Writing Characters That Aren’t Caricatures — Tony DuShane

Photo by Joseph Menjivar on Unsplash

Film Courage: How do I make my characters more than just a caricature?

Tony DuShane, Writer/Podcaster/Teacher: In early drafts we’re again putting paint to the canvas and they’ll be caricatures and they’ll be cliché. I talk to my students a lot where they’re like:

Oh, I’m so worried this feels cliché or fabricated.

(I’m like) Don’t worry, it is cliché and fabricated but keep massaging it.

It’s showing up to the page every day. That’s the main thing, just show up, show up, show up.

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