Mountainsintherain

I'm writing a novel. As i go along, my charactors evolve of their own accord, however I would appriciate any advise in developing them.
Thanks.

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Lines are so nice

Solaris

You should write a brief description of each character defining who they are, what they like, developing a profile.

Then try to incorporate how a person like them would react to different events throughout your story.

This was created by someone in the lounge which could be a helpful template.

Name (that you go by):
Age:
Occupation:
Future Aspirations:
Goal in life:
Short term goals:
Passion:
Hobbies:
Famous for (okay this is where you get to brag about yourself):

Fave book:
Fave movie:
Fave sport:
Fave store:
Fave music:

What you can't stand:
What you plain dislike:
Who you admire:
What you most love to do:
Your self-confessed flaws:
What intrigues/fascinates you:
What scares you:
Quotation to live by:

Additional comments:

http://www.writingforums.com/viewtopic.php?t=1747

blackswan

I think you should let your characters do what they want to do. After all, what you're trying to do is to tell their story, and if your characters wants to take over, let them...polishing them to perfection should be saved for rewriting...

Or, use Solaris's template for character building...here's another one I found on a different site for fantasy characters. My apoligizes to whoever wrote it, because forgot, maybe I'll link to it some day...


The Basic Facts
Name:
Pronunciation:
Age:
City or Area of Birth:
Sex:
Height:
Weight:
Hair:
Eyes:
Clothes:
Marriage Status:
Sexual Orientation:
Occupation:
Fighting Ability:
Magikal Ability:
Character Description:

Familial Relations
Father:
Living/Deceased:
Occupation of Father:
Mother:
Living/Deceased:
Parental Marriage Status:
Occupation of Mother:
Sister(s):
Age(s):
Living/Deceased:
Marriage Status:
Brother(s):
Age(s):
Living/Deceased:
Marriage Status:
Aunt(s), Uncle(s), Cousin(s), etc:
Other Family Occupations:

Relationships with Others
Current Lover/Spouse:
Best Friend(s):
Other Friends:
Past Love(s)/Spouse(s):
Worst Enemy:
Allies:
Ability to Make New Friends:
Other People of Note in Character's Life:
Reason Why They are Noteworthy:

Background
Where Raised:
Family Background:

Psych Profile
Greatest Joy:
Greatest Trauma:
Morals:
Ambitions:
Positive Personality Traits:
Negative Personality Traits:
Mannerisms:
Fears, Anxieties:
Temperament:
Ambitions:
How Character Displays Emotions:
Leader/Follower:
Perception of Others:
Perception of Self:
Memories:
Dreams/Plans:
How Character Handles Crisises:
Personality Type:
Most Meaningful Life Experience:
Attitude Toward Others:
Feelings Toward Family:
Feelings Toward Friends:
Feelings Toward Strangers of the Same Sex:
Feelings Toward Strangers of the Opposite Sex:
Feelings Towards Enemies:

Any Other Traits of Note





-Laura

Kathy M.

Hi! I'm new here, but I struggle with the same thing. You've been offered some good advice, but one thing I noticed lacking in my own work was character emotion. Recently I purchased a book by Ann Hood on developing character emotions, and you know what? As I was working on the emotions, characters were emerging!

Sometimes when writing a story, it's hard to remember that the character is the story and not the event. It's how the character reacts to the event that makes it interesting.

Try writing about an emotion...then, make up a character, be it boy, girl, woman, man, or whatever. Have them react in an angry way to something. It doesn't matter what --perhaps they lost their keys or something.

Knowing your character is vital, but without emotions, does one have a character? Just something to think about that I find myself struggling with!

type

All of these suggestions are valuable and highlight one important thing: you should know your characters and even ask them in writing how they would react to various situations. Also consider "living" with your characters by thinking about them and their daily lives. One author remarked that she spent months just getting to know her characters!

