Character Sheet

ashy · Oct 20, 2008

I was told by more experienced and published writer,that one things I need to make a successful novel was to write character sheet.
How does one go about on writing one?I had an idea for one but I do not know if this correct.
I will post example,I have:
Strongest personality traits:

Weakest personality traits:

Needs of the character:

Ambitions:

Father's name:

Age:

Physical appearance:

Mother's name:

Age:

Physical appearance:

Sibling's names and descriptions:

Favorite sayings:

Interests and hobbies:

Favorite foods:

Favorite colors:

Pets:

Education:

Religion:

Financial situation:

Future plans:

Possessions this character values most:

What drives your character:

How does your character handle conflict:

What is standing in your character's way:

What is their favorite room and why:

What vehicle do they drive:

Favorite sport(s):

What are your character's prejudices:

How does your character feel about love:

About crime:

What is their neighborhood like:

What is your character's philosophy on life:

What is your character's family life like:

Rough background and timeline for the character, from childhood through the start of the story. Break it down into 5 year spans, unless the character is fairly old, then go with 10 year spans.

What does everybody think?Is this way to write one?

MagicMan · Oct 20, 2008

Yes and no.

The main character should be well known by the author, but to the reader outside of knowing the personality should be generic excepting where the feature contributes to the plot.

Other characters should be developed to a point where their personality is consistent and the reader will know exactly how they will react to an emergency.

Minor characters must simply be consistent.

Your character profile is potentially excessive; but if it creates a stronger character image in your mind, necessary. It all relates back to ensuring consistency and depth of character. Some items such as future plans, financial position, etc. may not apply to one genre where they are critical in another. So the answer is still yes and no. Tune the character sheet to the genre and plot of the story.

Smiles
Bob

Bufty · Oct 20, 2008

I can't be bothered with all that. I prefer to get to know my characters as they react to each other and take me through the story and work their way out of situations.

qwerty · Oct 20, 2008

Ashy, if you filled in everything on that list I think it would put serious restrictions on getting to discover/know your character(s) as you write about them.

Sure, you need to know a few things about them. Their age, what sort of people they are and maybe what they look like in your mind. I really can't see how all the stuff about parents and whatever will help to develop a character into what you want him/her to be. Or, probably more importantly, what they turn out to be.

I suggest you stop worrying about character sheets and just sit down and write. You'll be amazed at how your characters can take over if you allow them the freedom to evolve.

Deccydiva · Oct 20, 2008

I agree. I only have to think of someone who I dislike intensely, or has caused me trouble, and I have the nasty character. Usually my evil characters are all the bad bits of a few people I have known, and physically different to any of them. I looked at a template for a character "design" once and in the time it took me to complete one, I could have written a whole chapter of the novel.
I would always leave religion out of novels, as I would not wish to portray a religious person in a way that could offend followers of that religion, nor would I wish to press my own beliefs on a character in case it alienated readers. In the appropriate genre, of course, it would be a different matter.
So, just - write! The characters will develop and you can tweak them as you go. I find the hardest part to get right is consistency where this is required - see above - so I highlight the ms where a particular character is in the scene then just read those parts, to make sure the wimp in chapter two hasn't suddenly turned into a tower of strength by chapter twenty. Or the reverse.

dawinsor · Oct 20, 2008

I use character sheets and interviews to get to know my characters as best I can before I start writing. It may be that what I put on those sheets (earliest memory, for instance) doesn't show up in the book, but I like to know far more about the character than what appears there. And considering minor things like "favorite room" can suggest all sorts of quirks that are useful.

One reason I do all that is that I often start with the nature of the characters and create a plot that will test that person and allow them to change. The characters are what intrigue me first. Now I grant you that the character really reveal themselves in their actions in the book, but I start off knowing as much as a I can.

Ms Hollands · Oct 20, 2008

I use a character sheet, but I only fill in the few fields that are relevant to each character. Rather than use it as a device to develop a character, it's my database of characters (I had a girl who has sprained her arm which I had forgotten about until I went to write in later in the novel that she broke her hand, then realised there was too much bad luck going on for her and swapped the injury to someone else).

