I've never been a cop. I've also never been an old man, or a plague doctor, or an alien being, or a nuclear physicist. But as a screenwriter, it's very likely I'll one day write some or all of these kinds of characters, ones that are totally outside my experience or even my reality. How can I possibly make these characters sound real?John Matthew Fox, who runs Bookfox, a resource for fiction writers, recently shared advice that translates well to screenwriting. His video breaks down eight specific techniques for capturing authentic character voices when you're writing someone completely different from yourself.Before jumping into solutions, Fox warns against common traps. Don't lean on stereotypical speech patterns for different ethnicities. Don't dump in period slang you may have heard somewhere, but don't know the meaning of. And don't assume throwing in Gen Z slang makes a teenage character convincing. (Oof. That is a huge one. Especially since your references are likely to be five years behind the zeitgeist, anyway.)Check out his video. - YouTube www.youtube.com Generate Your Character's Metaphors and Similes Fox says you need to think about your character's sensory world and the comparisons they'd naturally make. A Gen Alpha character might use brain-rot phrases like "aura farming" or "skibidi." (But again, I'd really caution against using words you don't know the meaning of, especially when they're nonsensical. I hear the kids are even already moving past "6 7.")Fox suggests imagining what a character's surroundings would be for their time period...
Published By: NoFilmSchool - Yesterday