Building Characters from Conflict & Comedy

By Galylea, age 17

It was finally March 9th! I had been waiting for this day for weeks! As an aspiring screenwriter, I was eager to bring my notebook along and take notes at the WriteGirl Character & Dialogue Workshop! Not to mention, I was really excited to drive down Sunset Blvd and arrive at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences’s Linwood Dunn Theater where the workshop was being held! 

Once I got through the long hallway, with walls decorated with photos from classic, game-changing films, we were all settled in, and separated into smaller groups. In these groups, we were able to have personal discussions with some of the guest screenwriters, which included, Jane Anderson, Barbara Benedek, Heather Hearne, Liz Kruger, Grainne Godfree, Josann McGibbon, Lisa McQuillan, Diane Ruggiero-Wright, Clare Sera, Susan Streitfeld, Erika Green Swafford, and Celeste Vasquez! I couldn’t believe that all of these amazing women had come to the workshop to share their wisdom and experiences to help young writers like me see that it’s best when we create characters that are birthed from our own personal lives, ideas and experiences. 

Throughout the workshop, we focused on what makes a great monologue, and how to develop characters within the worlds of conflict and comedy. Something really important I learned when writing a monologue is to consider what audience you’re addressing, include surprise to change the monologue’s direction and to think of the point of view. This all leads to noting that a monologue is supposed to be a scene that can’t be expressed in a normal situation, therefore allowing much more creativity, which may otherwise be discarded in “normal” scene writing. 

After spending the majority of the day writing our own scenes, actively working with our mentors, and getting personal consults with professional screenwriters, we got to submit our own pieces! The selected pieces were performed at the end of the day showcase, which was performed by Hollywood actors!

This workshop was such an amazing experience and it motivated me to get back home and continue writing my own script using the knowledge I had gained from the amazing women at the workshop!