def METHOD_NAME(stream_id, char, length, start):
    handle = _GetStdHandle(stream_id)
    char = c_char(char.encode())
    length = wintypes.DWORD(length)
    num_written = wintypes.DWORD(0)
    # Note that this is hard-coded for ANSI (vs wide) bytes.
    success = _FillConsoleOutputCharacterA(
        handle, char, length, start, byref(num_written))
    return num_written.value