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Everyone has goals, and so must your characters. Without goals there can be no motivation. Nor can there be road blocks for your characters to overcome.

It’s not enough for your character to simply want something. There must be emotional motivation pushing his or her desires. The more emotion you can attach to a character’s primary goal, the more potential your story will have to captivate your audience. But what makes for strong motivation? What should be the central driving force for your character that will cause your audience to emotionally identify with his or her decisions?

Let’s say your character wants a million dollars and will do anything to acquire it. Most people can relate to that desire; we all want to be financially comfortable, don’t we? Of course we do. Security and financial stability are basic needs that every person seeks.

Wanting a million dollars is a decent start for a character’s goal, and there is plenty of opportunity for road blocks to get in the way. But the goal should have something more behind it, and that something is emotional motivation. What could we create in the back story to instill emotional motivation for the million dollars?

Instead of wanting the money for himself, maybe your character wants it for a family member? Or maybe an old friend? Perhaps his grandmother is losing her home and a million dollars is required to payoff her home loan and pay a dozen years of back taxes?

Helping a grandmother is certainly a strong goal that people will identify with and find endearing. But is it enough? I don’t think so.

Let’s drop the story about the grandmother for a moment. Instead, let’s develop the back story: your character has been plagued by a grade school bully his entire life. In elementary school, the bully took his lunch money, smashed his volcano art project, and beat him up in the playground in front of the other kids.

During their high school years, the bully constantly ridiculed him in front of his peers, pulled down his shorts at the Friday night basketball games, and eventually stole his high school sweetheart from him and married her.

Twenty years later. Our main character hasn’t changed a whole lot. He’s the clerk at a local video store and lives with his grandmother. He spends his afternoons playing video games and watching old 80’s shows.

One morning the mailman delivers a registered letter stating that they must vacate their property by a certain date because the land is being developed into a shopping mall. The grandmother is upset and distraught; she’s lived in that house her entire life. Her grandson feels bad, but what can he do? He’s just a video store clerk. They accept their fate and begin to plan their move to another household.

A few days later, our main character discovers the developer is the bully from grade school. He has visions of the kid stealing something from him yet again: his grandmother’s home and his meager (but comfortable) way of life. He also has daydreams of winning back his high school sweetheart. If he can prevent the grade school bully from taking his grandmother’s house, he might win back his pride and maybe even the love of his life.

Is that a better back story? Does it present suitable, emotional motivation for the character to fight for the money to allow his grandmother to keep her house? Of course it does, and with a little bit of effort, the story can be easily developed into a ninety minute screenplay.

It’s always best to attach emotional motivation to your character’s goals; otherwise the audience won’t care whether your character wins or loses. It’s often easiest to start with the back story if you want to give your character proper motivation to accomplish his or her goals.

To learn more about screenwriting, please visit: How To Write A Screenplay. To learn more about Christian Blake, please visit: Los Angeles Writer. You may also like to review this book: How To Be Happy.

Somebody asked me if he can still produce an animated series if he can’t draw or animate but can write.

I thought that it was a question whose answer should be shared, and therefore instead of answering directly on the article I thought I would make it a blog post instead.

So here it is. If you can write, but cannot draw or animate, what can you do to embark upon the path of cartoon production?

Well, believe it or not, a writer’s chances of producing a cartoon is even better than an animator’s!

Not convinced? Heard of the saying - “it’s all in the plot”?

75% of a cartoon’s success is dependent on a good concept and storyline, not how good the cast is or how good the animation is! Look at South Park! Do you call that good animation? But has the ridiculously simple flash animation stopped South Park from making families across the world roar with laughter and the producers from making obscene amounts of money? No! Yet South Park would just be a piece of crappy animation without the magic of the scripts! Incidentally, the producers are also the writers in most, if not all, of the scripts.

On the other hand, an artist is an artist is an artist. An animator is an animator is an animator. They usually just draw or animate. But please don’t get me wrong. There are some multi-talented animators and artists who can think of great concepts and ideas too. Just that the specialization is somewhat different and if you start off as a writer, you are more in tune with the top line aspects of producing a cartoon.

Now, if you are convinced you can really write, you may like to follow the steps below to embark on your journey to produce a cartoon.

1. Come up with a strong story concept and think of all the characters that would be in the story.

2. Work with an artist either through a partnership or through outsourcing to create a character bible. If you are not sure what a character bible is, you can read up about it over here.

3. Look around for an animation studio that has a history of producing their own intellectual properties (IP). There are plenty of such studios around, so all you have to do is scout around for a suitable studio that has a history of producing cartoons similar to your genre of writing.

Here, you can (a) pitch your cartoon character bible to them (b) offer to write a few sample synopsis and a sample episode for one of their ongoing cartoon series.

You would be very very very lucky if a studio options your cartoon concept and decides to produce it! It usually doesn’t happen for newbies because they don’t like to take chances with newbies, but most likely it’s because new writers just don’t have the ‘ooomph’ factor in their ideas yet.

