Screenwriting & Writing Advice — Part 2

Give Your Characters Actual Reasons to Break Up

If a character is going to break up with someone, give them a reason.

Don't have the relationship end simply because the plot needs it to.

For example, imagine Samantha is dating Carter. Carter is obsessive and eventually becomes controlling and dangerous. He cheats on her, becomes increasingly jealous, and starts behaving like a stalker.

That's much more interesting than simply having Samantha announce:

"This relationship is unhealthy, so I think we should end it."

Ask yourself:

What actually happened?

Did he cheat?

Did he become controlling?

Did he threaten someone?

Did she discover something about him?

Did he reveal a side of himself she had never seen?

The audience should understand why the relationship is falling apart.

Don't Make the Obsessive Character Perfect

This is especially important in thrillers.

Just because a character is obsessed with someone doesn't mean they're going to be perfect for them.

In fact, an obsessive person can have plenty of flaws.

Imagine Samantha has been dating Carter for months. At first, he's charming, attractive, and kind. She genuinely falls for him.

Later, he becomes jealous and controlling.

Eventually, she discovers that he's been stalking her.

That's believable because people don't necessarily recognize someone's worst traits immediately.

Someone can appear completely normal when you first meet them.

They can be attractive.

They can be charming.

They can be nice to you.

They can make you feel special.

Then, after the relationship becomes established, their behavior can change.

That's part of what makes these characters frightening.

The person doesn't have to look dangerous.

Someone can look completely ordinary while hiding an extremely disturbing personality.

Attraction Doesn't Make Someone Evil

If Carter is physically attractive, that doesn't mean Samantha was stupid for dating him.

She saw someone she found attractive.

He was nice to her.

She developed feelings for him.

She didn't know what he was actually like.

That's the point.

You can genuinely love someone and still discover that you don't actually know them.

The feelings were real.

The relationship simply wasn't what you thought it was.

And those feelings don't have to be reciprocated.

Someone can genuinely love another person while the other person is only infatuated, obsessed, or emotionally dependent on them.

That distinction can make a relationship much more interesting.

Show the Good Parts of the Relationship

If you're going to make Carter become a dangerous stalker, don't make him creepy from the first scene.

Show why Samantha liked him.

Show them being affectionate.

Let them have cute moments together.

They can:

• cuddle

• hug

• kiss

• hold each other

• nuzzle against each other

• fall asleep together

• play around

• go somewhere fun together

• make each other laugh

• spend time together without having sex

These moments matter because they establish what Samantha is losing.

It also makes the relationship feel real.

If all you show is Carter being creepy, the audience won't understand why Samantha ever wanted him.

But if you show them being genuinely happy together before things go wrong, the later behavior becomes much more disturbing.

And this isn't only useful for toxic relationships.

Healthy relationships need affection, too.

Don't be afraid to write cute scenes.

Sometimes the smallest interactions make characters feel the most alive.

Make Affection Visual

If you're writing something that you eventually want to animate, don't just write:

"They are affectionate."

Show it.

Describe what they're actually doing.

Maybe he picks her up and carries her outside.

Maybe she rests her head against his shoulder.

Maybe they sit together on the couch while she plays with his hair.

Maybe they fall asleep while holding each other.

Think about the kind of cute interaction you'd see in an animated comic or fan comic and actually put that interaction into the script.

Your screenplay can be visually expressive.

That's especially useful if you're eventually turning it into animation.

You're not just writing dialogue.

You're creating something that someone could see.

Don't Make Every Major Event the Final Climax

Here's another trope worth breaking:

The biggest confrontation doesn't have to happen at the end.

You can have a massive confrontation in the middle of the story.

Think about games like Detroit: Become Human, where major sequences can feel like the climax even though the story continues afterward.

You can do the same thing in a film.

A scene can be written with the intensity of a finale without actually being the finale.

For example, Samantha could discover Carter attempting to kill her friend.

She confronts him.

There's a huge struggle.

Someone gets injured.

Samantha escapes.

The audience thinks:

"This is it."

But it isn't.

The story continues.

Now you have a completely different problem:

What happens after the confrontation?

That's where the consequences begin.

Let Major Events Have Emotional Consequences

If someone dies, don't immediately move on as though nothing happened.

A death is already a major source of conflict.

If your character's friend is murdered and the next scene has everyone casually continuing their day, you've probably skipped the emotional consequences.

You don't necessarily need a ten-minute crying scene.

Grief can be subtle.

But it should exist.

Maybe the character stops sleeping properly.

Maybe they become withdrawn.

Maybe they stop talking.

Maybe they sit on the couch for hours without moving.

Maybe they can't bring themselves to participate in normal activities.

Maybe they become unusually quiet.

The audience should be able to tell:

This person has been affected.

Horror Often Does This Better

Modern horror can be particularly effective at portraying emotional consequences.

A character doesn't necessarily experience grief for the entire movie, but the audience can still see that the loss changed them.

The story continues.

Other things happen.

The character still has goals.

But the grief remains underneath everything.

That's much more realistic than making the character cry once and then completely forget what happened.

You can even make grief subtle enough that the audience has to notice it.

