Developing characters
You’re taking a drive out to the country. Whom do you want to ride with you?
Call up some of your favorite people and have them go along for the drive.
Make it an enjoyable journey, not just a destination. The same is true with the
characters in your film. Make them interesting enough that the reader will
want to go with them on a ride, no matter what the destination is. Make them
good company! Give your characters personality.
Your characters should be real and well rounded outside the scope of your
screenplay as well. Does the audience care about these characters? The audience can then see them as no one else in the story sees them — their true
selves are revealed by what they do when they’re alone. Follow them around
in your head and see what they do.
Follow the Law of Threes. If you want to establish a developing relationship in
your story, you need at least three situations where your characters interact.
If a relationship builds too fast, your audience will think it’s contrived (too
convenient). A great example of the Law of Threes is the three brief encounters between Elliott and E.T. in E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial before they befriend
each other. First, Elliott hears something in the shed; then Elliott goes to the
forest; and, finally, Elliott sits outside on a lawn chair in front of the shed
and is approached by E.T. This gradual lead-up to their bond makes it more
acceptable, believable, and effective for the audience