# Most Writers Think They Know Their Character. This Test Proves They Don't.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=anj2-SbHyCM

[00:00] Do you even know your character?
[00:02] And I mean really know them.
[00:04] Not their backstory, not their arc, not the version of them that exists in your outline and makes complete sense on paper.
[00:09] What I'm talking about is when everything goes wrong and there is no good option and they have to decide of right now who they are.
[00:15] Because most of us think we do.
[00:16] We've spent months with this character.
[00:19] We know their personality, their fears, the way they move through the world.
[00:22] And then the story puts them under real pressure and something generic comes out.
[00:26] And you realize maybe you don't actually know who they are.
[00:30] Because there is a specific kind of moment that separates a character you designed from a character you actually know.
[00:35] So today we're going to talk about what that moment looks like.
[00:39] We are going to get into how you actually design it for the specific character you built.
[00:42] And then we're going to build a character from scratch and run the whole thing in real time so you can see exactly how to do it with your own characters.
[00:49] This is the true test of your character.
[00:59] [music]
[01:01] Well, all right plot heads, let's get into it.
[01:02] Now, for those of you who are new here, I'm Brian.
[01:04] I've spent over a decade in Hollywood working in creative development, reading thousands of scripts, coaching hundreds of writers.
[01:12] Now, as a fun fact, my first YouTube video ever was a Pokémon comedic spoof I made when I was 10 years old.
[01:16] Now, do not ask for the link, just know that it's out there somewhere.
[01:20] Now, if you have been following this Character Comes Alive chapter, we've spent a lot of time building the internal architecture of a character, basically the character chain.
[01:28] And I got a ton of comments after some of the recent videos where people wanted to go deeper into behavior specifically.
[01:33] What is a character actually supposed to do?
[01:35] What about when the pressure hits?
[01:36] What do they try when things stop going their way?
[01:38] And I absolutely love that question, which is why we're making this video.
[01:41] Because here's the thing, there is that classic saying, I'm sure you've been told before, action speak louder than words.
[01:48] And I think that is just as true for characters as it is for people.
[01:49] Because you can build an incredibly rich internal world for a character.
[01:54] But the thing is, the audience will not know until a character has been put in real circumstances and are forced to act.
[02:02] Until then, we're just taking your word for it.
[02:04] And this gets me thinking about a really fascinating movie called Force Majeure.
[02:07] If you haven't seen it, I would definitely recommend it because it's genuinely one of the most fascinating films I've seen.
[02:11] I'll give you the quick about it.
[02:12] Basically, an avalanche starts heading towards a family at a ski resort, and then it just happens to stop.
[02:17] Nobody gets hurt, but in those few moments where everyone thought it might be the end, we saw exactly who each person was.
[02:24] It's who they actually were when it counted.
[02:26] And I find it so remarkable that a moment of pressure, where nothing actually happens, creates more drama in everything that follows than the avalanche itself ever could.
[02:36] I mean, let's think about some of those big moments where a character defines himself.
[02:39] I mean, you have Tony Stark who only becomes someone we truly know the moment the cave strips everything away from him.
[02:44] Or Elizabeth Bennet, when she receives Darcy's letter and it forces her to question the sharpest thing she has, her own judgment.
[02:50] Or, as a final example, what about Miles Morales, who only becomes Spider-Man when he stops trying to be everyone else's version of it and takes that leap himself.
[02:58] You see, each of those is a test.
[03:02] [music]
[03:03] And that is the moment we actually meet them and they meet themself.
[03:06] And on the flip side of this is something that probably comes from a good place.
[03:08] If it really does.
[03:10] Basically, it's the character is completely protected.
[03:13] Basically, the road clears, the person cooperates, the door opens right on time.
[03:17] But, in a story, it means the character never truly gets tested.
[03:21] And what you end up with is a character you only ever see on their good days.
[03:25] And a character you only see on a good day, you really don't know at all.
[03:29] So, what does this actually look like when you write it on purpose?
[03:30] It's what I call the tree and bridge test, and it'll make more sense soon.
[03:36] And by the end of the video, you're going to be able to test it on your own characters.
[03:38] So, let's get into it.
[03:39] So, let's take a moment.
[03:41] I want each of you to think about a character for a second.
[03:42] They have a destination, their motivation, something they want, and they have a way they're used to going after it.
[03:47] Now, everything we built in the character chain is active right now and pushing forward.
[03:51] And then the road stops.
