ABSTRACT
Character descriptions in screenplays are inherently short, thumbnail suggestions of age, type, and perhaps a few personality characteristics, but that's generally it. Screenwriters are tasked with trying to create memorable characters that exhibit specific behavior, and that are not cardboard cutouts or cookie cutter clichés. Scripts do not offer the narrative space for voluminous character descriptions and backstories, and as a result, actors and directors often feel disserved by writers with flimsy suggestions of nonspecific characters particularly when there are no clearly defined or premeditated character clues that emerge from scene to scene. Some actors create character timelines that in a more simplistic, linear fashion show seminal events in the life of a character. This allows the actor to have a full snapshot of the character's life experiences that have dictated who the individual has become and why they may act or interact emotionally in a given circumstance within the script.
