Screenwriter’s Almanac: Knowing Yourself So You Can Know Your Characters
Story as Life! And it's not just your characters' lives we're talking about here.
I am currently on a road trip across the country, heading back to my cute little Wisconsin hometown. It’s muggy. It’s hot. But it’s the summer in the Midwest and I love every bit of it (and I miss my cats), so I’m excited to get back home. In the meantime, I’m eager to share today’s Almanac article because it’s directly related to so much that I have experienced over the past couple months. Knowing myself. Life is a constant experience of growing and just figuring our shit out, and my time in Los Angeles over the past couple months has really helped me get that much closer to knowing myself. I also know that it’s going to make me an even better writer and coach.
We writers love to say we “create characters.” It makes us sound like gods in our own universes. And we are in a lot of ways, but here’s the truth: we don’t CREATE them out of nowhere. We pull them out from somewhere deep within us. They’re reflections of us - our fears, hopes, contradictions, unhealed wounds, secret joys.
If you want to write authentic characters, you have to be willing to know yourself.
It’s funny, especially since I’ll slightly call myself out a little, but the craft books and consultants will tell you to outline your plot, to fix your midpoint, to nail your act breaks. And they’re right. But what they tend to skip over is the single, stubborn question that fuels all of it:
Why does this matter to you?
Because until you can answer that, your story’s emotional truth will stay locked up behind nifty little structure and nice dialogue.
Personal Development Isn’t Just for Life Coaches
I’ve been thinking a lot about this as I prepare to expand The Story Farm into Story as Life Coaching (and I need to come up with a better name). Not because I want to abandon screenwriting consulting - not at all - but because I know these two things are the same work.
When I help writers develop a script, I’m really helping them get clear about:
What they believe.
What they want to say.
How they see the world.
Because your story’s heart is your heart. Your Main Character’s flaw? More often than not, there’s a connection to your own. Your character’s arc? Also even just a slight reflection of yours, too.
Let’s Look at the Movies
If you don’t believe me, look at the writers who let their own questions, wounds, and contradictions drive their work:
The Truman Show asks: How do you know if the world you’re living in is real? It’s about waking up from a comfortable lie. The screenwriter, Andrew Niccol, once said he was fascinated by the manipulation of media. That fear bled into every page.
Arrival isn’t just about aliens. It’s about grief, and the choice to love knowing it will hurt. Eric Heisserer adapted Ted Chiang’s story in a way that discussed the cost of communication, and the heartbreak of being understood too late.
Moana might seem like a simple animated adventure about voyaging and demigods, but at its core it asks: Who am I meant to be, really? It’s about legacy, culture, voice, and the courage to listen to the call that no one else hears. It’s personal. The creators poured their own questions of heritage, belonging, and responsibility into that journey.
These scripts didn’t come from “What’s selling right now?” They came from What keeps me up at night?
Your Stories Start with You
I know, I know. “But Max, I’m not writing a philosophical sci-fi drama or a satirical horror film about pretentious food culture.”
Doesn’t matter.
Your rom-com. Your thriller. Your coming-of-age indie. All of them need to be grounded in something true about you.
What do you fear and what false identity have you been wearing?
What lie do you keep telling yourself?
What do you want so badly you’re scared to admit it?
Where did you betray yourself and what would it take to forgive that?
These are only SOME of the questions we can ask of ourselves, but it’s a good start. Because until you know the answers to those questions, your characters will keep feeling like sketches instead of real people.
A Little Preview of What’s Coming
This is why I’m developing a personal development arm of The Story Farm. It’s still in its infancy, but if you’re curious about it, email me!
Writing isn’t just about scripts and hook-y stories that make you a millionaire. It’s about your life. It’s about other’s lives. It’s about growth.
And the better you know yourself, the better you can serve your audience and help THEM grow. The more honest you are about your own contradictions, the more permission you give readers (and viewers) to explore theirs.
Your job as a writer is to entertain, yes, but it’s also about connecting.
And connection doesn’t come from knowing all the rules. It comes from knowing yourself.
“You can’t use up creativity. The more you use, the more you have.”
— Maya Angelou
And the more you know yourself, the more honest, and compelling, your creativity becomes.
Some Final Gentle Thoughts
So this weekend, take a break from hammering away at Final Draft. Close the laptop. Pick up a notebook. And ask:
Why does this story matter to me?
What is it really about?
And what does that say about me?
The answer isn’t just for you. It’s for the person who will one day read or watch your work and say: I thought I was the only one.
If you’re curious about my personal development consulting and coaching, want help rewriting your script, or just want to talk shop about screenwriting, personal growth, and storytelling, join us at the Story Farm community on Circle.so
👉 https://thestoryfarm.circle.so/c/forum/
Or just hit reply and let’s chat.
Until next time! Have a great weekend, everybody.
—Max Timm & The Story Farm