Character building

So, he was an artist. What art?

He built. Buildings. His designs were not predictable.

Artists face many dilemmas. For example, they must decide between giving a patron what they want and creating something that is truthful but maybe not complimentary or easily understood.

And you never quite knew what he would say. He knew many people. And they all remember him differently.

So, you are saying he had a mystery? Or that he had several identities?

Both. He was many things to many people, and some thought he was mysterious because of this.

So you want to tell this man's story through other people's memories of him?

Something like that. I think he was several people inside one skin.

Then you have the ingredients. You have a protagonist, who lived a useful life, while balancing tensions, within himself, and outside himself, in his dealings with others. You have his creations, which are the backdrop. You have monologues, the stories others tell of him. You have dialogue, between you and others.

I am in this story?

You can be in the background directing, you can do voiceover narrating history or events, you can be an interviewer, you can even be a monologist. You, too, can have several identities. But I must ask you, what was this man to you?

He was related. He was an uncle.

Then you have involvement. You are driven. The problem is not how to get close, but rather when to pull back.
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