[03:54] Now look, you guys know I love to use analogies to explain things.
[03:57] I mean, for this section I considered going with a GPS metaphor.
[04:01] I even thought about using shoots and
[04:02] Ladders for a minute.
[04:04] But I kept coming back to this one because I think it does the job better than anything else I've tried.
[04:08] And it's something I actually use with writers I work with.
[04:09] Basically, think of it like your character is driving the story.
[04:12] They know exactly where they're going and then a tree falls across the road.
[04:16] The road that they need to take to get where they want to go.
[04:19] Now this is the first part of the tree in bridge test.
[04:22] So the question becomes, what do they do now?
[04:23] I mean, what would your character do?
[04:25] Do they turn around and go home?
[04:27] Do they get out of the car and try to move it themselves?
[04:30] Do they try to go off-road?
[04:32] Do they sit there and wait for someone to come help?
[04:33] You going to cry in the car?
[04:35] Because that answer, that specific, immediate, only this person answer tells you more about who your character actually is than almost anything else you can put on the page.
[04:43] Because what they try first is basically their default behavior.
[04:47] It is an instinct.
[04:50] It is the move their whole history built them for.
[04:51] The key though as a writer is to figure out what are the right trees to knock down because this is where plot and character interact.
[04:57] So let's figure out how you find the right tree for your character.
[05:00] Because the key to really
[05:03] Level up your writing is not just any obstacle.
[05:04] It's an obstacle that specifically counteracts what they're good at.
[05:09] So think about it this way.
[05:11] What does your character do really well?
[05:13] What is the skill or tactic or way of operating that has always gotten them through?
[05:18] That is what the right tree has to take off the table.
[05:20] If your character is brilliant at charming people, the right tree puts them in a room where charm doesn't work.
[05:26] If they are brilliant at going unnoticed, the right tree forces them to be seen.
[05:31] If they solve everything with logic, the right tree gives them a problem that simply cannot be solved with logic.
[05:35] So the obstacle has to basically target the thing the character is best at because that is the only thing that will force them somewhere genuinely new.
[05:43] And here's a really practical way to map this out.
[05:48] It's something that I like to call the character tactic ladder.
[05:50] And I use this with writers all the time, especially when someone knows their character really well, but freezes the moment a scene gets difficult.
[05:56] I mentioned it in a previous video, but basically use your when then statement.
[06:00] Basically, when my character hits this resistance, then.
[06:04] They blank.
[06:06] And you keep escalating that like a ladder.
[06:08] So basically, you're looking at if that doesn't work, what do they do next?
[06:12] If that doesn't work, what's after that?
[06:13] Essentially, whatever comes out first is the default.
[06:15] The move they trust before the story starts taking away options.
[06:19] Keep going as high as you can until things start to get difficult.
[06:22] Because here's the thing I find so fascinating about this.
[06:23] Most writers fill in that first rung really easily.
[06:26] The second one maybe too.
[06:27] By the third or fourth, that's where the story and your character gets interesting.
[06:31] That's where you start finding things about this character you didn't even know were there.
[06:36] Now just to drive this point home, let's talk about Shrek.
[06:37] And look, I know I know, we've already talked about Shrek before, but here's the thing.
[06:43] He's just so perfect for this that I cannot help myself.
[06:45] A giant green ogre who lives alone in a swamp by choice.
[06:49] His default behavior is to push people away.
[06:52] This is the part where you run away.
[06:55] So rung one, he intimidates.
[06:58] He might roar, threaten, act like the monster everyone expects.
[07:00] And for most of his life, that works great.
[07:01] People will flee, the swamp stays his, problem.
[07:05] Solved.
[07:07] But then Donkey shows up and just absolutely refuses to be intimidated.
[07:10] So then in rung two, what does he do?
[07:11] He insults and dismisses.
[07:13] He tries sarcasm, cruelty.
[07:16] He tries to make it clear that he's not interested.
[07:17] But Donkey is the perfect foil to this.
[07:19] He simply does not care.
[07:21] So then you get to rung three.
[07:23] He retreats physically.
[07:23] To stop engaging, hole up his house.
[07:26] And as the story progresses, that starts to change.
[07:28] Because in addition to Donkey, along comes Fiona who genuinely doesn't react to him the same way other people do.
[07:32] And then you get to that scene where everything cracks open.
[07:33] We finally see the belief underneath every rung.
