Only a small part of an iceberg rises above water. The rest is an unseen mountain below.
Creating characters works the same way. The tip of the Character Iceberg is what the audience sees and hears — but everything beneath the surface is what the writer must know. Dialogue and action should only hint at the larger personality core within. The iceberg is yours. The audience only sees the tip.
Ask the Right Questions
In As Good As It Gets, Jack Nicholson plays Melvin Udall — a misanthropic, obsessive-compulsive novelist who avoids sidewalk cracks, eats at the same table every day, and brings his own plastic utensils to the restaurant. We recognize the OCD. But why the utensils? Why a fresh bar of soap every time he washes his hands? The answer is mysophobia — a pathological fear of contamination and germs. That deeper layer of Melvin’s iceberg is what writer Mark Andrus used to generate the specific, telling details on the surface.
Creating a character begins with asking questions. Imagine a man who plans to rob a bank. The obvious questions — who, how, what — are just the start. The more interesting question is always why.
In Dog Day Afternoon, Sonny Wortzik and two friends attempt to rob the First Brooklyn Savings Bank. They’re inept, the robbery goes sideways immediately, and the real story emerges only when the heist makes the news: Sonny’s wife arrives — a transgender woman — and reveals that Sonny attempted the robbery to pay for her gender reassignment surgery. He risked his life and his freedom out of love. That’s the iceberg. That’s what makes a character worth knowing.
The more interesting your questions, the richer the backstory you uncover. What was his upbringing like? Has he stolen before? Does he respect authority? The answers produce a character whose actions are not only plausible — they’re inevitable.
Reveal Selectively
The audience sees the effect. The cause is yours to know and theirs to sense.
In Almost Famous, Penny Lane rushes into a hotel room and recites a flight attendant’s introduction verbatim, dropping in a few French words. It tells us she’s flown many times — possibly to France, possibly often. The writer knows her full travel history. The audience only gets the tip. But that tip opens a door: she moves constantly. What is she running from?
Know Your Characters Completely
You must know your characters down to their iceberg cores — backstory, psychology, personality — because fully realized characters won’t let you force them into implausible situations or unbelievable dialogue.
Answer every question, from “what’s his hair color” to “what’s her handwriting like.” The more you know, the more specific and alive the surface details become.
Listen to the inner voices of your characters. When you do, the writing rings true.