Writers seem to place a lot of emphasis on getting to know your characters and making sure they are fully fleshed out before you attempt to write a story about them. Sometimes, this advice seems silly considering that, since I'm the one who created this character, shouldn't I know them inside and out already? Yes, you should. And that's the reason why you creating a character profile will not only benefit your story, but enhanse your understanding and awareness of these figments in your head.
After taking the time to put write a mini biography on your character, aspects of their life which you already imagined, can become more fleshed out and ultimatley, play a bigger or more important part in the story than you previously imagined. Even if you know that the love interst in your story has piercing, dark blue eyes that seem to seize every woman's heart with their gaze, little details like that can get lost in the writing process unless you invent a way to commit those things to memory. Which brings us to, profiling your characters.
My suggestion would be to include everything imaginable without going overboard. Include the major things and the minor things. But maybe not things so miniscule as their crooked pinky toe...unless for some strange reason that fact that manifests itself in the story. Think about the facts about yourself that could help a stranger understand the way you are. Something fun I did, was take the Myers Briggs Personality Test from my character's point of view. (By doing this I discovered that my latest protagonist and I share the same personality: ESFP. Extraverted, sensing, thinking and percieving.) I then proceeded to write down every physical attribute and personality trait that seemed poignant to a real person. Here is one I made for my protagonist.
Ella Lockhart: Role: Protagonist. Age: 18. Physical Traits: Auburn hair, medium green eyes with flecks of yellow, porcelain skin with lots of brown freckels, rosy cheeks, dark pink lips, imperfect nose and medium height. Best feature: Hair. Worst feature: Big forehead. Personality: Extraverted, impulisve, practical, blunt, talkative, opinionated, people person, witty, perceptive and observant. Hobbies: Painting, singing and being with friends. Her problem: (this is the part where you insert the entire reason your character is in this story. What is happening to them? How does it endager them? What must they do to resolve it?)
So why not go ahead try it? :)
Have you ever made a character profile? Let me know of anything different that you did in the comment below?
Written by: Karoline Kingley
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
How to Profile Your Characters
Writers seem to place a lot of emphasis on getting to know your characters and making sure they are fully fleshed out before you attempt to write a story about them. Sometimes, this advice seems silly considering that, since I'm the one who created this character, shouldn't I know them inside and out already? Yes, you should. And that's the reason why you creating a character profile will not only benefit your story, but enhanse your understanding and awareness of these figments in your head.
After taking the time to put write a mini biography on your character, aspects of their life which you already imagined, can become more fleshed out and ultimatley, play a bigger or more important part in the story than you previously imagined. Even if you know that the love interst in your story has piercing, dark blue eyes that seem to seize every woman's heart with their gaze, little details like that can get lost in the writing process unless you invent a way to commit those things to memory. Which brings us to, profiling your characters.
My suggestion would be to include everything imaginable without going overboard. Include the major things and the minor things. But maybe not things so miniscule as their crooked pinky toe...unless for some strange reason that fact that manifests itself in the story. Think about the facts about yourself that could help a stranger understand the way you are. Something fun I did, was take the Myers Briggs Personality Test from my character's point of view. (By doing this I discovered that my latest protagonist and I share the same personality: ESFP. Extraverted, sensing, thinking and percieving.) I then proceeded to write down every physical attribute and personality trait that seemed poignant to a real person. Here is one I made for my protagonist.
Ella Lockhart: Role: Protagonist. Age: 18. Physical Traits: Auburn hair, medium green eyes with flecks of yellow, porcelain skin with lots of brown freckels, rosy cheeks, dark pink lips, imperfect nose and medium height. Best feature: Hair. Worst feature: Big forehead. Personality: Extraverted, impulisve, practical, blunt, talkative, opinionated, people person, witty, perceptive and observant. Hobbies: Painting, singing and being with friends. Her problem: (this is the part where you insert the entire reason your character is in this story. What is happening to them? How does it endager them? What must they do to resolve it?)
So why not go ahead try it? :)
Have you ever made a character profile? Let me know of anything different that you did in the comment below?
Written by: Karoline Kingley
After taking the time to put write a mini biography on your character, aspects of their life which you already imagined, can become more fleshed out and ultimatley, play a bigger or more important part in the story than you previously imagined. Even if you know that the love interst in your story has piercing, dark blue eyes that seem to seize every woman's heart with their gaze, little details like that can get lost in the writing process unless you invent a way to commit those things to memory. Which brings us to, profiling your characters.
My suggestion would be to include everything imaginable without going overboard. Include the major things and the minor things. But maybe not things so miniscule as their crooked pinky toe...unless for some strange reason that fact that manifests itself in the story. Think about the facts about yourself that could help a stranger understand the way you are. Something fun I did, was take the Myers Briggs Personality Test from my character's point of view. (By doing this I discovered that my latest protagonist and I share the same personality: ESFP. Extraverted, sensing, thinking and percieving.) I then proceeded to write down every physical attribute and personality trait that seemed poignant to a real person. Here is one I made for my protagonist.
Ella Lockhart: Role: Protagonist. Age: 18. Physical Traits: Auburn hair, medium green eyes with flecks of yellow, porcelain skin with lots of brown freckels, rosy cheeks, dark pink lips, imperfect nose and medium height. Best feature: Hair. Worst feature: Big forehead. Personality: Extraverted, impulisve, practical, blunt, talkative, opinionated, people person, witty, perceptive and observant. Hobbies: Painting, singing and being with friends. Her problem: (this is the part where you insert the entire reason your character is in this story. What is happening to them? How does it endager them? What must they do to resolve it?)
So why not go ahead try it? :)
Have you ever made a character profile? Let me know of anything different that you did in the comment below?
Written by: Karoline Kingley
Subscribe to:
Post Comments
(
Atom
)
Oh so funny! I did the same thing with my characters from Cosmo the other day! :D I think Cosmo was INFJ while Celeste was ENFP, which is funny because I'm an ESFJ, and I thought I was more like both of them. ;)
ReplyDelete