Protagonist is from my novel 'Silent Invaders', which won the quarter finals of Screencraft Hollywood Cinematic Story Contest:
Q)List the character’s major actions. Start from the end and work backwards. (Don’t analyse how or why; just create a list of actions.)
1.Protagonist submits to the court's decision. (end action)
2.She is being treated for mental illness in jail and through hypnotherapy, reveals all she knows about the murders and the murderers.
3.She collects a specific piece of ornament from the dead body of each victim.
4.All forensic evidences are against the protagonist, but she is entirely oblivious of all the murders and polygraph expert proves she is telling the truth. Later on it is established that she has a serious and horrific mental illness.
5.A series of murders are committed and are in the news.
6.A history of severe childhood abuse and torture of the protagonist is revealed.
7.Out of the blue protagonist is arrested for a murder of one of their close family friends. But she is completely unaware of her links with the murder. She is innocent.
8.Has a job in an NGO which works for betterment of abused and neglected children of the society.
9.Protagonist is a simple girl-next-door type, in her twenties, self-centered but loves her adopted parents.
10.Protagonist is adopted by an educated and well-to-do family in north-east of England. (beginning)
Q)Analyse the list to reveal the character’s wants and needs. Is the character aware of what they want?
Character is entirely unaware of her condition and her surrounding situations. She doesn't know why she is in jail and is being tried in court for serial murders.
Q)Describe how the character thinks and look at his or her basic psychology. Intelligent? Intellectually engaged? Cognitive Biases? Impulsive? Cautious?
It is established she has a horrific mental illness triggered due to her history of severe childhood abuse.
Q)Describe the character’s superficial affect. How might a casual acquaintance describe them?
Pleasant, bright but sometimes inattentive.
Q)List any important physical characteristics
In her twenties, slender body, pretty face, brown hair and eyes but never satisfied with her looks.
- Finds Sean and he tells him the negative is in his wallet
- Goes on a final adventure, trekking through ungoverned Afghanistan to find Sean
- Visits Sheryl, sees her ex-husband, thinks they are back together and leaves
- Goes to his company and gets fired
- Barely escapes an erupting volcano
- Skates down a high way to reach Sean
- Jumps out of a helicopter into shark infested waters
- Heads to the airport and books the first flight to Greenland
- Get threatened by the new boss that he will fire him next time he sees him if he doesn’t have the negative
- Talks with Sheryl who is helping him locate Sean and walks with her to the park and meets her son who likes skateboarding
- He can’t find negative No. 25 which will be the last cover for Life magazine
- New boss makes fun of him and humiliates him in front of his colleagues
- He can’t leave a wink on Sheryl’s account on e-harmony
Wants: he needs to save his job so he has to find Sean and he likes Sheryl and wants to ask her out but he is not confident enough.
Character analysis: Walter is a daydreamer who lives mostly in his head. He is quite and has self-esteem issues. Up until his job is threatened, he led a very cautious life addled with structure and routine.
Superficial affect: awkward, weird, silent.
Physical characteristics: Walter has an average build and height. He is handsome in an unconventional way. He dresses very geeky and proper. His hair is slightly greying and he is always clean-shaven.
Alan, 76, is a Retired, active, member of Plymouth Writers Group and Plymouth Playwriters Group. Here he shares his wartime childhood memories, the struggle of not knowing his father and how these experiences shaped his writing career.
“I was born in Croydon, South London in May 1941. My mother worked in an armaments
factory, and my father, Jack, came to the UK at the beginning of the 2nd World War, as part of the Canadian Armed Forces. We were not evacuated, so my earliest memories are living with Nan and Grandad whilst Mum was away.
Croydon took quite a lot of hits during the Blitz as we had a military airport some 3 miles away. Grandad was gassed in the WW1 trenches and was always coughing, whilst Nan always seemed to be ill. I never knew my father. I have a memory of being lifted up into the air by a large uniformed man, but that is it. He went to the Normandy landings in 1944 and subsequently went back to Canada, was discharged, and then rejoined the Canadian Air Force about 1949. My earliest memories of a male figure, apart from Grandad, was a man (Phil) who came to see me with my mother. I went to stay with them for a short while, and then eventually we all lived in two rooms and shared a bathroom/WC with eight other flatlets. By 1950 my mother had two children by Phil, and her younger sister now 15, was also living with us. We shared one bedroom with four of us in one bed, and Mum and Phil in the other.
