In my opinion, there are MANY things Disney does well in storytelling, and one of them is not character development. That's why kids and adults like me can't get enough of Olaf, Princess Tiana, Lilo & Stitch, Moana, and more. So we can't think of anyone better to teach us a few Disney tricks than Ricky Roxburgh, writer for Walt Disney Animation Studios television shows including Tangled: The Series, Big Hero 6, Monsters at Work, Mickey Shorts, and more! He's an expert in character development for screenplays.

"Characters always have to serve a purpose in the story," Ricky explained. "Everything starts with your main character. That's your point of view. That's what drives the story."

But we wanted to know, how do you write a character interesting enough to lead the cast?

"The most important thing I do is just ask myself a lot of questions," he revealed. "You know, how does this character see themselves? How do other characters see this person?"

It's like you're interviewing your character and making up the answers as you go along.

"Unique characters are created through flaws, quirks, and shades of grey. If you have a character that has some of those, and it feels real to your main character, find these other characters that push that character out of their comfort zone, tell them a truth they won't listen to, bring out your character's flaws, and it all kind of builds from there."

The rest is repetition.

“Then you can ask the same questions about those characters and develop them,” he said.

As Mary Poppins would say, with every job that needs to be done, there is an element of fun! I can't wait to read who you come up with.

#Screenwriting #Screenwriter #Writingtips #Screenplay #Screenwriter

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