Character names, in my opinion, are one of the most difficult challenges of creating characters for a screenplay.
At the moment, I have mixed feelings about naming characters. One: I feel that no matter what you name your character, you can trigger the audience’s memory by branding your character in a way … through action and the actual speaking of your character’s name – more specifically, the repetition of speaking your characters name.
Take Fight Club for example – the two character names you remember most from that movie don’t even belong …

So, what’s you story? Answer this question and you’ll probably include a bit about where you came from, where you are, and where you’re going. The first portion of this answer is your character backstory.
The goal behind character backstory is creating character depth … or, undeniable realism. You want your character to be someone your audience will believe in. There should be no doubt that someone like your character actually existed, exists, or will eventually exist. Character backstory is simply one way to help your audience believe in your character.
To …

If you’re reading this post then you’re a character with a goal. Your goal may be anything from ‘learn how to write better characters’ or simply ‘pass the time’ because you can’t seem to write today, but one thing is constant … you have a goal. On a larger scope, let’s assume that because you’re reading this you probably want to write or direct or produce or act in the film business one day. Right?
It’s important to understand and articulate your own character goal before attempting to articulate one of …

If there’s one thing that won’t change, it’s that everything is always changing. Everything from the future, the environment, the weather, and especially we the people will constantly change from year to year, day to day, and even as we speak! Whether it’s for the better or worse, it’s always happening.
This constant is the foundation for what’s called the Character Arc.
A character arc is the measure of how much a character changes over the course of a story. Character arcs exist in every form of storytelling, including screenplays, TV pilots, …

Thanks for launching the 101!
I thought it would be appropriate to introduce the 101 with what I call the Rule of Page One due to how definitive it’s proven to be. As a reader in Los Angeles, I read a lot of screenplays; and one thing I’ve noticed is that this rule seems to be the only one that’s still standing (aside from formatting rules).
The Rule of Page One:
Look at page one of any screenplay. You’ll probably notice a lot of things, but one thing you won’t notice is the …