As I write this, House of the Dragon (Season 3) is about to wrap up. I purposely wanted to write it before the series finale aired, because it will likely be some climactic thing that they poured all their budget and energy into, and it would change my view of the show or weaken my arguments here.
Because, as I watched the rest of the season, I was just … bored. Barely anything interesting happened. The same discussions kept repeating, in the same rooms, with the same people.
People usually point to pacing or progression first, as reasons for these issues. And, sure, that’s often a good place to start. It baffles me how many writers think that “arguing = conflict” and just repeat the same discussion over and over. It’s like the first rule of writing: every scene should progress the narrative in some way. If you have repeated scenes between two people, the thing they’re talking about should be evolving each time, not just exactly the same until finally something breaks / someone makes a decision.
But I actually wanted to start somewhere else. I wanted to start with character, because I believe—like most writers—that character is most important.
- The story only exists because of the characters. Without them doing things and having different personalities, there is no story or conflict.
- Without characters, nobody cares about this made-up story with made-up problems.
We often talk about characters being one-dimensional. When they have no defining traits, no real personality, nothing to remember them by. They don’t take much action (because actions always reveal character, even if they’re silly or predictable).
What people don’t talk about as often is how to actually solve it. I’ve seen way too many writers (on e.g. YouTube) advice “beginning writers” to fill out these spreadsheets about their characters. What’s their hair color? What’s their favorite band? Where were they born? And this is perhaps the worst thing you could do. We don’t care about a character because we know their hair color or their favorite band!
We care about fictional characters for the same reasons we care about real human beings. Because we want to be around them. Because we have shared experiences. Because we have fond memories of them, making us laugh, playing a sport together, etcetera.
The most powerful pieces of media have made me almost yearn to be with the characters for a little longer. House of the Dragon, like most films and shows these days, does not. Most characters almost make me roll my eyes when they are on screen again. I am waiting and waiting for most of them to die already so we can just focus on the few characters that actually interest me and do interesting stuff.
It doesn’t matter that the characters are well-defined. They have a distinct look, clothing style, hair color, loyalty (Blacks or Greens), role within the small council, etcetera. You could fill out all their properties, infodump lots of details about them, and it would change nothing about how interesting they are or how much we care about them.
Because it’s not fun to be around them.
The characters are always solemn and serious, brooding and silent. They only talk in bedrooms or while dining together, seemingly nowhere else. Just looking at the interactions we get, it seems as if all characters hate each other, hate their own goals, and don’t enjoy anything at all.
Where is the passion? The desire? The fun? The interactions?
Why does the show tell us people care about each other, but does not show them doing anything that resembles caring for each other?
Why does the show try to convince us people are amazing friends or fiercely loyal, yet they are always serious and stressed around each other?
Why should we care about characters fighting to protect their home and family, if we’ve never seen that family be a loving and fun home?
I give House of the Dragon as an example because it’s especially egregious. Almost the entire episode has this gray and solemn look, and lots of lingering shots on really really serious or sad faces, and there is absolutely no joy to be found. Writers use “but they’re family” or “but they’re my wife” as an easy shortcut to communicate “they care so much about each other!” But more often, it just feels like a cheap cop-out, because they never actually show them caring for each other or spending quality time together.
I’ve been missing this richness, this lively detail, in almost everything from the past decade(s).
This season of HotD, there’s only one character I liked and rooted for, and found fun to watch. It’s Aegon. Why?
- Because he has fun interactions with Larys (who is escorting him, in a way). There’s a few actually funny situations/jokes that arise naturally.
- Because we follow them in a variety of day-to-day struggles. Slowly but surely this adds richness, memorable moments, a catalogue of shared experiences with these characters.
- (Because he has an actual character arc, progression with every scene, and satisfying resolution.)
I just wonder why nobody is allowed to have fun in stories. No jokes. No little interactions between characters. Nothing except “the conflict”.
At some point, there seems to have been a movement to make stories as efficient as possible, cutting all the “fat” (with banter, simple daily interactions between friends and family, etcetera). But not only does this create stories that people don’t care about, the “efficiency” they hoped for also is rarely achieved. Mostly because they still hold on to the old structures: episodes that are one hour long, and the climax can only happen at the end. They have to fill that hour, but they can’t have anything meaningful happen before the big climax of course, so … they just repeat the same argument five times. Which is as inefficient as it comes!
