Narrative Notes

It’s All About Them — Unpacking the Centrality of Characters in Any Story

Beyond plot and action, a writer’s reflection on why the ‘who’ of a story is its most powerful, indispensable ingredient.

Photo by Dotun Sangoleye on Unsplash

Alright, I’m continuing my read-through of Luca Aimeri’s Manuale di Sceneggiatura Cinematografica (Screenwriting Manual). The “formal” part, the one explaining how to lay out pages, use tabs, and all that jazz, is interesting, sure, but for my current purposes, it’s not what captivates me the most.

I find Part 4, titled “It’s the story of someone to whom something happens that terribly complicates their life,” much more fruitful. The title pretty much says it all. But let’s go step by step, because there’s a lot to unpack here.

From Idea to Character: The True Engine of Narration

A few weeks ago, on the blog, I was reflecting on how an idea for a story is born (Anatomy of an Idea — When a Question Becomes a Story). But, to paraphrase the old adage, an idea is nothing without characters. Because, yes, the true and irreplaceable core of a story is precisely that: the character. This holds true for every type of story, even those Aimeri defines as “adventure…