
  27. What have I learned at the end of this journey?
  28. What did I learn during the journey, conflict etc?
  29. What do I still have to learn?
  30. What will I never learn?
  31. Why am I saying this now? (or thinking this now?)
  32. Have I given up hope?
  33. Have I found new hope?
  34. What was the thing that most shocked me? What stunned me? What surprised me?
  35. What disgusted me, nauseated me?
  36. What exhilirated me, and still might?
  37. What is my idea of happiness? Of heaven, of perfection?
  38. What is my idea of hell, of the worst-that-could-possibly happen? What is my recurring nightmare?
  39. Why did I do it this way? Was there a better way? Or was I stupid? Or stubborn?
  40. What do I believe deep-down about myself?
  41. Why did these things happen to me?
  42. Why do they still keep happening to me? What is it about me that makes them happen? Is it me, or something (someone) else? Do I actually somehow attract this stuff?
  43. What emotions was I living through?
  44. Were there stages to this emotional roller-coaster ride?
  45. What do I feel now?
  46. What do I hope for? What do I expect? What do I have a right to hope for or expect?
  47. What flaws do I have now, as a result of all that’s happened?
  48. What flaws did I start out with, that have been burned or shaken out of me?
  49. What trap did I find myself in? (ie, “On the one hand, trapped by… And on the other… “)
  50. How well do I fit that classic paradox? (ie, I set out to do/find X, only to find that Z occurreds. As a result of that, what did I do?)
  51. What ideals did I have then?
  52. What ideals have I been left with?
  53. What was the worst error of judgement, the worst tactical mistake I made in the whole journey?
  54. What is my worst flaw, my Achilles heel?
  55. Do I still have this flaw?

A character who asks him/herself even some of these questions will create a mind, a heart and a soul that the audience can identify strongly with.