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Jewel101

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I'm a perfectionist so i like to keep things organized and accurate. I don't suppose there's a particular format that I can follow for a character Profile now is there?
 

PeeDee

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Nope. Invent your own. What do you want to know ahead of time about your character? Write that stuff down. Write it as a resume, if you want... :)

Some people keep character profiles, some don't. I don't. I just let my characters build themselves up in my brain, and on the page, and I let them take me where they like. But it's just a matter of preference, I suspect.
 

DamaNegra

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I used to do that in Microsoft Access. I created forms that I would fill up with the character's er... characteristics (ah, redundancy). It worked for me, until for some strange reason I lost Microsoft Access. Its quite a good idea.
 

TwentyFour

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I use microsoft spreadsheet to make a list of characters and basic characteristics.
 

Avalon

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I don't use any particular forms or inventories, but...

I don't know if this will be helpful or not, but I follow Holly Lisle's blog, and she's just finishing up an online book on character development. She's put out some lists of questions and such, so there might be some info in there about what she uses to keep it all straight. (I've found her outlining systems very helpful.)
Just figured I'd pass that link along, since it may (or may not!) be topical.
 

Cathy C

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Actually, there sort of is! :) One seminar I went to at the Romance Writers of America conference did a terrific character plotting guide. Now, granted, it's geared towards romance, but the character traits will still follow the person no matter what genre you're writing (just disregard the romance-y questions, or if the character is married/dating, it could come in handy for subplots:


1. Character Name.
2. Where did character grow up?
3. Choose three clubs/sports the character was involved in in high school.
4. What is a quirk (such as spinning hair around a finger when nervous, etc.?)
5. When decorating an apartment, where would your character shop?
6. What role does money play in your character's life (is a 20" b/w television just as good as a 50" flat screen?)
7. Inspiration for Character (i.e., character from a movie, fairy tale, story, etc.)
8. Possible physical features
9. How do you see the character (i.e., sterotype, caricature)
10. Possible conflicts in personality (i.e., likes to watch sports, but hates to PLAY them.)
11. Possible need for change.
12. Values and beliefs (church-going, would the character steal if starving, etc.)
13. How beliefs and values clash (would the character steal if sufficient reason? What is that reason?)
14. What do they need in a mate?
15. Who is the worst person for them to fall in love with?
16. What makes the character emotionally dangerous (seeing someone strike a child, etc.?)
17. What is it about the character that makes it impossible for him/her to simply "walk away" from the crisis of the plot?
18. What does the character most admire about their best friend?
19. What drives the character insane about their best friend?
20. How does the plot help the character learn a lesson or grow?
21. What is the error in thinking during the plot (i.e., thought they could trust someone untrustable, so didn't spot the danger, etc.?)
22. Why do they hold this belief?
23. As a result of this belief, what do they need to learn?
24. What is keeping them from learning it?
25. What are the ways the character tries to "cheat" to keep from having to grow?
26. What event in the external plot forces the character to either grow or change?
27. Pinpoint your character's greatest fear.
28. What is your character's greatest secret?
29. What is your character's best childhood memory?
30. What is your character's WORST childhood memory?

If you create a table in either Word or WordPerfect (2 column, 30 rows) and type these questions in one side, and the answers in the other, you should have a pretty good profile at the end! Good luck! :D
 

Jamesaritchie

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Profiles

God, I hate character profiles, and usually hate characters put together from them even more. They usually read like something Victor Frankenstein would create. They're too good, or too bad, or have unrealistic abilities, or know too much. They're pieces of this guy and pieces of that guy, all combined to make a monster.

I much prefer to get to know a character the same way a reader gets to know him, and the same way we get to know people in real life. . .a little at a time, and have hiom tell me what he's like when the occasion arises that I need to know.

I honestly believe it takes far more talent to create a good, relaistic character by using a character profile than it takes to write a great novel.