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Dorothy Zjawin
Suggestions for using your journal as an idea source for articles, stories and books
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Nazareth

But I can't live with em- I can't hardly support the multiple personalities I have now

DL Ferguson

I'd like to recommend a terrific book by Orson Scott Card: Characters And Viewpoint where he goes in depth to explain the technique of inventing and developing characters and how to present different viewpoints

Aevin

Those character templates make me laugh. I mostly believe the most important traits of a character are things you will remember without having to write them down. Sometimes, it helps me to write down certain things about them in order to give me new ideas, but such technical things as "Marital Status" "Sexual Orientation" and "Occupation of Father/Mother" seem too technical to be of much help. You ought to know these things, unless you have a ridiculous amount of projects with a ridiculous amount of characters. Usually, when I outline characters, I do something more general--I write out a basic physical description, and any personality traits or past experiences that have a direct bearing on their actions. Everything else happens as I write, and if I forget something I can always look back at what I've written. For the most part, I do what you've described--simply write, and let the characters develop, although I do have a basic plan for where they're going.

__________________
"Go to, like, greater adventures!"
--Din from Namco's Tales of the Abyss

Kathy M.

does seem silly doesn't? However, believe it or not, I had a couple of professors who asked us to use them. I think it's just a way of brainstorming though...

type

About a month ago, I followed one book's advice and wrote extensive details about each of my main characters. While this exercise forced me to think about them a bit more, I still was unable to develop a good plot! And don't ask me about any of those characters today, because I have forgotten all about them down to the last detail!!

I have since returned to consulting a great book, Creativity Rules! by John Vorhaus. This book's chapters not only describe story construction, but walk you through it step by step. You get an explanation, an example and an immediate (short) exercise which is followed by another explanation that takes you to the next level and so on.

Example: In his "Sequence" chapter, Vorhaus begins by defining "story" as a sequence of events, then includes a short example of a sequence of events and instructs you to create your own sequence. If you follow the chapters and faithfully do each exercise, you are bound to wind up with a great story. And it does work. I have a few stories that I am developing further.

__________________
Dorothy Zjawin
Suggestions for using your journal as an idea source for articles, stories and books
http://www.profitable-pen.com

blackswan

Character templets are like plotting, kind of the same things, actually. The character templete, I think if you actually fill everything up (like occupation of mother/father and sexual oriantation) may give you ideas for new twists in your storyline. For example, if you knew your main character's father used to be an innkeeper, then perhaps your character would meet up with a person who knew his/her father and maybe have vaulable info for the mc's quest. Especially in fantasy, and since that was what that template was meant for...(fantasy)

Of course, I still stand by the idea that your characters should be the ones telling the story, and you should let them do there thing. And the fact that I don't do anykind of background info on any of my chars may be a reason why I have problems writing sometimes...(actually...that's because I'm just too lazy )

Fantasia

I've always used Character templates and I've found them to be useful in keeping my Characters consistent, even when they do things that may come as a surprise. I find that it also helps in making good, believable plots that aren't necessarily predictable.

To an extent, character templates may seem too technical, and perhaps a good character doesn't need detailed defining, so my character templates aren't as long, but they do ask questions concerning a character's motives, likes, dislikes; general things that might matter to the more detailed facets of their personalities. Also, I do have trouble remembering eye-color or height or hair or scars or what-have-you. I like keeping a reference for such things because I *do* forget. It's usually because I have a large number of supporting characters for my main ones.

__________________

"God says he can get me out of this mess, but he's pretty sure you're f%#ked." --Stephen, from "Braveheart"

Nazareth

A pretty good site for character development- some good advice- lots of avenues to explore & some workshops-

http://www.hollylisle.com/fm/Worksho...-workshop.html

Aevin

Hmmm . . . . To each his own, I suppose. I've never tried such detailed character templates, in part because I think over planning can take away all the spontaneity(sp) of a story. I prefer to create, rather than record. If I already KNEW everything about a character, it wouldn't even be fun to see him act. I generally work on one major project at a time, and I can easily remember all the physical traits of the important characters--I picture them in my mind, and this helps. On the other hand, it sounds somehow gratifying to have a simple file folder filled with all the important characters I've written about. Perhaps I'll give it a shot some time, and see how it works for me.

__________________
"Go to, like, greater adventures!"
--Din from Namco's Tales of the Abyss

colinad

I find appearance to be the least distinguishing aspect of a
character - it doesn't tell me who they are.

This article may be helpful...

http://www.ortolon.com/articles_stjohn_characters.htm