The old Game of Thrones was a master of this. Lots of scenes were just fun interactions between people. That’s how we came to love Ned, the Starks, and other characters. Most of all, every scene introduced some new thing about these characters, it wasn’t just rehashing the same joke or the same interaction over and over.
Instead of setting every conversation during dinner, set them while friends are playing a game or doing some task they often do.
Instead of having every conversation be a big argument or main conflict, have some just about minor things. Have them disagree but without getting angry, because they love each other and they can end the conversation with their friend with a nudge and a wink.
This isn’t hard! If you really want, you can write all dialogue to be happening during a dinner in the first draft. When done, go over the script once more and change every conversation to a different location. At work, at play, exploring, solving a daily issue, etcetera.
Playing games in our “free time” is something as old as humanity. In fact, all animals with a sufficiently long lifespan do it too. All our research suggests that people used to have way more free time to play games and do experiments and have hobbies before we invented agriculture, and especially before the industrial age happened. So yes, I don’t think it’s actually unreasonable to ask for a joke once in a while, or to ask for characters playing a game together, even in a “serious high-fantasy adult series”.
But, of course, it’s not just about “humor” or “fun”. I’m missing all other emotions besides solemnity and anger. That’s where richness (and caring about characters) comes from.
Perhaps the emotion I miss most, and the one that should be easiest to incorporate in a plot, is conviction. Stories are nothing but characters with goals trying to attain those goals. To have a goal, you need a certain amount of conviction and motivation, a certain passion or desire for that thing.
Let it show! Let them speak passionately about this grand world they envision or their dream. Let it show, through their actions, how obsessed they are with this goal. Let them be happy (whatever that means for the character) when they achieve a victory.
Instead, whenever some major victory occurs in House of the Dragon, we just get … no reaction. Still sad and brooding. Still solemn. Still the same dark scenes with lots of silence and boring dialogue.
How powerful would it have been to have our big villain with a dragon actually smile and finally accept some invite to play a game, after a victory in the story? How much more impact would that victory have? How much more depth would the character suddenly achieve?
It’s just baffling to me how writers cut out all this richness. (They only add it “accidentally” and are then surprised people like that part the most, like with Aegon.) Do they not understand the idea of contrast? A story can’t be sad if it doesn’t have happy moments to compare that with. A story can’t be “mature” if there are “childish” moments to contrast it with.
I recently watched the movie Across the Spider-Verse and it basically underscores all of this. It’s a movie made by two directors known for their improvisational comedy flicks. That movie is full of jokes, visual jokes, stupid puns, funny situations. At the same time, the movie is full of actual heartfelt moments that mean something. Both of them work because of the contrast. It’s an animated movie that actually works for both kids and adults, like the classic movies used to do. And to top it all off, the entire movie is so colorful, even mixing different styles all the time. Even in our hero’s “darkest moment”, there is color on the screen.
Why does barely any other film or show do this? Why do they actually put in effort to remove the color from the original shots!? Sometimes we get behind the scenes footage, and it’s compared to the film, and I’m always like: “The original looks so much better. The movie version is just a dark gray rectangle that sucks out your soul.”
Even your most badass knight, even your biggest villain, even your most serious or mature character, will do stuff besides the main plot. They’ll have a hobby of sorts, or spend time with family, or play a game, or crack jokes with friends, or have some small unique habits because of their goal/conviction. Show it. That’s what gives a character depth. That’s what makes people care. And the contrast will make people really care when that character is hurt or goes into a big serious battle.
Just write a basic scene where something happens because the plot demands it in draft 1. Then, in draft 2, set it in a different location each time, and try to find one new tidbit to reveal about this character each time. Have them tell one joke. Have them reminisce about one thing with their friend. Have them quickly tuck their kid into bed to show they care. Have them do the dishes while they talk. It doesn’t take a lot of time, but it makes a world of difference in the richness and fun of a story. (If your budget is millions per episode, then you should absolutely be able to accomplish this!)
Actual depth doesn’t come from grandiose speeches or really serious faces or flat-out stating some property of yours. Character depth comes from the tiny, rich, daily life details that are regularly shown or told to the viewer. And most of daily life is about simple tasks, simple ways to fill your time, telling stories or jokes, executing on your habits or small goals. The best way to show that two people are friends, is to show them doing lots of different stuff together and be comfortable doing so. It is not by repeatedly stating “in all the 20 years I’ve known you …” and “I would die for you, my friend!”
Those were my thoughts for today,
Tiamo