Characters Aren't Just Their Quirks

One of the notes I give most often on the scripts I read is that the characters lacked proper development. They weren't people. Today, I'm up to my second script of the day, and both make the error of characters having quirks but not personality.

Don't get me wrong, it's important to have a few quirks. They draw the audience give, make a character memorable...but only if done correctly. Only if the quirk is a reflection of a deeper aspect of the character. Think of people you know, and their unique quirks. Where do they come from? What do they say about that person? Your characters should be well-developed, they should feel like real people. And real people have layered personalities, the outer layer of which is generally their quirks.

For example, take Monk. He's OCD, which would be his quirk. But what does that really mean about him? Well, he's meticulous. Which makes him a great detective. And he's a little bit anal, which makes him hard to work with. You can feel like you know Monk, because he's not just another bland detective. He's a detective who took an attribute that could have held him back in his work, and turned it into something that makes him the very best.

Or in Forgetting Sarah Marshall, Jason Segel's character ate cereal out of a giant salad bowl. So weird. So particular. So unique to Peter Bretter. But even more importantly, it was just a manifestation of who he is. A goofy sort of guy, still with a childish impulse, who's so down trodden he doesn't want to eat anything more than cereal. But if he's going to do it, he's going to do it in a big way. This quirk doesn't present itself continuously throughout the movie. Instead, other quirks come about that have the same birthplace. The same core.

So, don't make characters whose only unique quality is their stutter or their need to wear high platform shoes. Make them people, who because of who they are, would have to stutter or wear high platform shoes. Or both. A stuttering-platform shoe wearing character would certainly be unique. If they were real.