The Character Biography

Often if you read interviews with famous actors, you will hear them talk about the extensive character biographies that they write in order to get inside of the head of the people they portray. In order to get an idea of exactly how unique your characters are, and in which ways they will react differently from another person in their situation, there are few techniques as effective as to write a biography.

If you fuse your biography with a good idea for a plot, the bio will give you excellent ideas on where to take the story, how to escalate events, and how your story will need to end in order to maximize the exploration of your main character's arc.

What many writers forget is that every moment in the present is infused with the residue of the past. Without a solid understanding of where your character has come from and who they were before the story began, how can you expect to fully explore where they are going and who they are becoming?

In "As Good As It Gets," the three main characters are all clearly defined by their pasts:

• Melvin Udall is a famous author who also happens to be obsessive-compulsive. His outlook on humanity is fairly sour, as the unusual requirements that his mental illness places on his interactions with others has taught him to expect the worst from people. He needs others to do certain things in a specific way for him to feel comfortable, and when they can't or won't, he feels frustrated.
• Carol Connelly is fairly patient and very loving, as she has dealt for years with her son's debilitating illness. She has put her life, career plans, and romantic relationships on hold because of her son, and is feeling life pass her by.
• Simon Bishop is a moderately successful painter. His parents (specifically his father) are cold and distant, because they cannot accept his homosexuality. His shallow, partying lifestyle has allowed him to avoid any serious self-examination for years.

Here you have a solid cast of characters with built-in problems that have dogged them for years. The film thus involves many of these problems coming to a head because of the special circumstances of the story, so that the characters are finally forced to deal with old issues. Screenwriter James L. Brooks also had a very thorough knowledge of these character's psychologies, so that as the story developed, they would react in unexpected but logical ways. Indeed, "unexpected logic" is a phrase that neatly sums up what all good storytelling is about.

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