On the other hand, if you want a character who's much larger than life, much smarter than life, much more knowledgeable than life, who's bigger in every way than any real person could possibly be, I think a character profile makes this easy.
 

cwfgal

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Jamesaritchie said:
God, I hate character profiles, and usually hate characters put together from them even more.

How do you know which characters are created from a "profile" and which ones aren't? And basically, don't all characters have a profile of some sort, whether it be on paper, in your head, or elsewhere?

Beth
 

Cathy C

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JamesARitchie said:
I much prefer to get to know a character the same way a reader gets to know him, and the same way we get to know people in real life. . .a little at a time, and have hiom tell me what he's like when the occasion arises that I need to know.

Good for you that you can write this way. I, unfortunately, cannot. I am a plotter, and could no more sit down and write a book the way you describe as I could skydive without a parachute. Even if I don't sit down and write out the full plot and profile of the characters, I MUST have every detail in my head before sitting down in front of the computer. Certainly the reader finds out things as they come up, but I have to know them in advance.

Each of us writes differently, but I'm happy to say that character profiles have done well by us, in sales, reviews and awards. :)
 

Jewel101

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Cathy C said:
Actually, there sort of is! :) One seminar I went to at the Romance Writers of America conference did a terrific character plotting guide. Now, granted, it's geared towards romance, but the character traits will still follow the person no matter what genre you're writing (just disregard the romance-y questions, or if the character is married/dating, it could come in handy for subplots:


1. Character Name.
2. Where did character grow up?
3. Choose three clubs/sports the character was involved in in high school.
4. What is a quirk (such as spinning hair around a finger when nervous, etc.?)
5. When decorating an apartment, where would your character shop?
6. What role does money play in your character's life (is a 20" b/w television just as good as a 50" flat screen?)
7. Inspiration for Character (i.e., character from a movie, fairy tale, story, etc.)
8. Possible physical features
9. How do you see the character (i.e., sterotype, caricature)
10. Possible conflicts in personality (i.e., likes to watch sports, but hates to PLAY them.)
11. Possible need for change.
12. Values and beliefs (church-going, would the character steal if starving, etc.)
13. How beliefs and values clash (would the character steal if sufficient reason? What is that reason?)
14. What do they need in a mate?
15. Who is the worst person for them to fall in love with?
16. What makes the character emotionally dangerous (seeing someone strike a child, etc.?)
17. What is it about the character that makes it impossible for him/her to simply "walk away" from the crisis of the plot?
18. What does the character most admire about their best friend?
19. What drives the character insane about their best friend?
20. How does the plot help the character learn a lesson or grow?
21. What is the error in thinking during the plot (i.e., thought they could trust someone untrustable, so didn't spot the danger, etc.?)
22. Why do they hold this belief?
23. As a result of this belief, what do they need to learn?
24. What is keeping them from learning it?
25. What are the ways the character tries to "cheat" to keep from having to grow?
26. What event in the external plot forces the character to either grow or change?
27. Pinpoint your character's greatest fear.
28. What is your character's greatest secret?
29. What is your character's best childhood memory?
30. What is your character's WORST childhood memory?

If you create a table in either Word or WordPerfect (2 column, 30 rows) and type these questions in one side, and the answers in the other, you should have a pretty good profile at the end! Good luck! :D

Thanks Cathy!! But it looks like this is for a realistic novel. That won't work for me unfortunately. It's really good, I think I'll bookmark it, anyway
 

Jewel101

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Jamesaritchie said:
God, I hate character profiles, and usually hate characters put together from them even more. They usually read like something Victor Frankenstein would create. They're too good, or too bad, or have unrealistic abilities, or know too much. They're pieces of this guy and pieces of that guy, all combined to make a monster.

I much prefer to get to know a character the same way a reader gets to know him, and the same way we get to know people in real life. . .a little at a time, and have hiom tell me what he's like when the occasion arises that I need to know.

I honestly believe it takes far more talent to create a good, relaistic character by using a character profile than it takes to write a great novel.

On the other hand, if you want a character who's much larger than life, much smarter than life, much more knowledgeable than life, who's bigger in every way than any real person could possibly be, I think a character profile makes this easy.

