Here’s how analyzing real people can help in creating a scripted drama or an unscripted reality show– The Character Types are the same whether applied to celebrity personalities or fictional characters.

I am not particularly a fan of The Bachelor but I was struck by this article on the current season. It’s such an apt description of the Power of Love character. These Character Types are the ultimate seducers.

Sherlock Holmes is indeed a Power of Reason character– Everything can be explained/deduced rationally and logically. “It’s elementary, my dear Watson.”

Lots of controversy has been brewing around the new teen drama “Skins” on MTV. I think the problem here is a lack of good storytelling. The three crucial elements of any good story is 1) want, 2) need and 3) price. Dramas that don’t work most often don’t attach a price to the choices a character makes.

Mad Men won 2010 Emmy Awards for Outstanding Drama Series and Outstanding Writing in a Drama Series. The show is about the world of advertising; a world of illusion, sleight of hand and outright deception. It is a quintessential Power of Truth story and is anchored by a wonderful Power of Truth protagonist, Don Draper/Dick Whitman (Jon Hamm).

I stumbled on a great letter David Mamet wrote to the writers of The Unit. It’s really useful advice for any writer of any script in any genre.