Cops and Robbers: The Heart of Compelling Characters

 Colleague: What is a compelling character?

Me: A compelling character is someone in a bank heist movie: they have a target, they want to get in, get the target before the clock runs out, and then get away with the steal. The heist can be literal money, marrying the guy, snatching the prize from the favored frat, beating the odd against cancer, beating death itself and stealing immortality. In pursuing this heist they use a variety of skills/tactics. There are obstacles, emotions, and stakes to the heist. Like in a good robber story, the money is never just about the money. But a compelling character doesn't spill their real reason at the top. The heist involves what they want at the beginning, complications, and then the 'real reason' for the heist. Most dramas follow this format and most compelling characters start off with a surface target and and then after many complications we discover what the target is really about. A bad writer spills all that at the beginning. A good writer saves the 'real target' until the end. A great writer puts the target in us like a carefully designed trap and then lets us unlock ourselves.  Whether the compelling character is good or bad, we are fascinated b/c we want to know if they're going to get away and how?