[07:37] It's the world that seems to have a problem with me.
[07:39] That is the wound.
[07:41] That is what he's protecting.
[07:41] And that's where all this behavior came from.
[07:45] And once we see that truth, every rung of the ladder starts to make complete sense.
[07:49] So, with your stories, you can use this for a whole arc or for a single scene.
[07:52] Basically, the same tools, but it can be used at different scales.
[07:53] Now, the tree in the road is essential, especially for plot advancement and revealing your character.
[07:59] It forces a response.
[08:01] It reveals behavior.
[08:03] That's why we're going to go to the other part, the bridge, because the bridge does something.
[08:06] Deeper.
[08:06] It tests the belief underneath the behavior.
[08:08] And the lion that they may have to cross.
[08:10] Well, all right, potheads, I just want to say a quick thank you.
[08:13] We are slowly winding down Character Comes Alive and building up towards our next chapter, When Characters Collide.
[08:18] We're talking ensembles, chemistry, romance, rivalries, all that good stuff.
[08:23] So, make sure you're subscribed so you don't miss a thing.
[08:27] So, now it's time for the true test of a character.
[08:29] Because here's where we take that analogy one step further.
[08:31] Your character can see their destination.
[08:33] They know exactly where they need to go.
[08:34] They just have to get to the other side of the river.
[08:38] Unfortunately, the bridge collapses.
[08:39] Now, this is not just a tree in the road anymore, because there's no variation of the same move that gets you through that.
[08:46] So, basically, your character has to reach for something they have never reached for or faced before.
[08:50] The moments that I'm talking about, the ones that stay with us, are the ones that answer the question the whole story has been quietly asking.
[08:56] And that's what I call the bridge moments.
[08:58] Who are they going to be on the other side?
[09:00] How do you find the bridge moment for your character?
[09:02] Well, there are two things I think about, and it
[09:07] Goes back to our character chain.
[09:09] The first is interpretation.
[09:11] And what I mean by that is every character has a belief they have been living by, something they have decided about how the world works, about how they perceive themself, about what they deserve, about what is possible for them.
[09:21] But, the bridge creates a situation the belief simply cannot handle or has to reevaluate.
[09:26] So, let's think about Joy from Inside Out.
[09:28] And honestly, Inside Out literally turned my own emotions inside out.
[09:32] We talked about this.
[09:33] But, we're not doing that today.
[09:34] Joy's whole existence is built around one belief.
[09:36] If Riley stays happy, everything will be okay.
[09:39] That is her interpretation of her job, her identity, the world.
[09:41] She is basically running around the whole movie like a very enthusiastic manager trying to keep everything on track.
[09:48] And then the story gives her sadness as her only companion on the most important journey she's ever taken.
[09:54] Because sadness is one thing Joy's belief system has absolutely no room for.
[09:58] And watch what Joy does.
[10:01] She tries to manage it.
[10:04] She tries to contain it, work around it, keep it from touching anything important.
[10:05] And it keeps faltering for her.
[10:07] So the bridge for Joy is not just a.
[10:09] Hard situation.
[10:12] It's a situation her understanding of the world cannot absorb.
[10:15] And in the final moment she finally sits down and accepts sadness.
[10:17] That is Joy discovering something she did not know she was missing.
[10:22] That is what an interpretation bridge does.
[10:24] It does not just block the road, it asks the character whether the story they have been telling themselves is actually true.
[10:28] Now there's a second bridge, too.
[10:31] And that one has to do with the boundary, the line a character draws around their own identity, the thing that they would not cross, their most inner part of themself.
[10:38] And the bridge will put them right up against it as a genuine necessity.
[10:42] Basically the story creates a situation where their boundary is the only door left, they just have to cross it and break it.
[10:48] I think one of the clearest examples of this is Batman in The Dark Knight.
[10:52] As we all know, Batman does not kill.
[10:55] And the Joker spends the entire film trying to prove that this line is not real.
[10:58] That under enough pressure, everyone becomes the same.
[11:01] He rigs two ferries with explosives.
[11:03] One with civilians and one with prisoners.
[11:05] Gives each boat the detonator to the other and says if neither side acts by midnight,
[11:11] He blows them both up.
[11:13] The whole thing is designed to punch holes in Batman's code.
[11:15] [music]
[11:15] That it will break when it costs enough.
[11:18] And Batman manages to hold strong.
[11:21] And that is the ultimate test of his character.
