The Way of the Screenwriter by Amnon Buchbinder

Author:Amnon Buchbinder
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: PER004050
Publisher: House of Anansi Press Inc.
Published: 2005-09-07T04:00:00+00:00

Inspiration and Construction

The practice of observation will teach us much about character. But how do we begin to invent it?

The creative process is defined by tension between such dichotomies as activity and receptivity, and intuition and analysis. The effective creation of character balances two modes of engagement, which I’ll call inspiration and construction.

Inspiration is literally a drawing in what is outside us. Construction is a building up of separate elements. Inspiration is receptive, while construction is active. Inspiration is intuitive, while construction is analytical.

Inspiration is an inward response triggered by something the writer has taken in from outside. We tend to think of inspiration as magical, like the unpredictable strike of a thunderbolt, and sometimes it comes that way. But even then, it is the result of careful preparation. Knowing where to look for inspiration is like knowing where to drill a well. This thirst for inspiration can make a writer an unsettling guest at a party, as she scrutinizes the guests and their behaviour. That is because inspiration can come from real people upon whom the writer bases a character.

Construction requires a knowledge of the component elements of a character. The dramatic theorist Lajos Egri broke these down into “physical, psychological and sociological” elements.† To construct a fully developed character, the writer must answer a set of implied questions. For example, has the character ever been really sick (physical)? What was his most embarrassing moment (psychological)? What did he study in school (sociological)? And so on.

These two approaches are complementary. It doesn’t matter which the writer starts with, but major characters require an element of inspiration if they are to breathe, and a process of construction if they are to be solid. When a writer is struggling with character, it often means he is failing to apply himself to one of these processes.

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