Thread: Character Chart (FOR YOU!)

I discovered this Character Chart years ago and I love using it to develop characters. I hope it helps you like it's helped me.
PDF

Date this chart was completed:
Character's Full Name:
Reason or meaning of name:
Nickname: Reason for nickname:
Birthdate:
Astrological Sign:
(Click here for a free astrological chart. Not only is this is a great way
to get a "quick personality" for minor "walk-on" characters, you can get
a sign's horoscope for that day and put those stumbling blocks in front
of your character(s)!)
PHYSICAL APPEARANCE:




Age: How old does s/he appear?
Eye Color: Glasses or contacts:
Weight: Height:
Type of body/build:
Skin tone: Skin type:
Shape of face: Distinguishing Marks:
Predominant feature:
Hair color:
Distinguishable hair feature (bald,
receding hairline, etc.):
Type of hair (coarse, fine, thick, etc?)
Character's typical hairstyle:
Resembles:
Is s/he healthy?
If not, why not:
Physical disabilities:



FAVORITES:



Character's favorite color:
Character's least favorite color:
Why?
Favorite Music:
Least favorite Music:
Why?
Food:
Literature:
Expressions: Favorite book: Why?
Expletives:
Mode of transportation:
Daredevil or cautious?
Same when alone?
HABITS:




Smokes: What?
When and how much?
Drinks: What?
When and how much?
Hobbies:
How does character spend a rainy day?


BACKGROUND:



Hometown:
Type of childhood:
First memory:
Most important childhood event that still affects him/her: Why?
Education:
Religion:
Finances:


FAMILY:



Mother:
Relationship with her:
Father:
Relationship with him:
Siblings:
How many? Birth order:
Relationship with each:
Children of siblings:
Extended family?
Close? Why or why not?


CHILDREN:

Does character have child(ren)?
How many children does character have?
Are all children with the same partner? If no, why not? If no, what is the custody arrangement?
How does character relate to his/her child(ren)?
Which child is character's favorite? Why?
(admit it or not, we all have one)
What is characters most favorite memory of his/her child(ren)? Why?
What is characters least favorite memory of his/her child(ren)? Why?
Is relatioinship with children important to character?
OCCUPATION




Where does Character work? For how long?
How does s/he feel about co-workers? Get along with co-workers?
Like his/her job? Why or why not?

Character's dream job:

ATTITUDE:


Character's greatest fear:
Why?
What is the worst thing that could happen to him/her?
What single event would most throw character's life in complete turmoil?
Why?
Character is most at ease when:
Most ill at ease when:
Depressive or SAD (Seasonal Affective Disorder)?
Priorities:
Philosophy:
How s/he feels about self:
Past failure s/he would be embarrassed to have people know about:
Why?
If granted one wish, what would it be?
Why?

PERSONALITY:



Greatest source of strength in character's personality (whether s/he sees it as
such or not):
Greatest source of weakness in character's personality (whether s/he sees it as
such or not):
Character's soft spot:
Is this soft spot obvious to others?
If not, how does character hide it?
Biggest vulnerability:
Which of the 7 deadly sins does your character fight (or give into, willingly or not)?
(lust, gluttony, greed, sloth, wrath, envy, pride)
Which of the 7 virtues does your character have (or fight against)?
(chastity, abstinence, leberality, diligence, patience, kindness, humility)TRAITS:



Optimist or pessimist: Why?
Introvert or extrovert: Why?
Drives and motivations:
Talents:
Extremely skilled at:
Extremely unskilled at:
Good characteristics:
Character flaws:
Mannerisms:
Peculiarities:
Biggest regret:
Minor regrets:
Biggest accomplishment:
Minor accomplishments:
Character's darkest secret:
Does anyone else know?
If yes, did character tell them?
If no, how did they find out?



SELF-PERCEPTION:



One word character would use to describe self:
One paragraph description of how character would describe self:
What does character consider best physical characteristic?
What does character consider worst physical characteristic?
Are these realistic assessments?
If not, why not?
How CHARACTER thinks others perceive him/her:
What four things would CHARACTER most like to change about self? (#1 most
important, #2 second most important, etc.)
1.
2.
3.
4.
Why?
If change #1 was made, would character be as happy as s/he thinks?
If not, why not?




INTERRELATION WITH OTHERS:





Is character divorced? Why?
If divorced, how many times?
Has character ever cheated on any signficant other?
How does character relate to others?
How is s/he perceived by...
Strangers?
Friends?
Wife/Husband/Lover?
Hero/Heroine?
How does character view hero/heroine?
First impression: Why?
What happens to change this perception?
What do family/friends like most about character?
What do family/friends like least about character?




GOALS:



Immediate goals:
Long range goals:
How does character plan to accomplish goals?
How will other people around character be affected?




PROBLEMS/CRISIS:



How character reacts in a crisis:
How character faces problems:
Kinds of problems character usually runs into:
How character reacts to NEW problems:
How character reacts to change:



GENERAL:



Favorite clothing: Why?
Least favorite clothing: Why?
Jewelry:
Other accessories:
Drives:
Where does character live?
Where does character want to live?
Spending habits (frugal, spendthrift, etc): Why?
What does s/he do too much of?
Too little of?
Most prized possession: Why?
Play musical instrument? Which?
How did s/he learn?

