Shortcut to Creating COMPLEX Characters (Fiction Writing Advice)
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- Опубликовано: 7 сен 2024
- Learn how to create complex, multi-dimensional characters by using contradictions.
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Please excuse the blurry camera footage in today's video.
Anyway, who's your favorite movie character? Do they have have any contractions that you're aware of? Let us know!
My favorite character from a movie is Misato Katsuragi from the rebuild of Evangelion movies. I think her personal contradiction came from the amount of hope she had for the future in regards to Shinji’s ideals, at first she had believed in him so heavily that even though he was about to cause the near 3rd impact that it would be fine as long as he followed his ideals. But this heavily changes in the future when Shinji wakes up. Misato deep inside still believes in him but in order to fix the world she has come to terms with not trusting him, because of this she did many things, things that were out of character for her. She abandoned her own child because she believed that she wouldn’t be a good mother, she was willing to sacrifice the Eva pilots for world peace ever came down to it (Which is something she would never do based on her conversations about them with NERVE). Although she still deep inside trusted Shinji with fixing the world, she threw away that trust on the outside and became the commander of her own organization that would try to better the world.
Police Captain Raymond Holt from Brooklyn 99.
Raymond doesn't like expressing emotions, yet, in certain moments of extreme positive emotion, he lets it all out, usually in a loud voice.
Lines such as "HOT DAMN!" or "VindicaTIOOOON", and even the infamous "BOOOONE" moment.
Similar things can happen if Raymond is offended or deeply sad, but not often.
Actually I wanna go more into detail on the "BOOOONE" moment.
For context, Raymond and his husband Kevin are in disagreement over a math problem. His colleagues see how this is a bit ridiculous, and try to help him. Some, like Amy Santiago, tries to help him understand the math problem, as Raymond was wrong, he is offended by this as he believes that this math problem has shaken up his marriage and now Amy is bringing it into his work life as well.
Detective Rosa Díaz interuppts him and points out that the math problem isn't the problem, and that Raymond is neglecting his husband and that they just needs to "bone" (slang for having sex).
Raymond is offended by this, and yells out "How dare you Detective Díaz... I am your SUPERIOR OFFICER
!" and storms into his office.
Later, he walks out of his office and yells "BOOOONE", as he is still offended and believes that this is highly inappropriate, he says this to Rosa and yells out "BOOOONE" once again.
He doesn't just do this because he's offended though, he realizes that Rosa is right. He gets angry at himself for failing to see that he has been neglecting his husband. However, he still believes that it was highly inappropriate for Rosa to say that to him, so in Raymond's self rage and disgust he yells out "BOOOONE", because he can't believe what he had done, what Rosa did, and that him and his husband having sex could solve their issues.
The next day, he is back to his stoic self, as he wishes to not show any more emotion and because Rosa was 100 % right
Creating one of the funniest moments in the show.
Quite frankly the blurriness disoriented me
@@gruskujo9761 I need to give Brooklyn 99 a look sometime
@@WriterBrandonMcNulty You really should, I'd recommend it to anyone but my grandma, as she doesn't speak English, nor can she read very fast. It's absolutely hilarious
Could be said when you enter a room there are 3 people who come with you. 1. The person everyone thinks you are. 2. The person you think you are. 3. The person who you really are
Great way of putting it
But who observes and determines the person who you really are if the outside world only sees number 1 and you only see number 2?
@@JakeLikesJoking(boom sound effect)
@@JakeLikesJokingThere isn't a you.
Awesome way of putting it. Thanks @cindy
The main character of my story has two contradictions.
1. She acts like a therapist for the rest of the team, whenever one of her team mates are feeling down they come to her, yet, she often feels alone and has very poor mental health.
2. She is against revenge, she hates revenge. Yet, the second half of the story is all about her trying to get revenge, but she doesn't realize it
Ahh, I like that hypocritical revenge angle
@@WriterBrandonMcNulty Thank you
Sounds like a powerful character! May I know why she hates revenge? Or hasn't that not been decided/revealed yet?
@@gruskujo9761"um...I mean...it's just a _small_ grudge."
First 10 seconds in and I immediately agree. Giving a character contradictions is to give them the most human trait.
