Jamesaritchie said:God, I hate character profiles, and usually hate characters put together from them even more.
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.
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!
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.
Jewel101 said:But it looks like this is for a realistic novel. That won't work for me unfortunately.
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?
Cathy C said: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?
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.
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
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.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.
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?