That year we moved to a brand new post-war Council estate some 6 miles outside of Croydon, on the edge of the fields, no pavements, a couple of shops and an infant and junior school. Heaven!! I was the only child on the brand new estate to pass the 11 plus exam and was offered a place at two prestigious Grammar Schools, one of which (Dulwich College) was over 10 miles away, the other was in Croydon, which is the one I chose. It meant leaving home at 07:30, catching two buses, and then walking.
My mother managed to get a grant for my uniform, my Headmaster bought me a pair of white canvas gym shoes from Woolworths and on day one, I finally arrived at this posh place, wearing a blazer and quartered cap. Waiting outside the school were a bunch of large boys all dressed in Grammar School uniform. As I passed through their ranks, they tore the pockets off my blazer and smashed my cap down onto the spiked railings. This was a school ritual known to all but tacitly ignored by the Headmaster. That is until my mother turned up at school the next day and demanded that they replace my uniform as there were no more grants available until next year. From day one my card was marked. What made it worse, was on getting home again late at night, my former mates from the Council school beat me up for being a “snob” wearing the same uniform. Couldn’t win.
That year, I found a handbag of my mother’s in a cupboard and realised that my father was Jack a Canadian serviceman and that Phil was just a man who was kind to me. Subsequently, I joined the Armed Forces myself, having dropped out of Grammar School at 15 as I simply couldn’t cope with the snobbery, ritual and regime of the school.
Prior to joining, I spent a year as a trainee journalist with the South London press group, then my mother decided to move again, making it impossible to get to work. My writing career first began with court reporting at Lambeth Court and progressed when I was part of the secretariat in the RN, involved in the production of operational orders and suchlike.
On 3 occasions in the next 30 years, I tracked Jack down in Canada, but each time, my letters were returned. He died in 2005, aged 86. Three years later I found a much younger half-sister living in Canada, totally unaware of my existence. She came to the UK in 2009 and stayed with my family, bringing my father’s war medals for me to keep.
I began writing seriously in 2000 through a night school option. Since then I have written in excess of 300 pieces, prose, poetry, radio, stage and screenplays and won regional newspaper competitions for a record 3 consecutive years. My first collection (Short Stories for Longer Journeys) was published by AuthorHouse, and is now in libraries in the USA, Canada and throughout the UK. In 2015 my play (School Crossing) was produced at the Theatre Royal, Plymouth a premiere venue in the South West. In December several of my short plays and sketches will be produced in the main Theatre Bar of Plymouth.
To this day, some of my writings reflect my earlier difficult life. ‘Wearing the Quartered Cap’ is in the collection - day one at the senior school. I still have feelings of anger, guilt and despair that my father was not willing to “know” me. I wrote a poem “Who Was The Hero” to capture those feelings, but the pain remains. However, my writing career has progressed, and is the subject of another story.”
tells waitress he loves her.
moves artist into his apartment.
takes waitress to dinner.
drives artist to see family & ask for money.
pays for private doctor to help waitresses sick son.
looks after artists dog (when artist in hospital).
sees a psychiatrist for help.
thrown out of cafe after verbally abusing staff and customers.
argues with artist about dog.
goes to same cafe for lunch every day to see waitress.
pushes artists dog down laundry shoot.
ANALYSE LIST: (wants & needs)
to be a better man, for her.
to see her everyday
the dog accepts him as he is, even confirming his weird behaviour.
dislikes most other people (says so too) - they don't see how wonderful she is.
needs a rigid structure to his daily routines.
aware of his behaviors but doesn't try to control it.
HOW CHARACTER THINKS:
intelligent, critical, observant, vocal, speaks without thinking first.
SUPERFICIAL AFFECT: (is seen by others)
rude
passive aggressive
direct
sarcastic
controlling
vocal
IMPORTANT PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS:
obsessive compulsive disorders;
steps over pavement cracks or tile lines,
washes hands frequently and throws bar soap away after one wash.
takes own plastic cutlery to cafe, to throw away after.
won't shake hands, wears gloves.
