Authors: Patricia Gilliam
Birthday
Even if this never gets mentioned, this helps keep track of a character’s age over time and their age relative to o
ther characters in the series.
Keep in mind different challenges for different age groups.
Sex/Gender
From a cultural standpoint, men and women of
ten have different challenges.
Biological, social, and cultural factors all come into play.
Height/Weight/Body Type
This is important to remember in terms of physical challenges your characters mi
ght encounter.
For believability, not all of your characters have to be in shape.
Physical Health and Energy
Overall Rating Can Be Hyper, Normal, Fatigued
How’s your character’s posture? (A lot can be said in a slump or standing tall.)
Keep in mind other body gestures such as handshake, eye contact, and distance of personal space for your character.
Does your character have a mannerism when they are upset or nervous?
Does your character feel their life is busy, not busy enough, or just right?
Does he/she tend to be accident prone or not?
Hair Type and Color
Short/long, straight/curly, etc.
This can be used as an indicator of personality—whether it’s messy or neatly styled.
Eye Color
Does the chara
cter wear glasses or contacts?
Is there anything unique about their eyesight?
Skin
What
is the character’s complexion?
Does t
he character have any tattoos?
Are there any physical scars that are significant?
Nails
Dirty or manicured nails ca
n indicate some job positions.
Does your character pick at them when nervous?
Family
Include basic information on parents, siblings, spouses, and children (which may have their own separate profiles if they’
re main characters).
According to what you need, you may need to sketch out a rough family tree and a few background paragraphs about the family’s heritage.
Childhood
What is your character’s birth order and did their bir
th order impact him or her?
What are the statuses of the character’s relationships with each family member?
Is there calm or conflict?
Briefly describe the character’s childhood and important events that may impact yo
ur story (include both good and bad memories).
Relationships
How does your character view authority figures?
Does your character generally trust people?
How good of a listener is your character?
How does the character sh
ow love and affection?
How does your character react to people he/she dislikes?
Does your character prefer lots of friends on a surface level or fewer friends at a deeper level?
Who has influence over your character? Who doesn’t?
How easy is the character to approach? Why?
Does the character have any
enemies? How were they gained? Is the character aware they exist?
How does your character react when someone disagrees strongly with his/her ideas or opinions?
Does the character get jealous easily or not? Why?
What secret would embarrass your character if it was released? Who knows this secret?
Honesty Level
Is your character honest overall or does he/she tend to lie? Why?
Does your character have a hard time saying “no” to other people? Why or why not?
Education
Did your character enjoy school or not?
What were their strongest and weakest subjects?
What would your character’s old teachers say about him/her at a parent/teacher conference?
Does your character speak more than one language?
Is your character mechanically or technically skilled and in what way(s)?
Speech
Take a look at your character’s speech pattern.
Does the ch
aracter have a regional accent?
Does the charac
ter talk fast or slow?
What kind
of tone does he/she use? Is he/she monotone or does his or her speech have an up and down melody?
How can you convey this indirectly?
Goals,
Ambitions, and Attitude
What does your character want out of life?
How important is accomplishment to your character?
Does your character adapt well to change or interruptions to goals? Why or why not?
If your character could change one thing about the environment around him or her, what would it be?
How competitive is your character?
What does your character expect his or her future to be like in 10 years?
In regards to your character’s attitude about life, does he or she live in the past, the present, or toward the future?
Religion, Spirituality, and Core Beliefs
Has your character been impacted by a religious/spiritual background?
What are your character’s core values?
Skills, Talents, and Abilities
Can
include artistic, musical, physical/sports-related, adaptability to change, intellect, social skills, creativity, problem-solving, leadership, technical skill, photographic memory, observation, quick-thinker, diplomatic/peace-maker, and financial/business savvy.
Flaws and Weaknesses
What flaws or shortco
mings does your character have? How does your character feel about them? Is your character aware they exist?
What character flaw (or perceived flaw) does your character want to change? What are the sources of these flaws?
What obstacles hinder your character from changing?
How forgiving/unforgiving is your character
when wronged by another person?
