Boring Characters Usually Lack a Present Want, Not More Backstory
Summary
No Film School argues that piling on trauma and history is a patch, and that a character's urgent goal in the present is what holds an audience.
"Writers who are told their characters are dull often respond by adding backstory, but the problem is usually what the character wants now, No Film School's Eric Hardman argued in a Nov. 2 column drawing on a video essay by the YouTube channel Big Red Stripe. Hardman called the backstory fix ""a band-aid on a deep cut wound.""
He recommends establishing a present, time-sensitive goal first and adding history only if it serves that goal. His example is Tom Cruise's character in Magnolia, whose estrangement from his father explains his behavior while the drive of the story comes from a present-tense want: confronting the father on his deathbed. Hardman also points to Indiana Jones, whose family history was unnecessary in Raiders of the Lost Ark and fit naturally only in The Last Crusade.
He also separates symptoms from causes. ""Predictability on its own is not a dealbreaker issue with a script,"" he wrote; if it bothers a reader, the cause is more likely weak characters, pacing or voice. When unsure, he advises getting a trusted outside reader."
