Arts & Entertainment, Writing

Creating Memorable Characters: Part 2

Lesson time 16:43 min

Shonda shares her techniques on how to effectively develop and evolve your characters when writing your stories, including when and how to kill off characters.

Students give MasterClass an average rating of 4.7 out of 5 stars

Topics include: Ensemble Characters • Evolving Characters • Killing a Character • Your Character's Journey

Shonda Rhimes

Teaches Writing for Television

In 6+ hours of video lessons, Shonda teaches you her playbook for writing and creating hit television.

Preview

When I'm developing an ensemble of characters, I don't necessarily think this character has to be like this or this character has to be like this. It's a little bit like putting together a band. You want everybody to sort of harmonize well together. And not in a sense that everybody has to get along, but that there has to be a tune going on there that's interesting. So if we think about Scandal, you have Olivia, who is sort of your lead singer, and she works really well. But then you have to have Huck, who's odd but wise, and I always call him her you know attack dog, but he's odd but wise. He really does provide all kinds of strange wisdom. You have Abby, who is loyal, especially in the pilot, loyal and quiet and sort of there. Harrison, who's the smart one, who's sort of saying everything fast and sort of leaning into everything; Quinn, who's new. You have everybody sort of working in concert with one another so that you can sort of see who they are. And when you put them all together, they form a very nice group of people. I think when you're forming an ensemble, it's important to have somebody in that ensemble who is the voice of-- I don't want to just say dissent for the main character, but you need somebody for the main character to both be able to talk to and somebody who sort of makes sure the main character knows what they're doing wrong. And that doesn't necessarily have to be the same person, but you do need those two people in that world. You also need the person who's going to make sure that we know what is right and what is wrong in the world. On Grey's, that person is the chief. Anything the chief says, you believe without question. It's very interesting. He can say the sky has turned purple and everybody's like oh yeah, the sky's purple. But if Alex said it you'd be like, mm, I think he's lying. It's very interesting. You have the sort of moral compass people. Dr. Bailey is the person who can sort of fight with Meredith and tell her what she thinks she's doing right or doing wrong. Alex is the person that Meredith speaks to, and she tells her secrets to. So you have to have those people or else it doesn't necessarily lay out. And in a lot of shows, it looks very different. It can be kind of a total stranger that somebody talks to. It can be their, you know, kidnapper. It can be somebody in prison with them. It's always a very different look, but you need those people or else you're not hearing what's going on for real. It's just somebody talking to themselves. It's really interesting when you watch some shows and you realize that for a lot of characters, things happen around them, but they don't happen to things. Try to make sure your characters are happening to things. They are the ones making things happen. For better or for worse-- they could be destroying the world around them accidentally or on p...

About the Instructor

When Shonda Rhimes pitched Grey’s Anatomy she got so nervous she had to start over. Twice. Since then, she has created and produced TV’s biggest hits. In her screenwriting class, Shonda teaches you how to create compelling characters, write a pilot, pitch your idea, and stand out in the writers’ room. You’ll also get original pilot scripts, pitch notes, and series bibles from her shows. Welcome to Shondaland.

Featured MasterClass Instructor

Shonda Rhimes

In 6+ hours of video lessons, Shonda teaches you her playbook for writing and creating hit television.

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