BUt what if the charcater has already developed and you are simply using the profile to record what he says about himself? Surely, that'll be a good character. :D
 

Cathy C

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Jewel101 said:
But it looks like this is for a realistic novel. That won't work for me unfortunately.

:confused: Why do you say that, Jewel? Characters in every genre need backstory -- things that make them "who they are". Whether those things are growing up on a starport, or a small farm in Iowa or underwater breathing through gills, readers need something to empathize with in the character so that they can get involved in the story.

Why would your story not require any of these things for the character?
 

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There are a few good sites and formats for character profiles online - most of them have been put together by fanfiction writers.
Here's a profic one: http://www.writerswrite.com/journal/jun98/lazy2.htm

I wouldn't myself want to create a character by going through a profile form, but a good/quirky form can make you think about some aspects of a character that you hadn't previously touched on. One for writing Harry Potter fanfic included questions on what your character would see in the Mirror of Erised and what his/her Patronus would be. Another amusing question was - "They're left in an empty room for three hours. They can magically get anything they want - except people. When you come back to them, they are:"

-Barbara
 

M.A.Gardener

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cwfgal said:
How do you know which characters are created from a "profile" and which ones aren't? And basically, don't all characters have a profile of some sort, whether it be on paper, in your head, or elsewhere?

Good point. Besides, if a writer uses a profile and only creates "perfect" characteristics, it seems like they're not reaching very deep into the character...
 

PeeDee

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Sometimes, you really can tell they're from a profile. And yes, M.A., you're spot on in saying that it means they're just not digging very deep.

The only time I ever used character profiles was the last time I did an online series of stories, and that was because there were two or three other writers who were going to be writing a couple of episodes, and I couldn't just let them into my head to wander around. We would never have seen them again.

By and large, they fall by the wayside. I might write a character profile the same way I might write an outline. More or less, I just talk to myself (on paper, mind) about the character/scene. Mostly, it's something to do with my hand and pen, and somethign to focus my attention while my mind dances around the matter and figures things out. What I write, when it comes to "notes" usually has almost no bearing on what I'm thinking while writing those notes. Usually, the notes were my progressive thoughts from three or four "thinking while writing" sessions earlier... :)

(This will madden my biographer to no end, eleventy billion years from now.)
 

M.A.Gardener

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I've gone so far as to draw a layout of my character's condo. Wait - don't laugh! It helped me figure out where the window needed to be so he could see the waterfront view, helped me realize he had to have two bedrooms so he could store his second wheelchair, and where the bathroom door should be so he could easily transfer. :Sun:
 

Jewel101

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Cathy C said:
:confused: Why do you say that, Jewel? Characters in every genre need backstory -- things that make them "who they are". Whether those things are growing up on a starport, or a small farm in Iowa or underwater breathing through gills, readers need something to empathize with in the character so that they can get involved in the story.

Why would your story not require any of these things for the character?

well, i can't answer some of the questions, like 3, 5, 6, I guess 15, alright maybe i was wrong. But i still can't answer these right or wrong
 

Cathy C

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But that's the point! There IS no right or wrong. A real person has these details already built in. You know how YOU would decorate, or whether a b/w is better/worse than a flat screen color in YOUR life. While you don't have to answer every question about your character, I find that it helps the character comment on things around him/her.


For example, if my character decorates his own apartment in solid oak with rich burgandy and hunter green, and deer/elk paintings, how will he comment internally on walking into a pink, floral "Laura Ashley" sort of room? A horrified expression he quickly suppresses and a muttered "Oh dear God in heaven!" comment says a lot about the character in just a few words. This is why I do the profile, so I have a sense of WHY and HOW the character will react in a specific way in the plot.
 

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M.A.Gardener said:
I've gone so far as to draw a layout of my character's condo. Wait - don't laugh! It helped me figure out where the window needed to be so he could see the waterfront view, helped me realize he had to have two bedrooms so he could store his second wheelchair, and where the bathroom door should be so he could easily transfer.

