Baking a Three-layer Character Hollywood Style

Because I seem to be all about revealing my sources today, I'd like to point you to another book I didn't write by someone else who does not know me from Adam.

(Screenwriters and aspiring screenwriters may wish to take a break--Coke or coffee, depending on your preference--You probably already know about this guy.)

His name is Robert McKee, and he is the author of Story: Substance, Structure, Style and the Principles of Screenwriting. I highly recommend this book.

I can't do justice to the principles in Mr. McKee's book here, but I can lay out one basic idea that helped me tremendously as I was writing my novel. And that basic idea is this: Characters operate on three different levels.

• How they want the world to see them.
• How they see themselves.
• How they really are.

In terms of plot, this can crudely be translated as follows:

• What the character says they want.
• What the character thinks they want.
• What the character really needs (and ultimately discovers about themselves in the course of the story).

And by working the tension between what the character thinks they want versus what they really need, you can create the internal conflict and leave the reader with a emotionally satisfying ending.

You'll need to go to Mr. McKee's book to get the full details, but it's well worth several reads. I think it's as applicable to novels as it is to screenplays.