As long as the contradiction makes sense instead of just for "reasons" and writer contrivance.
Like a selfish character suddenly being nice because deus ex machina then going back to selfishness and never being nice again.
Or the contradiction is part of their growth. Zuko from Avatar is a great example.
He desperately wants to be accepted by his father and compromises his morals to do that several times.
He then goes on a journey of realisation and wants to form his own life away from his toxic family with his uncle ... but then is presented with a choice. Betray his uncle and new way of life? Or fight against his sister and forever lose any chance of reconnecting with his father?
It's a great contradiction that's been building for ages about what he thinks he should want and should be and who he actually is and what he believes in.
The real question is... why people like contradicting characters....because we humans contradict ourselfs all the time?
I think so, that doesn’t mean we’re hypocrites all the time as well
Do you ever meet anyone who is one hundred percent altruistic all the time without any ulterior motives? They always does good thing and smiles like a tomorrow! Does you ever meet someone like that in private or public settings! Think about how much stress to keep the image of goody two shoes who devote anything for everybody without anything in return at all? They have no house, no family, no job, and no desires because they devote everything for greater good! If you believe someone like that exist then the character is 100 percent flat characters and even a robot! Human like that don’t even exist at all! That is a person with no contraindications at all in both public and private life!
"contradictions in characterisation can't be a one time thing"
True, but a one time contradiction can also be interesting, like if the vegetarian has to wear a furcoat to obtain something they want. The thing they want and being vegetarian have no direct contradiction but there's an indirect one and there's a betrayal of ideals involved, which can also start a corruption arc.
In Be More Chill, Jeremy is in love with Christine but he's a "loser, geek, whatever". The Squip teaches him how to gain social success but it involves sacrifying his personnality, integrity and also his friendship with his best friend.
There's also the contradiction by context. Basically EVERY TIME one says "I'd never do that ever", you can be sure the writer cooked the perfect context to make the character betray its promise.
I watched Madoka Magica this week. This anime series (or 2 movies, there's both) is pure genious. Won't spoil but, it's pure Omori style. In the 3rd movie, a character goes back in time and cries to her friend 'cause she dreamed she was gone (in fact referencing the future where she sacrifices herself to save the world). The friend tells "Don't worry, I'll never go away or do anything that'd make you cry". But we know, we know in every épisode there's a new situation pressuring her into doing it and it's because of her compassion for her friends that the story ends the way it does.
Yep, good point about using contradictions to challenge the character or spice up plot expectations
Madoka is the best magical girl series. Gen Urobuchi does some good work. If you can get your head around puppetry, I'd like to recommend Thunderbolt fantasy as well. It has some rather interesting characters and features some fine character growth and development.
@@InfernosReaper Puppetry ?
Well thank you for the recommendation! I'll add it to my long list of shows to watch.
@@Dark_Peace Yes, puppets, filmed in real time, using a combination of digital and practical effects. It's quite impressive from a technical standpoint.
Basically, it's a Chinese wuxia-style series centered around a wandering swordsman and his adventures. The first season involves him getting roped into a grand plot involving some evil organization run by one of the strongest swordsmen in the land who's trying to get their hands on an artifact sword
In that quest, he has to team up with an under-experienced priestess, a cocky spearman, a one-eyed archer, a serial killer, a literal demon, and a bored rogue, each with their own reasons for undertaking the mission.
@@InfernosReaper I like things that feels different so I'd give it a shot at some point :)
If someone hasn’t mentioned this yet, Mr. Incredible has very obvious contradictory goals: having a family, and being a hero.
Scarlett O’Hara is a contradictory character- she initially appears as selfish and spoilt, but she works herself into the ground taking care of her family and her lover’s wife; and then turns around and neglects her first two children (in the book, but not in the movie) Her conscious desire is Ashley, but her subconscious (real) desire is Rhett…
She is so complex and is one of my all time favourite characters.
Scarface (by Oliver Stone): He has a ruthless exterior, yet he also has a soft spot in his heart for children, which leads him to make a serious mistake, thus causing his downfall.
Oddly enough, I just watched the 1932 version of Scarface over the weekend, in which he has a similar soft spot for his sister.