Not as fussy as you might think, M.A. For the house in the co-written fantasy novel, I've plotted its foundations from Roman to 19th c., and furnished most of the rooms. I found out how to do isometric drawings so I could do elevations of it. If I ever end up bored, I'm planning to do some amateurish Victorian watercolours.
The thing is, the great majority of this planning won't show up in the foreground of the novel - but it's there in the background, and it affects so much of what takes place in the foreground. Like backstory for a character, you know it, and it affects what the character does and how s/he reacts, though the reader may never need to know the specifics.
-Barbara
 

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Foundations and Floor Plans

batgirl said:
For the house in the co-written fantasy novel, I've plotted its foundations from Roman to 19th c., and furnished most of the rooms. I found out how to do isometric drawings so I could do elevations of it. <SNIP> Like backstory for a character, you know it, and it affects what the character does and how s/he reacts, though the reader may never need to know the specifics.
-Barbara

In my novel, several key scenes take place in a building that is part hospital, part research laboratory, and part training facility. To keep track of which floor contained which labs, whose room was where, and how my MC got from Point A to Point X, I drew out floorplans. Rooms were labeled, elevators marked, stairwells positioned, doors penciled in. Anything to keep me from saying that the Recovery Ward was next to the main elevator, when the two were on opposite sides of the building.
biggrin.gif


-Kelly
 

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Cathy C said:
But that's the point! There IS no right or wrong. A real person has these details already built in. You know how YOU would decorate, or whether a b/w is better/worse than a flat screen color in YOUR life. While you don't have to answer every question about your character, I find that it helps the character comment on things around him/her.
I agree. I normally don't like character sheets, but the one Cathy posted is really good. It's not the usual "what is your character's favorite color?" foolishness -- these questions require the author to know the character. I write fantasies set in medieval worlds, so some questions don't apply as written, but I can skip them or alter them to suit my book.

I also like to ask myself questions like:
what does this person want most in all the world?
what happened to him that made him want that so badly?
who or what is standing in his way?
why?
what will it take to reach his goal?
 

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I haven't used a character profile, but I can see how it would be helpful. I think it could help you get a feel for who your character is so when they're in situations you know how they would react.
 

PeeDee

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One of my favorite things to do with character descriptions, as well as character surroundings, is to describe them in such a way that the reader will, whether they want to, draw conclusions about them.

example:

"Jim was the sort of guy who always wore a nice shirt, drove a small sports car, drink diet coke, and smoked Pall Mall lights. He took showers. He was that sort of guy."

IF the reader really dislikes smoking, they might not think much of Jim. Or, if the reader perchances to be a burly redneck, then Jim's going to sound like a bit of a pansy. Me, I think he sounds like a city-dwelling *******. But that's jut my view...

Mix things up. Mix up your characters, and mix up your words. If I'm writing Jim, I know what sort of guy he's gonna be, more or less. It doesn't necessarily mean I'm going to tell you, the reader, though.
 

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I have mixed feelings about character profiles so far (and outlining).

I'm a person who really enjoys finding out about plots and characters as I write. Sure, I have a general idea about characters in the beginning, but for the most part my first draft is allowed to be a terrible mess. Just let me discover who someone is and what it is they're doing here. Figuring everything out is for the rewrites.

All I've done for my rewrite so far is character profiles and backgrounds, and I've learned a whole lot during this time. Perhaps even as much as I did when first writing. And it drives me even more nuts when it changes things I established in the beginning.
 

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Character Interview Sheets

Jewel101 said:
I'm a perfectionist so i like to keep things organized and accurate. I don't suppose there's a particular format that I can follow for a character Profile now is there?

I may be a little late on this one, but here's a few links I find helpful. My favorite is the first one. Hope you can use them!

Cindy Bergquist

http://www.eclectics.com/articles/Character%20Chart%20(Eclectics).pdf (You need a PDF reader to open this link)

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

http://inspired2write.com/wordweav/charactr/inteview.html
 
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