TECHNICAL:



Owns a computer? Yes/No If not, why not?
Email address(es):
If more than one, each used for...?
"Handle": Meaning to character:
Uses computer for business, pleasure, both?
Does character play games on computer? If so, which game(s)? If yes, how many hours per day?
If so, are they/it multiplayere game/s?
Name used on each game & meaning to character?
Ever used an online dating site? Why?
Online site(s) visited daily? Why?






UNCATEGORIZED:



Person character secretly admires:
Why?
Person character was most influenced by:
Why?
Most important person in character's life before story starts:
Why?
Favorite slang word/phrase?

That is very detailed. I'm sure it comes in handy when planning.

I'll leave filling that out for the census people. I'd rather be writing a story.

I agree that one has to be able to answer these questions about ones characters, at least the important ones. On the other hand I feel you have to be able to answer any question, however trivial it may be. While a questionnaire like this one can definitely be useful as a process, I think the end result, what ever method is used, needs to be a character that you know intuitively. Once you get to that point you will never struggle with credibility or contradictions.

I find that I know my characters well enough that I don't need to make a record of it. When I've done detailed plans in the past, I've rarely had the need to check back on them. The process becomes more of a planning event rather than a resource creation. And I feel/think that character development should occur within the first draft; let the events in the story dictate how the characters behave, rather than trying to fit the events around the character personalities.

I find more benefit in a file that records timelines and changes to a characters appearance and personality. So if I'm editing a story, I know that in chapter 3, Melanie has an optimistic view on the world. But by chapter 5, she has a scar down her face and hates men (just a fictional example).

This is one of the things I wish 'writing software' would support. Not only character descriptions (as you've posted above), but also being able to present different details depending on what part of the story I'm writing. Of course, they'd also have to factor in timelines into the writing software, but that's not hard; yWriter already does something akin to this.

Originally Posted by KrisMunro

This is one of the things I wish 'writing software' would support. Not only character descriptions (as you've posted above), but also being able to present different details depending on what part of the story I'm writing. Of course, they'd also have to factor in timelines into the writing software, but that's not hard; yWriter already does something akin to this.

I agree. I wish there was some kind of software out there that could hold all the information we need instead of compiling document after document after document, or notebook after notebook, of information. A way to just type in "Melanie" and all of the stats you choose are available in an instant.

As for using the character chart, to be perfectly honest, I don't use every single question. I kind of scan through and find the ones that are relevant to my character. For example, using Melanie again, if Melanie was a victim of domestic violence and was injured to the point of scarring, I would put that in as a characteristic. Nobody can remember every single detail of every one of their characters. I write down the basics. Birthday, height, hair color, eye color, astrological sign. And while I'm writing, if something pops up, I'll put it in the document.

I believe KrisMunro mentioned something about "trying to fit the events around the character personalities." Just to clear that up, I don't do that. I make my characters go through their "lives" as naturally as possible. I generally have big events planned in my mind, but some of the little things (break ups, small fights) I kind of strategically place to make the characters dynamic and realistic. Sometimes you have to throw in some kind of event to introduce your readers to the character in question.

Anyways, I'm rambling! If what I said doesn't make any sense that's because I just woke up and I pretty much have no idea what's going on lol.

Check out yWriter

Sweet! I'll check that out now. Thanks!

Originally Posted by UnWritten

I believe KrisMunro mentioned something about "trying to fit the events around the character personalities." Just to clear that up, I don't do that.

Sometimes I write a little too quickly for the message to come across clearly. I do things much like you; the characters change/act according to events.. I don't mold events around characters. I think we both get a better character if they develop themselves 'naturally', as you say, within the writing process.

And never worry about rambling part of being a good writer comes with the ability to let thoughts flow through to words with ease.


yWriter is a great tool (one that I use), but it is essentially a compiler of text files. It has some neat features, and I find nearly all of them useful. But I think 'writing software' needs something more. To clarify my comments above, I'd find the most use in an (eg) character description that listed details in a timeline. All the details were visible, but if I'm working on chapter 3, it highlights the personality type and appearance Melanie has at that time. So if during one chapter, she's wearing a green dress with silver edging, I want those details to show up. If I'm editing chapter 5, I want to know that she's now got a scar, is wearing an old bathrobe, muddy boots, has a scar, and an overly sharp attitude.

The goal here is to prevent me from having to go searching for details within each section. When I edit a work, I don't want to question 'damn.. what was she wearing there..?' and have to search through pages and pages of text looking for a hint of her appearance.

I mean.. it would be brilliant if the software was able to work this out intuitively. Where it had key words/phrases it searched for, and made records of specific sections within your writing. So when you took a look at a character bio, it would list, in words within your work, the parts where you describe a characters appearance and personality. It reality, this isn't too much of a stretch of the imagination. In some ways, I could start programming such a tool myself..

I just find that 'writing software' doesn't really facilitate writing so much as help you organise text files in a logical sequence. It needs more.