Lets talk about character creation. We will do a series of different forms on how to create your character. Like everything, nothing is set in stone. You get to see what works for you and what you feel more comfortable with. At the end you want people to understand your character and that it is a mood transmitter. You will feel the story through these characters.
Lets start with a character profile. A character profile is when you fill out a series of questions on who is your character. This will make your character as credible and multidimensional as it can be. Anything and everything is essential when creating the questions. You need to make sure that when you create your character, it is needed for the story. Keep in mind that you don’t need to a extensive character profile for everyone. MC, antagonist and other characters that will continue to move throughout the story need a big profile.
Here would be an example on how to get started.
- Name
- Age
- Religion
- Education
- Sexuality
- Physical features
- Political Views
- How he/she/it perceives itself
- How others perceive this character
You don’t have to stress that much if you are missing one or more. You can comeback to the profile and continue adding up. At the end we want to write a story not to stay three years on a character profile for a person you’ll kill in the first five pages. Unless that dead character becomes a ghost or is the result of some chain events that will trigger your plot. When you continue creating that profile always know that, it is necessary for the story. If you do an almighty character that would not have any adversity whatsoever… it is better to keep that character on a drawer. Again Maybe he’s the villain and the MC must get to that level of almightiness to defeat him/her. The story needs to have interesting characters so your audience don’t get bored and leave your story collecting dust.
Want more question? Here we go.
- Zodiac sign
- Hobbies
- Place of growth
- Parental relationship
- Children relationship
- Family status
- Friends
- Relationships
- Job? Yes? No?
- Sports?
- Food?
- Personal traits
- Manerisms
- Life Philosophy
Think of the things you know about someone close to you. What makes that person unique? Why is the reason you like or dislike that person. Make that mind game and channel it to your character. The more information you have on the character will help you navigate on what challenges you can give it. How would the character handle pressure. Stress. Happy moments. A book I love on character traits is: The Writer’s Guide to Character Traits. It teaches you in a psychological level, what things a normal person can do. One example: When Kevin lies he scratches his nose. So maybe you will write, “Kevin said he did not know her while he scratched his nose.” The audience will know that Kevin is a liar or you will build on creating scenes that will later pin point that all Kevin said was lies.
More questions for the profile.
- Weapons
- Fighting style
- Emotionally strong
- Past traumas
- Mental illness
- Clothing style
- Leader, follower, doesn’t give a damn
- Enemies
- Friends
- Allies
- Groups
- Communities
- Street smarts
- Survival instincts
What will also help you is placing when and where your story takes place. What is the point creating someone that knows how to use a smartphone if the story takes place before that was thought of. He knows about fixing windows but the story does not mention once something that will help or do a joke about that skill. At the end your story will dictate what you need. Remember to do that character as awesome as you can and that it is necessary to move forward the plot.