Either way, if you are really good at your writing, it opens up the opportunity for them to consider you for a writing contract. If you fail to get an assignment, politely ask the studio for the reason. If it’s because they think you aren’t good enough, it probably means you aren’t good enough. You can go back to hone your skills some more or you can carry on trying. If more than 3 studios tell you the same thing it usually means you really aren’t good enough yet. But practice makes perfect. If you keep trying you would probably get your first assignment,

4. Once you get your first assignment, cherish it like gold! Be flexible about everything (including payment) and cherish the opportunity. Don’t do anything to destroy this silver bullet and do it like it’s your first and last chance! Nobody likes to work with people who are too straight laced and the truth is - after you carve a name for yourself in the industry - companies will scramble for your services even if you are expensive. Don’t be prima donna when you are just a newbie. In fact, my advice to you is never to be a prima donna

5. Try to be involved in as many parts of the production as possible. Ask to be involved in checking out the storyboards and offering your 2 cents on how you think the camera angles should play out. Ask to see the animatics so that you can give your opinion on the pacing and also the animation. You get the idea. Don’t ask for extra fees because most studios would rather do without your help in these areas then. But you can gently request for some credits or offering your creative input. But don’t be too pushy because studios rarely want to give producer or creative credits to a newbie, no matter how good you think you may be. The idea here is to get you as much experience as possible on other parts of the production pipeline.

6. As you get more experience working on such projects, you can begin negotiating for larger roles besides being just the writer. And the best part is, you can start pitching your ideas to TV networks and studios and you can bet some good moolah that they would want to listen to what you have to say!

I hope that this article has been useful and inspiring to you wannabe animation writers out there.

Aldric Chang is a creative entrepreneur who has produced music, games, virtual worlds, animated cartoon series and over a hundred animation projects. His 3d animation studio - Mediafreaks - is a unique vehicle combining animation and entertainment supported by multiple revenue streams. Aldric also runs a popular animation blog and parenting blog.

Real people of flesh and blood have more depth and character about them than you can possibly display on the big screen. Why? Because we have years of actual life experience. We interact with other people on a daily basis (at least most of us do!), all the while creating and solving our own personal dramas.

The dilemmas we face every day help shape our personal character and define our personality. Every time we are forced to make a decision and choose one path over another, we are subtlety changed as an individual. Those changes add up over time. Eventually, they define our character.

The more we experience life, the more likely our character and our actions can be readily defined by those closest to us. The people closest to us will, in all likelihood, know what choices we will make under certain circumstances. Similar to life, the more in depth the back story, the more we expect characters to behave in a certain manner, and the more shocking it is when they don’t!

Our life experience is our back story. When people meet us, everything prior to that particular moment is considered our back story. Our motivations, desires, and goals are a direct reflection of our life experiences. We do the things we do because of the events we have experienced in our past. It’s as simple as that.

When you develop your characters, it’s good to have a back story to support their entire motivation system and their reasoning for making the choices they do throughout your script. Although it is helpful to having a back story for every character, it is certainly not necessary.

A sample back story is from the movie Payback. The main character, Porter, is driven by what happened prior: his partner convinced Porter’s wife to double cross him in a robbery for $70,000. Porter ends up shot and left for dead. The rest of the movie is about Porter’s attempt to get his money back.

A strong back story can resonate throughout an entire film and create a life of its own. In Unforgiven, William Munny is a reformed killer trying to care for his two children. His wife, now deceased, cured him of drinking, thieving, and murder. The back story: she died, leaving him alone to care for their young son and daughter with only her memory to restrain him from becoming the murderer he once was.

The back story for William Munny becomes very strong because it is often repeated by other characters throughout the entire story. In fact, the very first scene shows a gunfighter attempting to convince William Munny to join him in a hired killing. The gunfighter rattles on about how dangerous and cold-hearted William Munny used to be in the old days.

Throughout the rest of the movie, other characters speak in disbelief and shock about the murderous lifestyle of Mr. Munny. His back story is mentioned so many times that it takes on a life of its own and ultimately delivers a violent but expected story finale.

With a properly developed back story, your characters motivations and actions can be justified from the very first scene. As mentioned above, back stories are not essential for developing a strong script, but they make things easier and allow the writer to focus on more present storyline elements. Use them and they will help shape and define your characters.

To learn more about screenwriting, please visit: How To Write A Screenplay. To learn more about Christian Blake, please visit: Los Angeles Writer. You may also like to review this book: How To Be Happy.

Have you ever been told that you don’t have an ear for dialogue? If so, we’re about to change that.

When it comes to writing dialogue for screenplays, there are two things to keep in mind: brevity and plosives. We’ll talk about brevity first.

The common definition of brevity: the quality of expressing much in as few words as possible. Lengthy speeches are acceptable in novels and short stories. But in screenplays, they are referred to as “talking heads”. Too much dialogue can drag the pacing of your scene and bore your viewers to death. In short: keep it short!

When characters speak, have them say what they need to say in as few words as possible.

Take a look at these famous movie quotes:

“Frankly my dear, I don’t give a damn!”

“I’ll be back.”

“You talking to me?”

“Bond, James Bond.”

“May the force be with you.”

“Go ahead, make my day.”

“I’m going to make him an offer he can’t refuse.”