You really helped my a lot with improving my book. You help me understand how exactly to write characters or scenes.
It's so easy to say "Make your characters complex and not cardboard cutouts". I appreciate how you dig way deeper than that. This is exactly what I needed.❤
The narrator from Great Gatsby. He claims to be above judgment but the whole book he takes Gatsby's side.
Indiana Jones. He has the first contradiction, between two aspects of characterization. He's initially appears as a mild-mannered professor, when he is in fact a thrill-seeking treasure hunter. I think he has the same Outer vs. Inner conflict in that he appears tough and brutish, but he shows that he has a soft spot for Marian.
The thing Brandon says about layers kinda reminds me of what Shrek says about ogres being like onions and how THEY have layers.
Wanna have a complex character? Think of them as an onion :)
This was a real eye opener. Now I will try to make my character more complex. Thanks!
Best of luck!
Dutch Van Der Lan from the Red dead redemption series is my favorite
Was he in the first one? I played about 10 hours of it and I remember Irish but no Dutch
The Jinx/Powder is probably one of my favorite characters and she certainly has contradicting motives.
The contradicting character in my story is the main female character, She has really high standards as she looks for a possible spouse, yet flirts with every boy she sees
Awesome, best of luck with your writing
Wow! Awesome advice.
Even for writing in the dark this is useful, it immediately gives you a spark of ideas! And it's so simple to get started and then develop!
What I'm trying to say is I think you just perma killed my writers block!
Thrilled to hear it!
Cho Sang-woo, everyone knows how complex this character is
I recently read about a character who’s positive, confident, and does a great job at work, but also suffers from a severe impostor syndrome, always worrying about not doing enough.
Perfectionist who always think that they never tries hard enough and always believes that he always incompetent and suffer from inferiority complex of his own capabilities! There are many real life people who goes through this phase! Even Napoleon Bonaparte is one of the most contradict man in history that despite his intellect and capabilities as war general , he always feel insecure in his private life with his wifes despite his skill as war generals! Napoleon preachs the ideal of equality and democratic beliefs , yet act like a dictator during Napoleonic War! Many great men like Julius Caesar and Mark Anthony, despite the symbol of Alpha men fall for a woman named Cleopatra and charm by her! Despite their unmatched confidence in battlefield and political matter, they always want validation of their greatness like so many dictators in history! They portray themselves as savior yet they want people to build their monument and sing of their glorious success! That is human contradiction in the makings!
Imagine a vegetarian that worked as a butcher
On a biochemical level, vegetarians don't exist. Milk = liquid meat. So there's no contradiction there 😁😁
@@fernando749845 Technically, they do. Vegetarians are basically vegans but they can eat dairy products, just not literal meat. Milk is something animals and humans produce.
I saw McKee's book in Barnes & Noble a few weeks back. I was interested, maybe I'll pick it up in the future. A digital copy. Compared to the title, I can't stand how big the author's name is. Good video. Keep it up!
Thanks! If you do grab a copy let me know what you think
The military doctor for battlestar galactica. First rime u meet him he’s smoking. My first thought when i saw him was, oh man this guy is gonna be interesting
James Flint just checks all the boxes. Watching your videos just makes me realize Black Sails is tenfold the masterpiece I tell my friends it is
Always looking forward to your videos ☺️ They put me in a creative + relaxed state! Thanks!
Glad to hear it! If you ever want me to cover a specific topic, let me know
I think an interesting idea that breaks the 3 layers rule is making a character that doesn’t have an outer layer because they’re not afraid to be their true selves so they’re always wearing their inner layer on their sleeves.
I could relate Sarah Connor in terminator 2 to so many of your videos because she’s so well acted and written. I think she’s a very complex character and far more interesting than John Connor. The doctors think she’s insane because of all the crazy robot from the future stories, and she really is going insane, but because the stories are true. She’s a tough, capable, resourceful one woman army but she’d pretty unbalanced by the time T2 happens. The stress and paranoid has driven her nearly insane.
Great video! Question - how do you distinguish between inner and hidden layer in writing? How to avoid spitting out the hidden layer in internal monologue/ narration? I tried to apply this advice in my casual writing and I find it hard to find a way to hint at the hidden layer without obviously writing it out.
