{"id":12531,"date":"2015-05-05T01:00:59","date_gmt":"2015-05-05T08:00:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/writersfunzone.com\/blog\/?p=12531"},"modified":"2015-08-13T04:32:44","modified_gmt":"2015-08-13T11:32:44","slug":"the-character-tag-do-we-know-whos-who-by-jackie-blain","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/writersfunzone.com\/blog\/2015\/05\/05\/the-character-tag-do-we-know-whos-who-by-jackie-blain\/","title":{"rendered":"The Character Tag \u2013 Do We Know Who\u2019s Who? By Jackie Blain"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"PlayTag\"<\/a>Let\u2019s\u00a0welcome\u00a0back monthly columnist Jackie Blain as she shares with us about \u201cThe Character Tag \u2013 Do We Know Who\u2019s Who?.\u201d\u00a0Enjoy!<\/em><\/p>\n

One of my screenwriting students came in one night with the first draft of his ensemble comedy.<\/strong> Now, those things \u2013 ensemble pieces \u2013 are notoriously hard to write whether you\u2019re writing a script or a novel because there are so many characters you have to service. I always think of it like those plate spinners on the old Ed Sullivan show, the ones that put a plate on the top of a bendy stick, give it a spin, and then try to get 10 more plates spinning at the same time. A crash is always imminent!<\/p>\n

Of course, that\u2019s part of the fun\u2026 for the viewer.<\/p>\n

For a writer, however, not so much because the real challenge is making each character different enough from the start so that the reader doesn\u2019t go, \u201cHmmm, Charles?<\/strong> Who\u2019s that again? I better go back to the beginning\u2026.\u201d<\/p>\n

Which is the equivalent of all those plates crashing at once.<\/p>\n

That was what happened with my student.<\/strong> Their eight characters \u2013 Chris and Steve and Mark and James and Brittany and Jessica and Emily and Jennifer \u2013 all sitting around a bar talking (and talking alike, although that\u2019s a different problem) for five pages! Sure, the writer put the character names in, but none of us in the class could tell them apart. It was all bon mots and beer, and a lot of furrowed brows.<\/p>\n

The poor writer had to spend 10 minutes giving us each person\u2019s backstory when we turned on him. Not fun. Not for any of us.<\/p>\n

I finally took pity on him and put the class through this exercise to create character tags <\/strong>\u2013 one phrase or sentence that you can use to introduce the character and then do variations of throughout the piece as a sort of shorthand reminder.<\/p>\n

Sounds complicated, but it isn\u2019t. Here\u2019s what you do.<\/strong><\/p>\n

    \n
  1. First, do a 5 minute freewrite about your character. Anything you want. Physical description, emotional makeup, intelligence, backstory\u2026 whatever is important. Just something to get the character firmly in your mind.<\/li>\n
  2. Next, write down three words (or 2-3 word phrases) that describe your character externally. If he has a limp, write that down. If she has pigtails, note that. Gandalf had a pointy hat. Aragorn\u2019s clothes always looked like he needed to go to the laundry.<\/li>\n
  3. Now write down three words (or 2-3 word phrases) that describe your character internally. If she\u2019s stronger than she looks, or he\u2019s a coward in wolf\u2019s clothing, write that down. Indiana Jones was famously afraid of snakes. Will Hunting was a math genius.<\/li>\n
  4. Now, use those six things to craft a one phrase or one sentence description of the character. It may be primarily physical, or primarily internal. It doesn\u2019t matter. And it may take some work \u2013 actually, it always takes some work \u2013 but you\u2019ll get your ah-ha moment before long.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Here are a couple of examples of character tags.<\/strong><\/p>\n