“I love the smell of napalm in the morning.”

Notice that none of those quotes are more than 10 words. When it comes to dialogue, shorter is always better. Remember that. Plus, it’s much easier to direct an actress when she only has 5 words to speak as opposed to 100. If you keep your dialogue short and tense, the actors will like you, the directors will like you, and you’ll keep your audience awake!

Strong dialogue follows a few simple rules besides being short: conveys pertinent storyline information, conveys conflict, conveys humor, and/or elicits information from another character. Follow those four simple rules and you can’t go wrong. Oh, and don’t forget to keep it short!

Another trick for strong dialogue is the use of Plosives. If you don’t know what they are, that’s OK; few people do.

I’ve personally used plosives to strengthen my writing for close to 20 years now. They work especially well when crafting dialogue.

Say the word “power” a couple of times. Say it out loud. Do you hear that pocket of air you create when you say the “p”? That pocket of air is called a plosive.

Plosives are why some words sound better than others. In fact, the more plosives a word has, the powerful a punch it packs!

There are seven letters that can create plosives: b (brain), c (coward), k (kill), p (power), q (quill), t (trance), and x (vixen). Another two letters that are close to being a plosive are: g (gag), and d (dead).

So how do you use plosives? By selecting plosive packed words over weak words. Consider the following:

Instead of “knife”, use the word “blade”.

Instead of “thief”, use the word “bandit”.

Instead of “whore”, use the word “slut”.

Get it? Always select plosive-packed words for your dialogue!

Here are two great movie quotes that are thick with plosive-packed words:

“A wealthy scoundrel seduced and betrayed me.” - Ronin.

“Dead broad off the table!” - Shrek.

If you want to watch an entire movie with plosive-packed dialogue, check out Tombstone or A Streetcar Named Desire.

Check out these plosive-strong character names:

“Porter” - Payback

“Snake Plissken” - Escape From New York

“Trinity” - Matrix

“The Dread Pirate Roberts” - The Princess Bride

Say the following sentences out loud:

“We got in a fist fight, and I won.” (five plosives, nine words)

“I beat the crap out of him.” (five plosives, seven words)

“I split his head open with a baseball bat.” (eight plosives, nine words)

“I cracked his skull open with Pete’s baseball bat.” (eleven plosives, nine words)

Plosives work! Use them in your dialogue, and us them often. If you couple brevity and plosives together, you will always write captivating, ear-grabbing dialogue!

To learn more about screenwriting, please visit: How To Write A Screenplay. To learn more about Christian Blake, please visit: Los Angeles Writer. You may also like to review this book: How To Be Happy.

Writing a screenplay is a lengthy process that requires an organized mind. It’s not just about writing a great story, it’s about pacing, characterization, and (most importantly) intertwining the scenes in a logical, story-telling format. And even if you do manage to get a script completed, the odds of getting it produced are slim to none.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not trying to discourage anyone from writing their first screenplay, but you must realize it’s a tough endeavor no matter how you look at it. You must be realistic with your goals. Only a handful of writers ever get their screenplay produced. But if you do things right, you could be one of those writers.

Your basic story idea is where everything begins. What’s your story about? Is it a western? Or perhaps a modern day love story? Whatever it is, you must have a central character and a goal for him or her to achieve (or avoid). The more obstacles you can toss into the storyline, the better!

Let’s say your story is about a small town girl who falls for a married man traveling through her Midwest town. He visits her mother’s cafe where the young girl serves him banana cream pie and listens to him talk about his job, his life in Los Angeles, and his wife. He is thirty-something and she’s just an innocent girl of nineteen. She becomes instantly infatuated with him and the possibility of a new life for herself outside of her little town.

That storyline would be a good start. She already has two things to overcome: he’s married and he’s obviously going to leave her town in a relatively short period of time. She must work fast to accomplish her goals.

What does she want from him? Maybe she just wants to have some fun for a few days? Perhaps she wants to establish a lengthy relationship with him and be his mistress? Maybe she wants to marry him herself? Or maybe her desires are a little more selfish and she only wants him to take her away from this small town of hers. Whatever her motives are, they are the driving force of your story.

We’ve already discussed a few good ideas for the story line. Let’s pick one: she’s a small town girl who falls in love with a traveling salesman. He’s going to leave her town in three days and return to his wife in Los Angeles. No, not Los Angeles. Let’s make it Beverly Hills. That should make it a little more interesting.

She doesn’t want to be his mistress; she wants him all to herself and she wants to move to Beverly Hills with him. After all, life is boring in a small town. His lifestyle seems very exciting to her. She’s tired of serving pie to strangers and listening to their wonderful stories about their exciting lives outside of her little town. It’s time for her to change her life and head west to California, to Beverly Hills.

Now that we have a basic storyline, the rest of the story can be pieced together rather easily. The next step is to organize a series of obstacles that she must overcome. Given the storyline, I’m sure you can dream up an endless supply of problems that she must conquer in order to win her chosen man.

To learn more about screenwriting, please visit: How To Write A Screenplay. To learn more about Christian Blake, please visit: Los Angeles Writer. You may also like to review this book: How To Be Happy.