For example, a character might appear completely functional throughout the movie, but certain moments reveal that they're still struggling.

That can be more powerful than constantly reminding the audience:

"I'm sad because someone died."

Use Visual Storytelling to Show Depression

Animation gives you even more opportunities to communicate emotion visually.

Instead of writing:

"Samantha is depressed."

Show it.

She sits motionless on the couch.

She doesn't respond.

Her posture is different.

The room is quiet.

The lighting is muted.

Her hair partially covers her face.

Her eyes are difficult to see.

The environment feels darker and emptier than it did earlier.

You can describe the colors and atmosphere if they're important to the scene.

For example:

The room is washed in muted navy and gray. Samantha sits motionless on the couch, her bangs obscuring her eyes. She hasn't moved since she sat down.

That's much more evocative than simply saying:

"Samantha is very depressed."

Show the emotion instead of only naming it.

Your Environment Is Part of the Story

Don't be afraid to describe the surroundings.

If you're writing for animation, those details can eventually become visual direction.

Describe:

• colors

• lighting

• shadows

• textures

• atmosphere

• objects

• the appearance of the room

• the overall mood

You don't need to describe every object in existence.

Focus on details that contribute to the scene.

If the character is experiencing grief, perhaps the environment feels strangely empty.

If they're terrified, perhaps the room feels oppressive.

If they're happy, perhaps the environment feels warm and lively.

The setting can reinforce what the character is experiencing.

Don't Be Afraid of Stillness

One of the strongest visual choices can be nothing happening.

Imagine Samantha has just experienced something horrible.

Instead of immediately having her scream, run around, and deliver a dramatic speech, she simply sits there.

Still.

Silent.

Unresponsive.

The room continues around her.

That can be disturbing precisely because it's so quiet.

An eerie stillness can communicate emotional devastation without dialogue.

Sometimes silence is more powerful than screaming.

Let Characters React Differently

Not everyone responds to tragedy in the same way.

One character might cry.

Another might become angry.

Another might become quiet.

Another might start cleaning the house because they don't know what else to do.

Another might become obsessed with finding answers.

Another might pretend everything is fine.

Don't force every character into the same emotional reaction.

Their personalities should determine how they respond.

Make the Villain's Actions Affect the Story

If Carter kills Samantha's friend, don't treat the death as an isolated event.

Let it change Samantha.

Let it change her relationship with Carter.

Let it affect what she does next.

Maybe Carter realizes that Samantha is devastated.

Maybe he actually feels something about what happened.

That doesn't necessarily make him a good person.

A villain can have emotions.

He can even regret something without becoming morally good.

That complexity can make him much more interesting.

A Villain Doesn't Have to Be Emotionless

This is particularly important when writing psychopaths or sociopaths.

Don't automatically write them as emotionless robots.

People with severe antisocial traits can still experience emotions. The nature and intensity of those emotions can vary considerably.

A dangerous character can experience:

• fear

• anger

• frustration

• excitement

• distress

• attachment

• jealousy

The important question isn't simply:

"Does this character have emotions?"

It's:

"How does this character experience and express them?"

A character who is emotionally detached might react very differently from someone who is impulsive and explosive.

Don't flatten both into the same stereotype.

Fear Can Still Exist

A dangerous character can also be afraid.

If Carter realizes Samantha has discovered what he's done, he might think:

I'm screwed.

He may be afraid to see her.

He may know that she hates him.

He may be terrified of facing the consequences.

He could even hide that fear behind anger, confidence, or aggression.

That's more interesting than simply saying:

"He's a psychopath, therefore he feels nothing."

Characters are people before they're labels.

Write the individual, not the diagnosis.

A Relationship Can End Without a Formal Breakup

Here's another trope worth breaking:

A breakup doesn't always need to be explicitly announced.

Sometimes something happens that makes both people understand that the relationship is over.

Imagine Carter attempts to kill Samantha's friend.

Samantha witnesses it.

She is terrified.

She doesn't sit down afterward and calmly say:

"Carter, I believe we should terminate our romantic relationship."

She simply leaves.

Later, Carter tries to approach her.

She says:

"Get away from me."

That's enough.

The relationship is already over.

She doesn't need to say the words "we're broken up."

The Silent Breakup

You can think of this as a silent breakup.

Something happens that makes the relationship irreparably different.

Neither person wants to have the conversation.

Both understand, consciously or subconsciously, that it's over.

Samantha doesn't want to see Carter because she is afraid of him.

Carter doesn't want to face Samantha because he knows what he did.

Eventually, he approaches her anyway.

She tells him:

"Go away."

She doesn't need to explain anything.

The audience understands.

And Carter should understand, too.

Then Let the Consequences Begin

Now Carter can't accept that the relationship is over.

He starts trying to contact Samantha.

He might say:

"Please don't leave me."

"I know you still love me."

"Just come back."

But Samantha doesn't want him anymore.

She's frightened.

She contacts the police.

She gets a restraining order.

She avoids him.

Meanwhile, Carter is struggling to accept the reality of what happened.

That creates a much more interesting conflict than simply having Samantha announce:

"We're officially broken up."

The relationship ended through action, not exposition.

And that's usually more powerful.