One Weird Question I Ask Myself About Every Character I Write

Whether you’re working on a screenplay, novel or short story, “the Bus Test” will help you develop characters who feel authentic and complex.

Next week, Bill Gullo joins us to lead Summer Screenwriting Boot Camp: Six Weeks to a “Vomit Draft.” This class is intended for journalists, essayists or other writers who have always wanted to try their hand at a screenplay. In six two-hour sessions, Bill will share his tips and tools for outlining and plotting, structure, theme, cinematic flair and more. Today, we asked Bill to share a little insight into how he thinks about developing characters for the screen.

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I like to find the most simple, jargon-free approach to talking about screenwriting. Over the years, that’s led to me invent a number of new ways to think and talk about storytelling. Take character development for example; there’s no shortage of “character checklists” online that will have you answering questions about your character’s childhood, their hobbies, their jobs and their dreams. Knowing all this is helpful, but the idea of a checklist leaves me feeling cold, and I imagine I’m not the only writer who feels that way. When I create characters, I compose monologues for them, I sketch them (even though I can’t draw) and I imagine how they’d react in random but familiar situations.

The Bus Test

To help writers think about their characters, I invented The Bus Test, based on irrefutable scientific research that proves different people react differently when someone steps on their foot while riding the bus. Think about it: some people will simply smile and acknowledge the accident; others will keep their eyes on their phone while stewing inside; some will scowl; and, insanely, when some people have their foot trod upon, they will apologize.

Personally, I love this apologetic person because they have Somewhere To Go in your story. I want that person to be apologizing at the beginning of the story and throwing punches (or some metaphorical equivalent) later on. That way, the character changes, which is essential.

It’s one small question that gets to the heart of what type of person your character is, what they want, and where they’re going.

Do you know how your characters would react on The Bus Test?

Characters Are Walking Wants

I can’t claim ownership of this phrase, but I love it because it perfectly highlights the importance of Tangible Wants in a story. No matter how complex your character may be, you need to know what they want within the timeframe of this story. Your script isn’t their entire life—it’s a specific window in time—and what they want in that window drives the narrative.

In Little Miss Sunshine, Olive WANTS to win the Little Miss Sunshine pageant. That single Want triggers the chaotic road trip that forces each family member to confront their own Wants, Hopes, and Dreams. It’s a great example of how identifying ALL of your characters’ Wants can unlock not only character arc but plot as well.

If your script is lucky enough to make it to production, the actors will absolutely want to know their objective in each scene. I consider it my job—not the director’s— to make that clear.

Whether you’re writing a novel, a play or a short story, your work will benefit from exploring your characters’ wants. To zero in on that, it is definitely helpful to ask those questions you see on checklists, like: What is their unfulfilled dream? When we meet them, what are they running from and what are they running toward?

But I also think it’s fun and productive to ask more specific, oddball questions like The Bus Test to really challenge yourself to think about who your character is.

When you ask questions like this, you’ll find you know your character—and how they’ll react in specific situations—in a whole new way.

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Ready to write your story? Sign up now to join Bill Gullo for Summer Screenwriting Boot Camp: Six Weeks to a Vomit Draft. This fun, fast-paced class will help you get moving fast and finish a draft of your screenplay this summer.

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