Character: want, need, flaw and arc

Audiences follow stories because they care about people. Plot gives a story shape, but character gives it life. A clever plot with flat characters feels mechanical; a simple plot with vivid characters can be unforgettable. This lesson introduces the tools screenwriters use to build characters an audience will follow: the want and the need, the flaw or wound, the arc, and the supporting cast that tests the protagonist. It also covers how to reveal character on screen, where the camera cannot read minds and every trait must be shown through behaviour.

The protagonist

The protagonist is the character whose goal drives the story and whose choices move it forward. In most films the audience experiences events mainly through the protagonist. A strong protagonist is active: they make decisions, take risks and cause things to happen. A passive protagonist, who only reacts to events, tends to make a story drift. Being active does not mean being loud or heroic. A quiet character who makes small, brave choices can be just as compelling as an action hero.

Protagonists need not be likeable, but they must be compelling. Audiences will follow a difficult, even unpleasant character if they understand what that character wants and why, if the character is skilled or determined, or if the character is treated unfairly. Writers sometimes call this engagement rather than sympathy.

• Give the protagonist a clear, concrete goal the audience can track.
• Make them make choices, especially hard ones, at key moments.
• Show competence or determination early.
• Let the audience understand their motivation, even if they disagree with it.

Want and need

Many screenwriting teachers distinguish between what a character wants and what they need. The want is the external, conscious goal: to win the race, get the job, find the stolen painting, get home for Christmas. The need is the internal change the character must make to be whole: to learn to trust, to forgive a parent, to accept help, to stop running from grief. Often the character does not know their need at the start, and the story forces them to face it.

The most satisfying stories connect the two. Pursuing the want puts the character in situations that expose the need. At the climax, the character often has to choose between them, or discovers that getting the want requires changing in the way they need to.

Flaw, wound and lie

Characters become believable through their weaknesses. A flaw is a trait that causes problems: arrogance, fear, stubbornness, dishonesty, impatience. A wound is a past experience that explains the flaw, such as a betrayal, a loss or a humiliation. Some writers describe a lie the character believes because of the wound: "If I depend on anyone, I'll be abandoned." The story challenges that lie.

Use backstory carefully. Writers need to know their characters' pasts, but audiences need only what helps them understand present choices. Long flashbacks and dialogue explaining a character's history usually slow a film down. The wound is most powerful when it is revealed late, briefly and through action.

The character arc

An arc is the change a character undergoes across the story. A positive arc moves the character toward a truth: they overcome the flaw. A negative arc moves them away: they give in to it, often tragically. A flat arc keeps the character's values constant while they change the world around them, as in many detective stories and some hero stories. All three can work; what matters is that the arc is clear and earned.

Change must be earned through pressure. A character who suddenly becomes brave in the final scene, without earlier steps, feels false. Plot each step of change. In a feature, the protagonist might resist change in act one, try new behaviour in act two, fall back at the low point and finally choose differently at the climax. In a short, you may have room for only one decisive step, so the moment of change must be prepared carefully.

Supporting characters and their functions

Supporting characters are not decoration. Each should serve the story, usually by helping or hindering the protagonist, or by representing a different answer to the theme. Some common functions:

• Antagonist: the main opposing force, not necessarily a villain. It can be a rival, a parent, an institution or nature.
• Mentor: someone who guides or teaches the protagonist, often with a flaw of their own.
• Ally or friend: someone the protagonist can talk to, which helps reveal inner life without voice-over.
• Love interest: someone whose relationship with the protagonist tests the need.
• Mirror or foil: a character who faces a similar situation but chooses differently, showing what the protagonist could become.

A useful test is to remove a character from your outline. If nothing important changes, merge them with another character or cut them. In shorts, every character costs screen time, casting effort and money, so economy matters even more.

Revealing character on screen

On the page you cannot write "Maya is generous" and expect it to appear on screen. You must show generosity through behaviour. Screenwriters reveal character through:

• Choices under pressure: what a character does when it costs them something is the strongest evidence of who they are.
• Action and habit: how they make coffee, park a car or answer a phone.
• Dialogue: what they say, how they say it and, often more revealing, what they avoid saying.
• How others treat them: respect, fear, affection or contempt from other characters.
• Environment: their room, car, clothes and objects, which the production designer will build from your hints.
• Contradiction: a tough foreman who keeps a child's drawing on the dashboard.

The first appearance of a character matters most. Screenwriters craft introductions carefully, because the audience forms an impression in seconds. A good introduction combines a brief physical description with an action that reveals something essential. For example: "DELPHINE (40s), courier jacket over a wedding dress, sprints through traffic holding a parcel above her head." In one line we sense urgency, contradiction and a story.

Character descriptions in the script

Script descriptions are short. Standard practice is to capitalize a character's name the first time they appear, give an approximate age, and add a phrase or two that captures their essence. Avoid long lists of physical details, which limit casting and slow reading. Focus on attitude and energy.

Diverse and authentic characters

Audiences are diverse, and so are the people writers write about. Writing characters from backgrounds different from your own is part of the job, but it calls for research, empathy and humility. Avoid stereotypes, including flattering ones. Give every character, including minor ones, their own goals and dignity. Ask readers from the relevant communities for feedback. Many funders and broadcasters in both countries now ask applicants how they approach representation, both on screen and in the writing team.

Canadian funders such as Telefilm Canada and the Canada Media Fund have programs and targets supporting Indigenous, Black and racialized creators and creators from official language minority communities, which can shape both who tells a story and how characters are portrayed.

Exercise: the character questionnaire

Before you draft, many writers fill in a short character questionnaire. Keep it practical and connected to the story.

• What does the character want in this story, concretely?
• What do they need, and do they know it?
• What is their flaw, and what wound explains it?
• What would they never do, and what would make them do it?
• How do they speak: vocabulary, rhythm, favourite phrases, silences?
• What object would they save from a fire?
• How does the audience first meet them, in one line of action?

Testing characters with a scene of choice

Before drafting, write a short scene, which may never appear in the film, in which your protagonist must choose between two things they value. Put them under time pressure and give them something to lose. Watch what they do. If you cannot decide what your character would choose, you do not yet know them well enough. If the choice surprises you, follow it: surprise during drafting often signals that the character has come alive. Keep these exercise scenes in a separate file; they become a useful reference for voice and behaviour when you write the real script.