Screenwriting : Character tips by Lori Jones

Lori Jones

Character tips

I've always been interested in the human phyche, and what makes people instantly compatible, or not. When it comes to writing novels and screenplays, I like to reference the Enneagram personality types to flesh out characters that can seem cliché in the first draft. This study in self development lays out all the anxieties, insecurities, strenghts, perspectives, and parental orientation that establishes the ways different 'types' of people protect themselves, go after goals, and how they interact in relastionships. (great for back stories) The best book I've found so far is; Personality Types by Don Richard Risso.

Robert Franklin Godwin III

Lori Jones I call upon my personal experiences and consider that to be a prime resource. I like to sit in cafes and watch people. They tell me so much with their body language, style of dress and interactions with others.

Lori Jones

My screenplays are also based on personal experiences, or when it came to writing The Wine Merchant, access to a detailed memoir. I too, have copious notes on conversations overheard, and visuals from real life. The Enneagramn suggestion can be used as an extra layer to spark the imagination when it comes to what lurks in the depths of people that cannot always be see or heard by others. The shadow side of individuals. The 'self' people learn to keep hidden.

Robert Franklin Godwin III

Lori Jones I took a look at Enneagram. Seems to have similar questions to Meyers Briggs. I have also slotted people using the Big Five which allows a bigger bucket to fit characters in. https://www.simplypsychology.org/big-five-personality.html

Maurice Vaughan

Thanks for the book rec, Lori Jones! I'm going to check it out.

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