You’re watching a movie or reading a book, and it hits you: something’s just not right. “She wouldn’t say that!” He wouldn’t do that!” They broke character, and the illusion was lost.

How ironic that 99% of a film, book, story, or play can have you captivated, and one wrong interaction or utterance breaks the spell.

There is a reason why certain characters are so believable that we take them into our lives as friends or foes. These characters endure because they maintain the integrity of their core character and ego-structure.

Are you writing a character-driven story that requires the audience to get so involved with the characters that they forget they're watching a show or reading a book?  We can help.  If you want to create dialogue that would really happen between these particular characters, we can help.  If you are experiencing writer's block, and need a boost over the wall, we can help.

A character like Andy Sipowicz from NYPD Blue, who evolved organically over 12 years in a believable manner is so three-dimensional that we accepted him as a real person. Oh by the way, Dennis Franz won a record 4 Emmys for that one character, (nominated 8 times) and the writers and show were nominated 82 times, winning 20.

Willy Loman, Mrs. Robinson, Brick Pollitt, (Cat on a Hot Tin Roof) Sophie Zawistowski, (Sophie’s Choice) Stanley Kowalski, and Atticus Finch never step outside of the characters we're convinced we know. Arthur Miller, Mike Nichols, William Styron, Tennessee Williams, and all great character creators craft their characters as complete human beings, whose actions and reactions follow realistic dynamics.  This is why some characters become the “standard bearers.”

How many actors ask, “what’s my motivation here?” That question should never come up.  When the character is created from the inside out, motivations are part of their nature. When a character is created from their core motivational ego-structure, everything flows smoothly from there in easy congruency.  Even the audience knows the character's motivation (and when there's a disconnect, the audience emotionally leaves).

Interaction is just as easily formed, when the characters involved are true. Just as we can predict the interaction of atoms in a molecule, characters interact according to their core character and ego-structures.

We'd all love to have the time to be a brilliantly observant student of human nature over years and years. But what if you need to create these characters now? You need a system that maps and diagrams ego-structures and character fixations, along with their associated linguistic characteristics. And you've found the right place. Character-Driven offers you that system.

If you are familiar with the Enneagram, you know that it is a proven psychological model, being taught at Stanford, Harvard, Wharton, and throughout the world.  This is where Character-Driven starts, but there is much more.  If you aren't familiar with the Enneagram, you don't need to be; Character-Driven will take care of the heavy lifting for you.  Let's talk about what you are looking for, and how we can help you.

    

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