I've referenced the sheet constantly to make sure I'm attributing bouncing hair to the right person etc. I don't remember all those details from each character, so this saves me going back through my chapters to find the info I need.

Calamity_Jones · Oct 20, 2008

I realise that I am a bit obsessed about organisation, and I like spreadsheets, so I made this monster...

Enjoy!

Don't know if the latest version of ms office can import OOo files, but then, nobody uses ms word...

Alpha Echo · Oct 20, 2008

I love using a character sheet. It makes me think about the character and his/her motivations. It gets my mind going.

I use this:

http://www.eclectics.com/articles/character.html

I don't agree that it restricts me in anyway. With my second manuscript, I wrote almost the entire thing when I realized something was missing. I sat down and interviewed my character with some of these questions plus others I came up with on my own and realized that I had been trying to make the MC into something she wasn't and place her in the middle of a story that wasn't hers.

Now, I spend a lot of time getting to know my characters. No, I don't use this worksheet for all of them, just the main ones. And the reader probably will never know a lot of what I discover. But I need to know everything about them, and this is a good start.

johnzakour · Oct 20, 2008

I too use character sheets at least for all my main characters. It helps me see their goals and motivations clearer thus allowing me to be fairly consistent with their reactions to the world around them.

Of course mine aren't nearly so detailed.

Danthia · Oct 20, 2008

You need to know and understand your characters, but how you do that is entirely up to you. If a sheet works, then use it, but if it doesn't, don't. Some like to journal, others interview their characters, some just write out a background for them.

You don't "have to do" anything to be successful except write a great book. It just has to work, and there are a million ways to do that.

tehuti88 · Oct 20, 2008

I have a very detailed character outline that I created way back when (I won't link to it here, I hate such blatant advertising

), but I've found that I can only fill them in when I ALREADY know all the important stuff. If I were to take a character form and just try to create somebody from scratch by filling in stuff, I'd never end up with a character, I'd end up with cardboard.

I get to know my characters best by putting myself in their heads and writing them. It's a slow, gradual process, but isn't that how one normally gets to know somebody well? Slowly and gradually, by experiencing them as a person, rather than asking them a bunch of questions so you can fill out a form?

Maybe this professional writer's process works well for them, but not for everybody.

Clair Dickson · Oct 20, 2008

I use character sheets sometimes to guide me. But I think the more important thing is understanding why a character is doing what they are doing. Without that vital piece of information, I get stuck, easily, even in minor conversations with peripheral characters. I have to know why they are doing what they are-- which sometimes goes back to childhood experiences, but usually it's a more recent motivator.

A good character sheet, I think, includes lots of hard questions about who the character is-- why do they like what they do, why do they act as they do, why do they make the choices they have. What do they regret in life, relationships, work? Those questions are best for fleshing out a round character-- whether or not like they like pizza and root beer is merely a surface trait.

RJK · Oct 20, 2008

IMHO I think character sheets are designed by the left half of our brain (the analytic side) in an attempt to carry out a function meant for the right half of our brain (the creative side). If we allow our creative half to run free for a little bit, it will create interesting characters who interact with one another in realistic ways.

I have a pretty good idea what my protagonist looks like, how he will react to most situations, and how people will react to him. In the story I'm outlining now, I'm working on the antagonist. I don't know what he looks like yet, but I am throwing rocks at him to see what he will do. Based on that, I will develop a personality. The physical description will come later.

So far, I know he is in his mid-thirties, he sells pharmaceuticals to doctors, he's single. He is average size, average income, he bowls on a team, he was recently mugged. His name is Abner Morgan. Do you know this man?

MsK · Oct 20, 2008

I've tried filling out a character sheet and wasn't real successful. My characters develop and their traits appear as the story progresses, and for me to try and make all of that up before I've begun working with them doesn't feel natural. In fact, most of the time, the limited vision I have in my head at the beginning changes dramatically by the middle of the second act.
That being said, I do have to flesh out their motivations early on, but even they have been known change as the story moves along.

