 | Like his excelletn craft book Story, Robert McKee’s Character is a potent how-to manual for aspiring authors and screenwriters. It covers multiple layers of characterization including the private self (identity), the personal self (in intimate relationships), the social self (in social and institutional roles), and the hidden self (subconscious desires). |
His advice:
- Get “in-character” when storycrafting and ask yourself “If I were this character in this situation, what would I do?
- Put characters under pressure, and their “choice of actions” will reveal their “true character.” “The deeper the risk and pressure, the deeper and truer the choice [and character revelation].”
- Contradictions add character dimension: unresolvable internal conflict such as sacrificing your desires for your family versus sacrificing others to fulfill your personal ambitions.
- Ask: “What [story] events would carry [your character] to the limits of…her deepest being? What pressures, conflicts, choices, actions, and reactions will take her humanity to its fullest? These answers become the story you tell.”
 | McKee covers different genres of characters and different types of character arcs. According to his schema, Sky God’s Daughter is a fantasy with an “Action Genre” plot: Ayda is the underdog hero rescuing her family from villainous rivals. She experiences an “Evolution” character arc, from lonely outsider to fulfilled insider. |
The final chapter explores cast design. “Second-circle” characters help or hinder the course of the story, but reflect less directly on the main character. For example, Ayda’s younger sister Kel helps her learn her new role in the clan; her friend Shavard helps her with the weapons skills she needs to become a city guardian.
 | “First-circle” characters are the major characters that help or hinder the main character. In Sky God’s Daughter, the powerful noble Maqari hinders Ayda’s attempts to save her clan and Maqari’s ruthless manipulation is a contradiction to Ayda’s sense of honor. The Greek hero Aieetos helps Ayda several times in the story and brings out her softer, fun-loving side. |
Robert McKee's Character is a rich resource for anyone crafting fictional people.
More from Robert McKee: Story
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