The character depth framework that changes everything
A complete system for creating characters people can’t stop thinking about
It’s Wednesday. The Writer’s Room is open.
For the past few weeks, I’ve been redeveloping and writing a horror novel of mine, and when I’m stuck in a scene on that, I’ve been switching gears to rewriting an action comedy script.
And something I’ve been struggling with, and it’s nothing new for me… overplotting. Trying to cram too much into one story and overburdening it all. And then there’s the real whammy… knowing if I know my characters well enough to write them honestly.
Because it’s one thing to understand that complex characters matter more than complex plots. It’s another thing to actually BUILD a complex character.
So today, I’m giving you the complete framework.
This is the system I use—the one I’ve developed over 25 years of screenwriting and novel writing—to create characters that readers and viewers can’t forget.
Four elements. All working together. Each one essential.
By the end of this post, you’ll have:
A step-by-step method for building character depth
Examples from film, TV, and novels showing how this works
A practical application process you can use this weekend
The diagnostic tools to know if your character is complex enough
This is the deep-dive. The full framework. The thing that changes how you approach every character you write.
Let’s go.
Why Some Characters Are Unforgettable (And Most Aren’t)
Think about the characters you can’t forget.
Walter White. Michael Corleone. Fleabag. Villanelle. Tyler Durden. Clarice Starling. Llewyn Davis. The Joker.
What makes them unforgettable?
It’s not their goals. Plenty of characters have goals.
It’s not their backstory. Plenty of characters have tragic pasts.
It’s not even their arc. Plenty of characters transform over the course of a story.
So what is it?
It’s that you can’t predict what they’ll do next—but when they do it, it feels inevitable.
That’s the magic. That’s what makes a character feel REAL instead of written.
They surprise you. But the surprise doesn’t feel like a twist. It feels like: “Oh. Of course. That’s exactly what THEY would do.”
Most characters don’t have this quality. Most characters are predictable. You know what they’ll do because they’re following their role in the plot. They’re doing what the story needs them to do.
But memorable characters? They’re following their own internal logic. Their own contradictions. Their own way of seeing the world.
And THAT’S what makes them impossible to forget.
So how do you build that?
Four elements. All working together.