ETA: I think everyone should just work the way it feels most natural to them. I've heard of authors I admire very much using character sheets and I've heard others who seem to work better with less structure.

ashy · Oct 20, 2008

Thank you for all your responses,it helps me alot!! I was just wondering because I'm writing high school novel,there is alot of personalities and I though a character sheet was best way to get into the mind of different characters.
Like for example: one of the main characters,is one of the cheerleaders. She has morals when it comes to sex but gives the perspection that she is two bit whore.
And another example: Her boyfriend is frustated because he thinks,he is going be just another name in roster of his highschool after he graduates,if he doesnt win. He tries to push his girlfriend to have sex and move little bit faster with him, because the only thing he thinks that matters in relationship is sex and nothing else.
Thank you again!!!
-Ashley

Madison · Oct 20, 2008

Check out this character chart. I've found it really helpful - for creating rounder characters and for basic organization as a document I can refer to when I want to get reacquainted with a character as I approach an intense scene.

Of course the chart has lots of detail, and sometimes it may not matter what the character's favorite book/sport etc are - the really helpful parts are the questions about character motivation and stuff.

MagicMan · Oct 20, 2008

ashley,

My point if not made well before, is you must keep your characters believable; they can't do things that are opposed to their nature; can't say things like "I'm gonna go git sometin for breky" and thirty pages laster "I wish to have some breakfast, would you like to join me?". Consistency can be controlled as you write. When you portray a feature of a character, note it on the worksheet. When you find yourself going to note a feature that is already present, you then can confirm that feature is consistent. You do not have to complete a worksheet before you write; you could (I do).

Juliette Wade · Oct 20, 2008

All you need to start is a feel for what the character is like, and a sense of their basic motivations. As you come to understand the story better, you'll have a better sense of the character, too. I always recommend thinking through the cultural background and attitudes of a character, because those will influence how they react to situations as well as how they speak. These things are often first done on gut feel, and then developed and tuned later - but they can really add dimension to a story later in the rewriting.

Scrawler · Oct 20, 2008

What a coincidence-- I was just reading over a character sheet I filled in for a secondary character and wasn't satisfied with the lack of depth. I've had better results letting my characters tell me their fears.

This is an example of what my MC said: "[FONT=&quot]I tend to take things too personally and get my feelings hurt. This has made me reject other people before giving them much of a chance. I am easily hurt, quick to feel insult or injury, even when none is intended."[/FONT]

I think this is better than a list of superficial traits. Now I can explore why she feels this way, and work some tension/drama into the story.
[FONT=&quot]
[/FONT]

DisenchantedDoc · Oct 21, 2008

I always do character sheets, but only the basics: appearance, quirks, ambitions, basic backstory. It helps with consistancy on the big things. My sheets are nowhere nearly as complicated as the one you posted, though. I confess to being OCD, but not that OCD.

I know some writers who don't use character sheets... and I catch them changing eye colors on their characters and whatnot when I read their stuff.

Charlie Horse · Oct 21, 2008

My characters wouldn't stand for me categorizing them like that. They like the freedom of being unpredictable. But then all that stuff about appearance, background, political views, favorite ice cream, none of that comes up unless it's relevant to the story line, which is also as unpredictable as my characters.

RickN · Oct 21, 2008

I have a character sheet for each character, major or minor. I put two things on there: things I need to know before I write the character and things I mention about the character as the book goes along. So, some characters might have numerous things listed; others might say "tall, blonde".

It helps me keep things straight when I mention/use them again.

RJK · Oct 21, 2008

I'm sort of in the same line as RickN. I use OneNote to keep track of their names and other details.

Red-Green · Oct 21, 2008

I've never used any kind of a character sheet or planning tool, but glancing at the one listed, I know all that stuff about my characters. Most of it actually comes out in the course of writing the novel for me. I don't plan dialog, I just let my characters talk and later, I find out what I need and whittle down all that conversation. That's how I get to know my characters.

Character Sheet

Where have the last ten years gone?

exiled Brit

Back from the dead

Dorothy A. Winsor

Cow lover

Boomer's Disposable Minion

I should be writing.

Dangerous with a Keyboard

Danthia

Mackinac Island Fanatic

A dark core to every cloud

Sheriff Bullwinkle the Poet says:

summertime...

Interprets for aliens

Bored fanatic

Give me believable dialogue

Speaking in metaphors

Sheriff Bullwinkle the Poet says:

KoalaKoalaKoala!