[11:23] And that's why it has so much to do with redemption arcs and corruption arcs and boundaries that we talked about.
[11:28] Because if it's truly powerful, it will either ultimately reinforce the character or break them.
[11:33] So, now let's get practical with it.
[11:35] Let's start with a fresh character and run them through this test.
[11:37] Now, if you have been following this chapter, you know we built an accountant named Owen to walk through a corruption arc.
[11:43] So, today let's talk about a detective named Mara.
[11:47] Now, Mara is one of the best in the department.
[11:49] She has a perfect record, the kind of detective criminals hate seeing on a case file because it means the clock is basically ran out.
[11:54] And the reason she's so good is, you know, yeah, she's smart.
[12:00] But she has a specific method.
[12:03] She reads people, follows evidence, controls the room, applies pressure, and lets the truth trap the criminal.
[12:07] That's how she wins.
[12:09] She plays it by the book and plays.
[12:11] It well.
[12:13] But here's the thing underneath the method that matters even more.
[12:15] She has a line.
[12:18] She does not plant evidence, she does not force confessions, she does not break the law just because she knows someone is guilty.
[12:23] Because to her, that's the whole point.
[12:25] If the process breaks, justice stops being justice.
[12:28] So, before we even put a case in front of her, we already know what we're going to be testing.
[12:32] So, what would that look like for a clean path for her?
[12:35] She gets the case, studies the evidence, spots the contradiction, presses the suspect in the right way, closes the file.
[12:42] Very satisfying, but very boring.
[12:45] That is not a story.
[12:46] Because what did that actually reveal?
[12:47] Mostly just that she's good.
[12:49] And we already knew that.
[12:51] A clean win confirms a reputation, but it does not tell us what happens when the thing that made her great stops working.
[12:57] So, now we build the case to push back.
[12:59] So, let's have a new criminal.
[13:01] And this new criminal understands her method.
[13:03] They know what evidence she needs, what procedure she follows, what lines she will not cross.
[13:08] So, every time she makes the correct move, the case slips sideways.
[13:11] The witness has been coached.
[13:14] The evidence has been staged.
[13:15] The lab results come back almost too clean, like someone gift-wrapped the clue and left it there just to make her trust the wrong thing.
[13:21] [music]
[13:22] And now this character test is working.
[13:24] So, now what does she do?
[13:25] Well, let's think about that tactic ladder.
[13:27] She maybe goes back to the file, rebuilds the timelines, tightens the questions, pushes harder in the interrogation room.
[13:33] We already know this is going nowhere.
[13:35] So, now when she continues to run into different trees blocking her every path, the board is going to get messier.
[13:41] The case is going nowhere.
[13:42] And it's all living inside her head.
[13:45] And now we are learning something.
[13:47] Now for the bridge part, it has to go after something deeper than the method.
[13:51] It has to go after what the method means to her.
[13:52] So, if the criminal really knows who she is, well, you can guess what they might try.
[13:56] They will try to make her code feel like the reason the case is losing, that people are getting hurt.
[14:02] Maybe they send her proof that she cannot legally use.
[14:05] Maybe she knows where the next victim is, but the only way to act on it is to lie about how she found out.
[14:10] Maybe she can get the search, the confession, save, but only by creating a cleaner story on paper than
[14:15] The one that actually happened.
[14:17] And this is the part that matters because these are boundaries that are being tested.
[14:22] Will she go against her classic pursuit of justice?
[14:23] Or will she give in to the criminal's manipulation?
[14:27] Cuz that right there is when the bridge goes out.
[14:29] She reveals herself to us and lets us know the audience who are you really?
[14:34] Well, all right plot heads, we did it.
[14:36] We put our characters to the test.
[14:38] Now, here is something I keep coming back to.
[14:41] We spend so much time building who a character is.
[14:46] Their history, their interpretation, their motivation, the line they won't cross.
[14:50] And all of that work matters.
[14:52] That's why we started there.
[14:54] But here's the thing, a foundation only proves itself when something tests it.
[14:58] Something that stories know best.
[15:00] So, build towards that moment.
[15:02] Give the character the test they deserve and let their true colors shine through.
[15:06] And once again, I'm Brian, this is Plot Luck, and if you've ever loved a story, felt let down by one, or dreamed of telling your own, pull up a chair, hit subscribe, and let's stir the plot.
[15:16] Together.
[15:20] Mhm.
[15:28] [music]
[15:33] Mhm.