One way I tried is to write it in third person, as if the narrator hints at the hidden layer. Like "he was cheerful to the folk, and he thought everybody loved him, but there was always a sense of doubt that lingered at the back of his mind". But then if there's even deeper level that the character just wanted to be accepted and felt extremely lonely inside even if he didn't know that, it feels kind of on the nose to write that out. I guess in this case it's my job to setup plot to have a key scene where this layer gets to the surface, instead of it being spoonfed in the exposition.
My favorite movie character had a contradiction in which, after careful consideration, he risked his own life to ensure his friends’ safety. Unfortunately, I don’t think many people realized the extent of his bravery because he was the comic relief who the other characters kept getting annoyed by.
Thank you, Brandon.
My favourite has to be Han Solo, the reluctant Hero 😄
Sam Spade in The Maltese Falcon is the epitome of contradiction and dilemma. He knows from the very beginning O'Shaughnessy is not a woman to die for, but he can't help falling for her. It's not precisely his morals what saves him at the end, but his instinct for self-preservation.
Yeah those old school noir detectives are often loaded with contradictions. I need to rewatch Maltese sometime. Last time I watched it, I was too young to appreciate it
What type of contradiction does this fall under?
@@TomEyeTheSFMguy Inner vs. Hidden (#5)
It's really his morals, he won't let her get away with murder, because it is wrong. He says this, obliquely, when he says "it's bad for business. It's bad for detectives everywhere." It's a Kantian view of ethics, rather than a standard religious one, but this was HUGE at the time, as this was the foundation of the German notion of non-Christian morality which was getting suboptimal outcomes inside Germany in this period.
@@annaclarafenyo8185 Sounds interesting, but it still doesn't convince me. I like to think he is not a very moral guy (that's what I like about this character!).
A great contradiction can be found in this great video. Excellent content, contradicted by blurry film quality😂
I like spike From cowboy bebop
Even though he is a cool character
When you get to know the character further in story you get to know about tragedies he’s been through and why he’s so nonchalant about life
Why he doesn’t care even if he dies in a fight
Haven't watched Cowboy Bebop yet. I heard someone compare it to Star Wars/Firefly. Is that accurate?
@@WriterBrandonMcNulty Firefly does take some inspiration from it. Did you ever check Cowboy Bebop out?
The proper one, not the weird remake.
I love when he said "Im not going there to die; Im going there to live" in the last episodes before "that" happened. I never forget it.
Captain James Tiberius Kirk, my all time FAVORITE character, for so many reasons, epitomizes this contradiction in Star Trek 6: The Undiscovered Country, the last movie he and my other favorite character, Spock, appeared together. For all his life, all his career in Starfleet, my Kirk fought against prejudice and bigotry. But when his second in command, and his dearest companion, Spock, invites Klingons on board the Enterprise for a peace summit, because their planet is in peril, Kirk's response is simply, "let them die," highly out of character for him! His reasoning? In a previous movie, Star Trek 3: The Search for Spock, his son was murdered by rogue Klingons, and he now blames all Klingons for the loss of his son. His usually kind and compassionate heart has been blinded by his grief to the lived experiences of innocent, everyday Klingons who had nothing to do with his son's murder and to his own ideals. His redemption arc comes later, when he is accused of attacking a Klingon ship and helps save those on board with my favorite doctor in cinema history, Dr. McCoy. His prejudiced words are used against him later, when the two men are condemned to a life sentence on Rura Penthe, an analog to Siberia. He is rescued soon after by his other half, Captain Spock, and is forced to reflect on where his hatred of Klingons has led him. He is vindicated when the real saboteurs are discovered, including a traitor on board the NCC 1701, but only after he seriously contemplates his own unconscious biases against the Klingon people. The story vividly examines how anyone, even an open minded, open hearted man like Jim Kirk, can fall prey to hatred, and I cannot recommend it highly enough as a fallen hero story and the lengths that he must go through to become an honorable man who stands for what is right and true again.
Been saying for years that I need to give Star Trek a try. Where's the best place for a newbie to start?