Sometimes a flaw can also come from what normally would be a strength, only it’s stretched too far (the line between con
fidence/arrogance, for example).
Profession
If you’re not familiar with your character’s career, spend some time online to get comfortable with the basics of it—learn some professional jargon, but use it sparingly in the actual story.
Does your character love his or her work or wish for some other career? What are the best and worst aspects of the position?
Did the character have previous professions prior to the one you intend to use in the series? What skills from those professions could be useful to your character?
Wealth and Income
This is important to the point it may impact your character’s economic freedom and mobility. Deeper traits can be revealed from a sudden windfall or loss of income.
Is your character wise wit
h money? Why?
How has that impacted the character’s course in life
?
Material Possessions (Including Home, Car, Clothing, Personal Belongings, etc.)
These can b
e used to reflect personality.
Do
they keep them neat or messy?
The style/mode
l of car may also be important.
Would your character be seen as a good or bad driver? Why?
Is there something the character owns that holds a sentimental attachment?
How does your ch
aracter dress on a daily basis?
Does the character try to stand out or blend in based on their clothing?
If your character’s home was on fire, what one material possession would be grabbed first?
Favorites and Dislikes
Consider foods, drinks,
movies, music, books, sports, time of the year, places, and television shows. Think in terms of what these can reveal about the character.
Daily Life vs. Extreme Circumstances
Is your character easily bored?
What does he/she do for fun?
What are his/her favorite hobbies?
When put in a situation where quick and creative thinking is important, how does your character react?
What practical joke would your charact
er do if given the opportunity?
How would he or she react to the same joke directed back?
What are some topics/questions your character is curious to find out in life?
How comfortable would your character be if asked to speak in public in front of a large group of people?
Where has your character traveled previously?
Does your character function at his or her best in a harmonious or chaotic environment?
How does your character act while waiting in line for an hour?
What cause or causes is your character passionate about?
What would make your character laugh, cry, or become angry?
Is your character more effective at a certain time of day? (Morning, afternoon, evening, night) How does that impact his or her life? How can you incorporate it into their behavior (yawning, etc.)?
Character Traits on a Scale
The extreme ends of these scales can be numbered 0-10, and you can rate your character anywhere in between. A character might be extreme in certain areas, and keep in mind interesting combinations of the traits:
Warm/Cold
Outgoing/Shy
Spender/Saver
Optimist/Pessimist
Easily Provoked/Easy-Going
Tough-minded/Tender-hearted
Leader/Follower
Arrogant/Humble
Happy/Discontent
Impulsive/Thoughtful
Conventional/Radical Thinker
E
motional/Rarely shows emotion
Perfectionist/Slo
ppy
Risk-taker/Cautious
Charismatic/Aggravates People
Late/O
n Time/Early for Appointments
Efficient/Inefficient
Team-oriented/Prefers to work alone
Quiet/Loud
Subtle/Direct
Selfish/Selfless
Go-getter/Lazy
Heroic/Cowardly
Takes things at face-value/Reads between the lines
Tries to Please People/D
oesn’t Care What Others Think
Responsible/Irresponsible
Enthusiastic/Unexcitable
Systematic/Scatter-brained
Happy-Go-Lucky/Serious
If you’re dealing with a different historic period, you may want to look into how that time’s culture will impact your character’s behavior. With my genre being sci-fi, I had to adapt and project a lot of the general ideas into future terms.
If you’re planning to have your character do something “out of character,” be prepared to have a reason or reasons why. Readers tend to not like spontaneous shifts in character without motivation.
For your own reference, it doesn’t hurt to create a biographical summary for each of your characters—including information that happens before and after your first book. These can be long descriptions—you just wouldn’t want to present them in that format to your readers. In the situation of creating a series, this can give you potential ideas for future books. It also gives you an idea of how your character changes (or doesn’t change) over the course of a story.
All characters—even supporting characters—need a main motivation or drive. Aimless characters are a potential cause of a plot going flat. Conflict and suspense occur when the goals of multiple characters interfere with each other. You also need a “why” behind each of your character’s motives.