You cannot write the song until you know who is speaking, what they want, and why they cannot have it. Everything else — imagery, structure, melody — organizes around the answer to this question.
You noted you are stuck on who the character should be. That is not a writing problem. It is a thinking problem — and thinking problems have a process. This module walks you through it one step at a time, with check-in questions after each concept to make sure it has landed before you move on.
You have already done this once. Your CI for Away required you to understand a character so precisely that you could name her specific paradox. That character exists. The new song needs the same foundation. Use what you learned.
STEP 1A
Why Character Has to Come First
The foundation everything else is built on
Every structural element of a song — its imagery, argument, emotional arc — is generated by the character's situation. The character is not decoration on top of a theme. The character is the theme, made specific enough to be believable.
Without a locked character you will write lines that feel true in isolation but don't connect. Vivid imagery floating without argument. Atmosphere without a claim. This is the exact diagnosis from your first draft of Away.
A person who wants to let go, but the act of releasing is the closest they get to holding — therefore every goodbye is secretly a ritual of prolonged contact, which proves that surrender and control are often the same gesture wearing different clothes.
That CI was possible because you understood the character's specific contradiction. The new song needs the same foundation. You don't need to write a single lyric yet. You need to answer six questions.
The character is not who the song is about. The character is what proves the song's argument is true.
What "stuck on who the character should be" usually means
It rarely means you don't know any people. It usually means one of three things:
1. You are starting with theme instead of person
You have a feeling or a subject and you are trying to invent a character to carry it. Reverse this. Start with a specific person in a specific moment and let the theme emerge from what they want.
2. You are waiting for a character who feels original enough
Every character comes from life. The job is not to invent — it is to observe closely enough that an ordinary person becomes specific enough to be universal.
3. You have not asked the right questions yet
Character locking is not an act of imagination. It is an act of interrogation. The questions in Step 6 will do the work if you answer them honestly.
Check Your Understanding — Why Character First
1. According to the framework, what is a character in a song?
2. What is the correct direction — theme first or character first?
3. What was the core structural problem with Draft 1 of Away — and what was the cause?
Section Score—
STEP 1B
What a Character Actually Is
The three-part structure
A character in a song is not a biography. It is the intersection of three things. All three must be present before the character is locked.
A person who WANTS something specific
but cannot have it because of A CONTRADICTION within themselves
which the song will PROVE through a specific moment or event.
Character is locked when...
You know exactly what they want
The obstacle lives inside them, not outside
You can describe one specific action they take
Their contradiction is arguable
This character could only exist in this song
Character is NOT locked when...
You can only describe how they feel
Any person could occupy their position
Their problem is a theme, not a behaviour
You can't say what they want in one sentence
They have no contradiction
Check Your Understanding — What a Character Is
1. Which of the following is a locked character?
2. What is the minimum requirement for a locked character?
3. "A person who feels lost and wants connection" — why is this not a locked character?
Section Score—
STEP 1C
The Want
Specific, active, and blockable
The want must be specific and active. Not "she wants peace" — what does peace look like for this person, and what does she do to get it? Want is always shown through action, never through statement.
Too vague to work
She wants to be understood
He wants things to be different
She wants to move on
He wants her back
She wants closure
He wants to feel whole
Specific enough to block
She wants the last word in every argument she has already lost
He wants to be the one who left, even though she left first
She wants the next phone call to be the one that changes everything
He wants to be missed without having to go
She wants to be the one who ends the call — every time
The vague want test
Ask: "Can I film this want?" If you can't point a camera at what the character is doing to pursue it, the want is still a feeling — not an action. Go again.
The Away Model
The character's want in Away is not "she wants to hold on." That's vague. Her want is to maintain contact — and her only available method is the goodbye itself. That's specific enough to be blocked. And the block is built into the method.
Check Your Understanding — The Want
1. Which of the following is a specific, active want?
2. "She wants closure." What is the problem with this as a want?
3. A want begins to generate a contradiction when:
Section Score—
STEP 1D
The Contradiction
Internal only — method equals obstacle
The contradiction is the reason the character cannot simply get what they want. It must live inside the character — not outside. External obstacles (another person, a situation, bad luck) are not contradictions. A contradiction is when the character's method of getting what they want is the reason they cannot have it.
The Away Model — how a contradiction works
The act of releasing is the closest she gets to holding. Her method of maintaining contact is the goodbye itself.
Why this works: The contradiction is internal. Her want (to hold on) and her method (to let go) are the same gesture. The obstacle is not another person — it is her own behaviour. That is a true contradiction.
Remove all other characters. Does the problem still exist? If yes — you have an internal contradiction. If no — you have an external obstacle.
The contradiction test
Complete this sentence: "The reason she can't have what she wants is that her way of getting it is ___."
If the blank describes something another person does — it is external. Keep going.