@Writer Brandon McNulty That's such a great question! I don't have a definitive, one size fits all answer, though. It's a story that started 55+ years ago, and has spanned numerous TV series, movies, books, video games, articles, and even consumer goods such as clothing, accessories, household goods, and so much more. That's not to mention the fandom community and the countless fics and fan art that so many incredibly talented creators have given freely, with no exception of receiving a single penny in compensation. It's love for the story that drives all of this creation forward. For example, Star Trek New Voyages and Star Trek Continues are freely available on RUclips, and I cannot recommend them highly enough, but a little familiarity with canon might be helpful first. My favorite series is The Original Series, TOS, from the late 1960s, but there's so much, from Next Generation to the newest series, Strange New Worlds, that you might want to delve into, depending on your preferences. I think of it as similar to a tapestry, where you can start at any point and reach out further, into either the past or future, and find the seed of creation within it wherever you land. There's a TOS episode titled Space Seed, which introduces the villain Khan, who is key later in ST2 The Wrath of Khan and then in ST3 The Search for Spock, and his story and downfall culminates into Kirk's hatred of Klingons, which I pointed out in my prior post. That might be a good starting point. It's by far not the only starting point, though. I'm always so happy when I hear people who haven't seen Star Trek show curiosity about this story I love so much, and I'm always here to welcome new people aboard! I'm not an expert, but I do have my insights and recommendations, so if you have any questions or comments related to it, please feel free to let me know, and I will do my best to help however I can.
@@LauraCordes Thanks, I’ll have to check out Space Seed!
@@WriterBrandonMcNulty The original series is quintessential but it has some 60s cheesiness to it. The Next Generation is very good but there are some clunkers in the first two seasons. Deep Space Nine is the first series to really get everything right. In the modern era, Strange New Worlds is excellent. I'd say you could start with any one of those four series. If you like them, then Voyager, Enterprise, Discovery, Picard, and Lower Decks will keep you going for years afterward.
At least ignore the first movie.
What a sotry about a characyer that does the desire to be a hero, but when the chips are down, deep down he shows his true colors.
I agree with this video.The characters contradicting behavior even though it's contradicting has still got to have a consistent pattern otherwise they just end up looking like somebody who does completely random stuff simply for the sake of doing completely random stuff with no real rhyme or reasons or motive whatsoever.Perhaps some writers might end up creating not very complex character in order to make the rhyme and reason behind what there doing easier to follow or understand but that also could make a character seem not very deep as well as at least a bit boring.
Not all characters need to be complex but often the most interesting characters are
Like so often, "LA Confidential" serves as a perfect example for the various levels a character can have. There is Bud White who at first sight seems to be a brutal thug, but turns out to be an able policeman with his very personal set of moral principles. His hidden character is built upon his inferiority complex of not being taken seriously and, of course, his terrible childhood trauma. Ed Exley's main conflict is between his inner character of being an idealistic and highly intelligent police officer and his hidden character, namely his personal vanity and his obedience to authority which makes him indulge in his own cleverness, overshoot the mark and seek shallow outward recognition in medals, promotions, his name in the papers ecc.
My Curse of Strahd character had two or three of these contradictions. When she entered Barovia, she had the goal of negociating with the vampire lord Count Strahd Von Zarovich in order to secure a political allience to save her people. She is the heir to the city state of Neverwinter on the Sword Coast. Throughout the story her loyalty to the party was put into question because of this desire to save her people, especially when the party realized they had to kill Strahd. The second contradiction has to do with her conflicting desires of protrecting the realms and being with her lover, Alexander, who is the brother of Strahd and Sergei Von Zarovich. This choice was made even harder when a prophesy required her to remain mortal while she wanted to remain with Alexander forever and he was persuing her to become his vampire bride. My character also had a love hate relationship with Strahd and Alexander seeing how alike they were while Strahd wanted her to die and Alexander wanted her to live. When my character looked at Strahd she saw a dark reflection of Alexander and vice versa with her seeing Alexander as someone Strahd could become if he let go of his pride. All in all, these contradictions made for interesting roleplay in the game as well as adding muliple layers of conplexity to this gothic horror story.
i haven't finished watching the video but i have a character who has a few contradictions i think. She believes every conflict can be fixed with a conversation yet every villain she faces she has defeated with murder when she COULD have fixed it with a conversation. She hasn't yet realized that if she had just stopped resorting ro violence during conflict she would have less conflict in the first place.
