A Stanford Professor Breaks Down Characterization and Story

When I'm watching these "masterclasses," I like to just break down all the stuff inside them.

At the top, Powers dives into the tenets of story,

Every story needs an engine, and that engine is conflict. Powers breaks it down into three basic types you can build your entire script around:

1. People vs. People: The classic hero vs. villain, rival vs. rival. Think The Social Network.
2. People vs. Themselves: Your hero is their own worst enemy. Their internal flaws are the main obstacle. Think Good Will Hunting.
3. People vs. Environment: This is your hero against a force of nature, a broken system, or even the planet itself. It used to be old-school, but now it’s back in a big way with sci-fi and eco-thrillers. Think Children of Men or Avatar.

Knowing your central conflict is like having a compass for your script. It defines your logline and keeps your story focused.

From there, you can build characters out that would be in this world and who make sense in this story.

The Character Onion: Peeling Back the Layers

You know, Shrek said he was an onion like 25 years ago, and I don't think he got as much credit as this Stanford guy. But I digress.

Powers wants to make an unforgettable character by treating them like onions. The outer layers are the surface-level things—how your character dresses, the car they drive, their witty dialogue. But the real magic is in the core. What does your character truly value above all else? Family? Justice? Survival?

The best scenes, Powers explains, are when you put your character in a situation where they have to choose between two of their core values. You force them into an impossible choice. That’s where the outer layers get peeled back, and the audience gets to see who your character really is underneath it all.

Finding Your Character's Voice

Ever read a script where everyone sounds the same? That’s because the writer hasn’t found the characters' unique voices.

To do this, you can read stuff aloud or you can try to mimic an actor or someone you want to write for.

Powers suggests:

• Diction (Word Choice): Does your character use simple, direct words or big, academic ones? This alone can tell you everything about their background and personality.
• Syntax (Sentence Structure): Do they speak in long, flowing sentences or short, punchy fragments?

Why "Realistic" Dialogue is Actually Bad Dialogue

Here's a paradox Powers uses that will change how you write: dialogue that feels real is almost never actually realistic.

If you recorded and transcribed a real conversation, it would be a mess of "ums," "ahs," repetition, and dead ends. It would be boring to read.

Powers argues that dialogue in a story is a tool. It’s highly stylized to do a specific job—reveal character, advance the plot, and build tension. Every line has a purpose. It’s an illusion of real speech, and that illusion is way more powerful than the real thing.

I actually think this is probably true, but realistic dialogue, to most people, just means keeping stuff not on the nose.

Building Tension That Grips Your Audience

One of the core things about storytelling is that you have to have tension. No one wants to watch the village of the happy people.

Powers outlines a simple, four-part map for your story's structure that works just as well for a two-hour movie as it does for a 400-page novel:

1. The Hook: Your opening scene. Grab the audience and don't let go.
2. The Exposition: Lay the groundwork. Who are these people? What's the world? Do it quickly and get back to the action.
3. The Rising Action: This is most of your Act Two. You systematically build suspense, raise the stakes, and throw obstacles at your hero.
4. The Climax: The explosive peak where everything comes to a head.

After that, you have the denouement, or the "untying," which is your resolution.

It's a classic structure because it works. It’s a roadmap for the audience's emotional journey.

We follow this in screenwriting as well. The truth is, there are lots of structural paradigms that work - the reason most people don't succeed is that they just don't finish stuff. That's maybe more important than anything you can learn in this video. If you just sit, write, and finish, you will get better over time.

Summing It All Up

At the end of the day, this interview is a masterclass in the architecture of storytelling. It reminds you that writing isn’t some mystical art; it’s a craft.

Do the work and you will be rewarded.

By understanding these core principles—from the engine of conflict to the artifice of dialogue—you can stop staring at a blank page and start building a story that truly connects.