If the blank describes the same behaviour as the want itself, seen from a different angle — you have it.
METHOD of pursuing the want
= OBSTACLE that prevents the want
= CONTRADICTION
Check Your Understanding — The Contradiction
1. What defines an internal contradiction?
2. "She can't get what she wants because he won't return her calls." Why is this not a contradiction?
3. Which of the following is a true internal contradiction?
4. In Away, what is the character's contradiction?
Section Score—
STEP 1E
From Character to CI
The argument the character generates
Once you have a locked character — specific want, internal contradiction, filmable moment — the CI follows directly. You do not invent the CI. You read it out of the character.
The method
Take your contradiction and ask: "What does this behaviour prove about people?" The answer is the CI. It should be something a reasonable person could dispute. If everyone agrees with it immediately, it is an observation, not an argument.
CONTRADICTION (what the character does to themselves)
↓ CI (what that behaviour proves about human nature)
The Away Model — contradiction to CI
Contradiction: Her way of holding on is to let go. The goodbye is the grip.
CI: Surrender and control are often the same gesture wearing different clothes.
Why this works: The contradiction described a behaviour. The CI extracted the argument from that behaviour. One generated the other — neither was invented independently. And critically: someone could reasonably disagree that surrender and control are equivalent gestures.
The arguability test
After writing your CI, ask: "Could a reasonable person disagree with this?" If the answer is no — it is not arguable enough. Sharpen it until someone could push back.
Not arguable (observations)
Grief is painful
Love makes life worth living
Everyone wants to be understood
Change is possible
Distance creates longing
Arguable (claims)
The people most committed to leaving never actually go
Surrender and control are the same gesture
The most effective way to keep someone is to make them believe you're leaving
Endurance isn't optimism — it's the only rational response to a life that never resolves
Check Your Understanding — Character to CI
1. A Controlling Idea is:
2. "This song proves that change is possible." Why is this a weak CI?
3. What is the correct relationship between character and CI?
Section Score—
What you are building toward
A single sentence — or two — that could begin with: "A person who wants ___, but ___. Therefore ___."
That sentence is not the lyric. It is the instruction manual the lyric is built from. Every line in the song either proves that sentence or it gets cut.
STEP 1F
The Six Questions
Answer in plain language — no lyrics yet
Answer each question in plain, honest language. Do not write lyrics. Do not reach for metaphor. The goal is to locate a real person in a real situation. Your answers carry through to the Your Answers tab.
Before you start
Do not try to make the character interesting. Try to make the character true. Interesting follows from true. It never works the other way around.
Q1 — THE PERSON
Who is this person and what are they doing right now, in the moment the song begins?
One or two sentences. Give them a location and an action. Not a feeling — what are they physically doing?
Saved
Q2 — THE WANT
What does this person want — specifically, actively, in this moment?
Finish this sentence without using an abstract noun: "What she actually wants is to ___." If the blank is a feeling, go again. If it's an action, you're there.
Saved
Q3 — THE OBSTACLE
What is stopping them — and is the obstacle inside them or outside them?
The obstacle must be internal to be a contradiction. If it's another person or circumstance, ask: what is it about this character that makes that obstacle insurmountable? Keep going until the obstacle is something the character does to themselves.
Saved
Q4 — THE CONTRADICTION
Complete this: "The reason she can't have what she wants is that her way of getting it is ___."
This is the hardest question. The method and obstacle should be the same thing. Look at Q2 and Q3 — do they point at the same behaviour?
Saved
Q5 — THE MOMENT
What specific event proves this contradiction is real?
Describe a scene. It must be filmable — a camera could record it. No metaphor. This is the event the song is organized around.
Saved
Q6 — THE ARGUMENT
What does this character's situation prove about how people work?
Finish this: "This song proves that ___." The blank should be arguable — someone should be able to disagree. If it's obviously true to everyone, it isn't an argument yet.
Saved
YOUR ANSWERS
Your Character So Far
Read these together — do they describe the same person?
When all six answers are in front of you at once, ask: do they describe the same person? If Q1, Q2, and Q5 point at someone different from Q3 and Q4, you have more than one character and need to choose.
Session Answers — Lori
Q1 · The Person
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Q2 · The Want
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Q3 · The Obstacle
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Q4 · The Contradiction
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Q5 · The Moment
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Q6 · The Argument
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CI DRAFT
Using your answers above, draft your CI here. Start with: "A person who wants ___, but ___. Therefore ___." It doesn't have to be perfect. It has to be honest and specific.
CI DRAFT
Write your Controlling Idea in plain language.
Use the formula as a starting point. Revise until the contradiction is in the sentence — not implied, but present. And test it: could someone disagree?
Saved
When this feels true — bring it to Thursday. That is the session where we test it.
50-Question Test Bank
All concepts covered in this module. Filter by category or attempt all 50. Your running score appears after your tenth answer.