A question this brings up is the difference between contradictions and flaws. Are they different? Can they be the same?
Looking at one of my characters, a contradiction I came up with is that he goes out of his way to help others but doesn't ask for help when he needs it and will turn it down when it's offered, yet he criticizes people who try to do everything on their own. This positions the character as being a white knight but also looking stubborn. Something else I considered with the character being a cop is that he's critical of "hero cops" aka officers that don't wait for backup and rush to save the day alone. Sure, they're heroes but they're also stupid as it risks their lives. Yet, this is the exact type of person my character is. He's willing to put his own life on the line to save others.
I'd say they are different. Flaws can stand on their own. They can also be PART of a contradiction, like if you have a health nut with a drinking problem. The drinking problem would be the flaw within the contradiction.
Maximus Decimus Meridius is my all time Favourite Character.
I dont know if he has any contrdictions in him because so many of his problems are external. I think the biggest one in the beginning is that he desires nithing more but to be home and yet he is out there being an amazing General.
Later I would say he wants to stop fighting and give up but yet he cant bring himself to do so and he kinda enjoys the reaction of the crowd in the arena.
Excellent video - love your channel❤ I'm finishing MKee's book now, a wealth of info!
Learned a lot from McKee. Thanks for sharing.
Thanks!
Interesting. I thought i had a great character already, but now, I see how I can make that character better.
How many contradictions can a character have in a book?
It depends on how many you want to keep track of and how long your story is. Try between 2-4 and see if that works
My character loves his sister so much and protects her 'purity' from other nen but sees all other women as sloots and sleeps and uses them nilly willy.
There's another character who just the worst human being but donated a kidney to save his niece.
Theres also another character who is unfortunately born a ped****e who never acts on it, is the sweetest snd most tormented person on earth but goes around killing ones that do. (I don't think the current society and events would find this kosher enough to ever publish, but im hoping people's attitudes change and differentiate non offending ped*****s and offending ones. )
Excellent, as always!
Thanks!
Favorited this. Much thanks, Brandon!
Had to save this to my favs.
The video? Thanks man, glad it helped!
@@WriterBrandonMcNulty yeah. Definitly important info there. Going to incorporate into my notes.
I dislike the trope of the villain liking classical music for no apparent reason. With Hannibal Lector, it makes sense for his character, but too many times it's used to just be quirky. Leon, Clockwork Orange (IIRC).
Right. The enjoyment of classical music suggests they are educated and choose their tastes because they have actually thought them through as opposed to stumbling across a Boston album at their cousin's house. All this to say we are supposed to think of them as being a smart villain who has a higher purpose to their evil deeds.
Always grateful to hear your wisdom BMcN. 🙏
The greatest 3 layered character for me is probably Peeta Mellark from the hunger games-
ive read like the first 8 chapters but I'm still confused who Peeta is actually.
Thanks Brandon, helped with my MC. He is hesitant at first, frozen by trauma from his past, but he WANTS to act, to go out fighting. Then when he does, he gets so powerful he hurts people, and he's afraid to act again. He must work through that bad things can happen whether he acts or not, so he may as well do what he thinks is best.
Great video, you explain things very well. Thanks.
My favourite character is Ripley from the Movie Alien. I wasn't aware of any contradictions, when I watched the movies long time ago..
Robert McKee wrote 2 other books. Action and Story. Could you cover them in a video as well?
Im subbing some of your tips i did unknowingly, and a lot are things are very new and helpful
5:51 Brandon, I've really enjoyed your content, youve got some great advice for how to avoid bad things in story creation and what good to make, and I plan to incorporate these into any story I make.
However, I must interject and say there is no dual personality of "Walter White" and "Heisenberg" as Walter was always Heisenberg. From the very beginning of the series he has that bitter resentment and criminal desires. Before he started cooking meth he was already prideful and ego driven, and throughout the show he just lets that inner desire come to the surface, he physically changes into what he wants to become, but hes always been that way inside. Hes always been a bad person, the cancer diagnosis was just the catalyst for him to act on it.
