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The first impression your character makes

One of the most common notes writers get on their screenplays is, “All the characters sound the same.”

And this one can feel frustrating because — as the writer — you know the characters are different in your mind. But somehow, on the page, they blur together.

A typical first instinct is to try and differentiate characters by tweaking how they speak — maybe one curses more, another uses formal language, another says “dude” a lot. This might help a little, but it often doesn't get to the root of the problem.

Because it's not just what characters say that makes them distinct. It's why they say it.

In other words, it's who they are underneath the dialogue. How they think, how they see the world, how they approach problems. Their voice on the page should be a byproduct of their character.

And sometimes, in an effort to make a character distinct, writers throw more and more traits at them, stacking backstory, quirks, personality traits, etc. But then the end result is muddled. The character has no distinct shape, because there's no central idea organizing all those scattered pieces.

So today, let's talk about a strategy that gives you a clearer starting point: how to create a strong dominant impression of a character, and use that impression as a foundation for everything else.

Start with a dominant impression

When we're first introduced to a character, we don't need to know everything about them.

People contain multitudes. So trying to convey a character's entire personality right away can have the opposite effect from what you're going for. If we get too many competing pieces of information at once, the character is harder to grasp, not easier.

What we really need is a handle. A clear, specific impression that gives the character a shape in our minds.

This is where the writing teacher Dwight Swain's idea of a “dominant impression” is useful. The idea is that a character can make a particular overall impression on the audience — something that gives us a sense of who this person is.

That dominant impression might come through in the character's language, mannerisms, attitude, clothing, or anything else you think of. But the goal isn't to tell us everything about the character. It's to create an impression that feels distinct and coherent, with all those individual details contributing to the same overall sense of who this person is.

Think about meeting someone at a party.

You might leave thinking, She's the intense one.

Or:

He's the guy who makes everything a joke.

Or:

That's the woman who will not stop talking about her divorce.

You don't know everything about these people. But you have a strong enough impression of them to recognize and remember them.

That's what you're trying to create on the page.

A character doesn't need to be explained in full when we meet them. They need to be clearly defined enough to leave an impression.

And as the story unfolds, that impression can evolve.

Maybe the “intense one” turns out to be deeply insecure. Maybe the guy who makes everything a joke is terrified of being taken seriously. Maybe the woman who won't stop talking about her divorce is actually hiding something much more painful.

Those additional dimensions are what make a character feel human. But they work better when there's something solid underneath them — an initial impression that gives us something specific to hold onto while we discover the rest.

Because as the story unfolds, our understanding of that character should absolutely become more complex and layered. We learn more about them. We see different facets of their personality. We discover contradictions, vulnerabilities, desires, fears, and unexpected qualities. The character gets deeper over time.

But initially, clarity is more useful. The reader needs to know: Who is this person? What's important to know about them? What makes them distinct and different from the other people in this story?

Find your character's dominant impression

So how do you come up with a character's dominant impression?

Swain suggests combining an adjective and a noun of vocation. But allowing yourself any descriptive noun can be just as useful.

Don't worry about finding the perfect description. With this combination, you're simply aiming to tell us something about how the character shows up, and some context for who they are. You're looking for a combination that gives you a clear impression — and, ideally, makes you a little curious.

Think cynical romantic, protective rebel, or idealistic shark.

The magic of this exercise is that the two words don't have to tell us everything. They just have to give us a starting point, something that helps us envision the character and begin to understand how they move through the world.

Once you have that handle, you can start building outward.

And that starting point can help you make more specific choices on the page.

If your character is a cynical romantic, how might that influence what they notice about someone they're attracted to? What would they say when a friend starts gushing about a new relationship? How might they respond when someone offers them a sincere compliment?

If your character is a protective rebel, how might they react when someone tells them what to do? What happens when someone they care about is in trouble? What kinds of rules are they willing to break?

The point is to give yourself a clear idea of who this person is, so their choices, behavior, and voice emerge from a coherent understanding of the character.

That's more effective than trying to make one character sound different from another by sprinkling in a few extra curses, catchphrases, or verbal quirks.

Let the character deepen

This is especially useful when you're introducing your protagonist, because they're the character the audience needs to understand most.

But that doesn't mean we need to know everything about them upfront.

In fact, trying to show all their layers too soon can have the opposite effect: the character becomes murky, inconsistent, or hard to track.

Instead, especially in those first few scenes, the goal is clarity.

You want the audience to know:

• This is who we're following.
• This is how they move through the world.
• This is the kind of person they are.

This isn't about reducing them to a cliché, but about giving the audience a strong initial impression — something specific enough to hold onto as the story begins.

And that signals to the audience what’s most important to know about this character in the context of this story.

Once that foundation is established, you can start adding dimension. You can subvert expectations. Complicate the character. Reveal contradictions. Peel back the layers.

In fact, a strong initial impression gives you something to play against. When the seemingly fearless character reveals a private fear, or the charming character does something unexpectedly cruel, the contrast can be more revealing than if we'd never formed a clear impression in the first place.

So don't think of a dominant impression as a complete definition of your character. Think of it as the starting point for our understanding of them.

You can begin with one clear, coherent impression and let the story reveal everything that makes that person more complicated.

Give us something to hold onto

You don't have to know everything about a character to start writing them well.

And you don't have to communicate everything you know to the audience the moment they meet that character.

Instead, ask yourself:

What's the dominant impression I want to create?

What do I want the reader to understand about this person when we first meet them? What can I show them that will give this character a clear shape in their minds?

A strong dominant impression doesn't just help the reader understand the character. It can help you understand them, too.

Start with the handle. Let that initial impression inform how your character speaks, how they move, what they notice, and how they respond to the world. Then deepen them, layer by layer, as the story unfolds.

Until next time,

Naomi