Brenda Blethyn Quotes

I create each character as an individual, coming from a certain place, sounding a certain way, having been introduced to things a certain way.

When you're crafting a character, it's good to have a lot of influences.

In creating a new character, it's sometimes difficult to find a touchstone, a North Star that will always point you in the direction that character will travel.

You've got to leave the reader with more than just a name and a costume - they need to know who the character is, what they're like, what kind of attitude they have, what sort of role they play.

For every book that I write... I develop a history for each person and make sure they are well rounded and flawed. You have to know everything about them from their shoe size, to where they went to school, to what their first pet was, to what they like to eat, to what they want out of life.

The most fascinating powers don't mean a thing if the guy's poorly motivated or dull, and the most generic powers won't hurt a well-motivated character. Personality and motivation are what make Magneto, Magneto and not Cosmic Boy. The powers work for him, but it's his motivation that makes him the character he is.

If I'm reading a script, and I'm not buying it, I need to be able to relate to the character on some level, and they need to have more than one dimension. I need to have an idea of what this guy's thinking about when he's taking a shower not on camera. And if I can't picture him taking a shower and getting dressed, then he's not a real person.

I try to begin with a strong grasp of my characters. Even if it's schematic, I need it clear in my head who these people are.

A character who is thought-out is not born, he or she is contrived. A born character is round, a thought-out character is flat.

When you're building a character, or at least when I'm building a character, you start saying, 'How am I going to make people like him?'

When I develop a character, I usually start by creating a backstory with whatever information I have access to.

I'm about my characters.

To create a fully formed character full of life, struggle, and humanity is tough.

For me, plot always comes out of character, so I had to be sure of my characters.

You start thinking about a character in a new book, of course you're going to think pretty soon, 'Well, what's their secret? What is their problem?' Maybe, 'What is their secret?' is another way of saying, 'What is their problem?' There's got to be some issue, or you've got a totally boring book!

With any role I play, I find out what the human problem is first.

Stories are important, but I'm really into characters, and if you can give birth to a good one, that's true success.

I abhor badly-written characters and any character, be it man, woman, any character in the film. If it is a well-written character, it will come across as strong.

I think my best quality as a writer is the ability to craft complicated, nuanced, interesting characters.

I believe the audience likes to see well-defined characters on screen than just larger-than-life heroes.

When it comes to a character, I make sure that it adds to the plot.

I want to give my characters nuance.

I may have played romantic roles, but each character has been different, with his own personality.

It's always fun to layer a character, to make the character a little bit more dynamic than it is on paper.

I plot the first 5 or 6 chapters quite minutely, and also the end. So I know where I am going but not how I'm going to get there, which gives characters the chance to develop organically, as happens in real life as you get to know a person.