I want to make some series of novels named "Shattered History," which has elements of Battlefield 1, 4, 2142, Brothers in Arms, CoD: WaW, and Genshin Impact, where the Fatui and Abyssal Order invade Earth, starting in 1914, expanding in Europe, Africa, and parts of Oceania (the continent), all the way to 1918. Then, after the Allies won WWI, we have similar but an alternate WWII, then WWIII, and then a "Teyvat Liberation Campaign," but it's unbeknownst to the humans of Earth that a greater force influenced such wars... (You'll get what I mean, possibly.)
I thought my contacts fell off.
Thank you, this has been greatly insightful
Thanks, Syler!
Dear Brandon, What say you about Mckees other books “Action” & “Dialogue” ? Should I give them my $$$ ? ❤ your channel! I read “Theme” by K. M. Weiland & it changed my creative life! (No joke) Thanks for that awesome recommendation!
Hey you’re welcome! And McKee’s Dialogue book is great. Definitely recommend it. Haven’t read Action yet.
What would be a contradiction where my main character is loyal to his country and family name? How can I include some contradictions to make him a better character? Should it be an outer, inner, or hidden contradiction?
I wonder if the character has Hidden prejudices that contradict with his outward loyalty to family and country. Maybe a family member is involved with someone of a different race? Or a family member gets involved with something he disapproves of. Does he try to work it out, or does he abandon them? Or does he see something going on in the nation that he disagrees with, but he outwardly says my country right or wrong, but inwardly he knows the country is involved in something that's wrong.
What about a character who hates it when people die but is in the military?
one question, at least how many contradictions should a character have in order to be considered complex?
also, is the contradiction of wanting a peaceful and carefree life and being positive and cheery a good contradiction to being someone who has one of the most physically and mentally draining jobs and a deep hatred for Monsters a good contradiction?
06:50 Contradictions being consistent is a contradiction in itself :) Maybe you meant "persistent"? ;)
Perfect Books ❤
I dont like contradictions in people. The way I see it it's being one thing while pretending to be something else. If I see that in people around me, I cut them off.
It really depends though as we are all hypocrites to some extent. Nobody is perfect and therefore nobody can live up to their own ideals= contradicts himself
Harry Potter: SPOILERS AHEAD:
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Harry Potter frees the house elf Dobby in the second novel (and movie). Yet in the sixth Harry Potter book--this isn't shown in the movie--Harry inherits the house elf Kreacher along with the house 12 Grimmauld Place. Harry doesn't want Kreacher, and vice-versa. Kreacher would rather serve one of his late master's cousins. I think Harry thinks that ideally, house elves should be free or at least happy in their work. However, Harry cannot afford to free Kreacher because, in his current state of mind, Kreacher would run and spill the secrets of Dumbledore's Order of the Phoenix to those beloved relatives who are members of Voldemort's Death Eaters. So here's an ethical conflict: the ideal of freedom versus the practicality of keeping a particular person enslaved. And this is from a group, the Order of the Phoenix, who are fighting for everyone's freedom.
A compromise of sorts is reached in the seventh book (and somewhat in the movie) when Harry is temporarily living at 12 Grimmauld Place with Ron and Hermione--and Kreacher, who is attached to the house and to Harry. Kreacher has valuable information, and as Kreacher tells his story, the humans gain some sympathy for him. Under Hermione's watchful eye (she's gung-ho on house elf liberation), Harry learns to treat Kreacher more gently, which Kreacher repays with more willing, cordial service. I don't think we ever learn if Harry eventually frees Kreacher.
And then of course there's Superman...!
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There is no "easy way to create complex characters" if the formula is easy, it's not complex. The idea that you just write a hypcorite and everybody praises you for the complexity of your characters is childish, really
Mary Poppins.
Best character, best scene. Such writing, such acting, well shot and scored. Absolutely no notes: ruclips.net/video/wEDNuuCoZYk/видео.html
Am i the only one watching this at 3am?
(Asian time)
This video seems a little less focused than others. Lol
Excellent my friend do you have discord?
Thanks! And no to Discord