Christopher and Kathy Riley’s groundbreaking book The Defining Moment: How Writers and Actors Build Characters, with a foreword by Christopher Vogler, introduces the role of defining moments in the creation of deep and resonant characters in film, television, theatre, and literature, then extends those lessons to the story of your life.
The best storytelling explores character formation and transformation. Sometimes character formation takes place in slow, smooth, steadily bending arcs, other times in sudden, jagged, cataclysmic moments. Without discovering these moments, it’s impossible for a writer or actor to fully realize their character.
In The Defining Moment, screenwriters and story gurus Christopher and Kathy Riley share the secret to creating character-defining moments, moments without which the character couldn’t exist, and through which characters transform before our eyes.
This is a must-read for screenwriters, actors, directors, playwrights, novelists, editors, cinematographers, composers, production designers, and every other storyteller who works to shape and portray characters.
Available from mwp.com and Amazon.
Praise for The Defining Moment
The rare how-to book that also draws you in emotionally, offering powerful moments from film, TV, novels, plays, and the authors’ lives that show how experiences become indelible and characters become memorable. For writers and actors, reading this book just might become the defining moment of your career.”
Dean Batali
showrunner, That 70s Show and Good Witch; writer-producer, Buffy the Vampire Slayer
This book is not just for storytellers, it’s for anyone wanting to understand why they are the way they are. As an actor, writer, and director, I only wish I would have had these insights thirty years ago, but I’m so very grateful to have them now”
David Naroña
actor, FBI: International, CSI: Vegas, Jack Ryan, The Mentalist, Weeds, One Tree Hill
If characters aren’t emotionally authentic, there’s simply no reason to keep watching a movie or reading a script. Chris and Kathy dive deep into the exploration of what actors and screenwriters share in common — the creation of great characters — to provide insights that are enriching to storytellers of all types.”
Janet Scott Batchler
screenwriter, Batman Forever; screenwriting professor, USC School of Cinematic Arts