Years ago, when one of the writers groups I belong to met at the Calderwood Pavilion in the South End in Boston, we’d go out for drinks after our meetings. On one such night, we went to Coda. There was a guy at the writers group that night that was friends with the person who was running our group at the time. I’d never seen him before, and I’ve never seen him since.
Out at the bar, while we were having drinks, he said something very simple and interesting about character. And it was this: “A character’s attitude stays the same until something changes it.” That’s it.
There’s that cause and effect again.
And here’s what I’ll add: If that thing that causes the character’s attitude to change happens off screen or off stage or not on the page, then it might be confusing to the audience or reader. And even if it isn’t confusing, generally, as viewers or readers, we like to see what causes a character’s attitude to change. That’s where the fun is.
Charlie Lyons Writes 