Good characters are always in change, always paradoxial, internally conflicted, loaded with double standards and would never be able to fill out a bio sheet objectively. Because that's how real people are.
At this point I guess I'm spitting in a river, but I feel like saying it anyway MC spreadsheets are like employment resumes: You'll never understand their CHARACTER unless you get to know them yourself
When I'm working with a new set of characters, I do create a character sheet, but in the singular, and with all the characters on it, detailing just the basics of every character. Dates of birth, descriptions, maybe the character summed up in 5 words and relationships to other characters will all make their way on, but nothing else. If they have a past, I normally keep that stored in my head if it's relevant to the plot, but creating these rigid identikits for characters just doesn't work in my view.
I think developing a character beforehand is often a good idea, but that chart is overkill. No one needs that much detail. Way too much information.
I also like the concept of these spread sheets, in that they will make you think of things about your character that you had not previously considered. I don't think a person would be able to motivate himself to fill the thing out, though, unless he really loved his character. Also, off-topic: That kind of salesman rhetoric seems useless to me. I'd rather a person talk in a real voice, suggesting that it might help, than to give a pitch like that.
Thank you so much for finding this, I've been trying for years to find a good chart that helps me map out my character but never could. This chart just saved me another five years or so of looking and planning. Once again, thanks.
Looked over that thing and it looks great. Decided to print out a few copies for writing on the go, but I'm definitely going to bookmark that site. I'm on a few role-playing sites, too, where you have to fill out a character sheet. Yea, when you print it out, it's about five pages long, but it's worth it.
I wrote a short novel for literature class last year. I tend to be a planning freak to a fault, so I used pretty detailed character sheets for everyone in the story, had the entire thing set in stone before I started writing. And you know what happened? The thing was terrible. It had no glue, no flow, no interest. I recently began another novel with the exact opposite approach - I haven't written anything down, just let ideas float around in my head. As a result, my writing is much more organic, less forced, and the book grows as I write. The best part is that it's been a lot more fun! I get to watch the story, the characters grow. I do know a lot of people who thrive on planning, though. I actually sent this link to a friend who was looking for something like this. ~ Micah
I agree with you, Micah. Character sheets constrain your characters before you have had a chance to work with them in a story context. Many of the decisions you make for the character sheets have absolutely no relevance to the story, and other key attributes that are relevant won't be covered by a one-size-fits-all template. The time you waste on a character sheet is far better used writing the story.
You seem to have mentioned several times that you despise character sheets. I've never used one, but I can see why someone would. You're right that the character will forever be changing. What kind of story would it be if they didn't, right? However, setting it as a basis for your character when they are introduced and compiling their history into a nice format so that one wouldn't need to keep it all in their head could be a real advantage to some folks. Some writers don't enjoy having this clutter of a character in their head; they may enjoy seeing it all on paper and have something to reference. I read the character sheet for kicks and I think anyone downloading a character sheet could be helped out by something like this because those blanks ask the author what the character is about, therefore helping the character grow and give them more detail. As I said, I have no intention of using it, but I did bookmark the page just in case I feel like playing with it later. Tools like character sheets can be like wearing an iPod when running: I won't do it and I tend to look down on people that do, but they should be free to do it and if it helps them then who am I to complain?
I'm starting to agree with you there more and more. I'm drifting away from those locked in type planning sheets and I just do research when I absolutely have to. You shouldn't have to know more about your character or setting than you have to. I pretty much stick to just writing down back stories so I don't forget them. Even if it never comes up in the story the back story and at least help me develop the character's personality a bit more realistically.
I always have trouble with developing my characters. I don't know why but it's the hardest part for me when I outline. I guess the fact that I'm a perfectionist when it comes to drafting doesn't help... but yeah. That helps a lot.
You shouldn't use character sheets they are good to see where your character is at, but they tend to constrict the characters growth. Not relying on the character sheet tends to let you build your character and have fun seeing what type of character you created without purposely trying to pull the character into that certain set of ideals.
I read all of the post concerning character profiles. I am new to writing and have just started taking a course on it. out of all the advice this makes sense wouldnt it be easier to know your characters past so you can more easily speak through their eyes?
If you are just starting out, or if you generally have trouble solidifying characters, a character sheet such as this might be helpful, but merely as a guidepost. (And bear in mnid, if you are on a journey and you keep finding yourself back at the same guidepost over and over again ... you're probably lost!) Years ago I filled one out on a character, not so much to help draw the character, since I was well into the manuscript, had a long-standing relationship with the character and knew him well but, just for the fun of seeing how it played out. As Cogito mentioned, it's not really an effective tool for an ongoing project. Your characters, if they are well drawn, will continue to change and grow with their experiences just like 'real' people. If you nail them to a dossier sheet, you've limited their ability to grow. So, if you are looking for a way to understand your character in order to start your story, it might help but it won't help you create a solid, well-formed character. Like clay, that works best when warm and pliable.
I think the effectiveness of character charts really depends on the scope of your story. If your story (novel, short story, what have you) spans forty years, creating character charts probably won't help you very much. If your story covers less distance, so to speak, I think character sheets are useful. I personally like character charts because they force me to really get to know my characters. It helps me give them depth, especially since my stories tend not to span very much time. I will say this: even if you don't like to create whole character charts before you begin writing, by the time you have finished your first draft you should be able to answer all of those questions for each of your major characters at any specific time period. You should know the details of your characters, especially the relatively basic details listed by those character charts. When I started my novel, I created some character charts, but nowhere near as thorough as the ones in this thread. I was a little worried when I saw the length of the linked charts, but when I read through them I realized I could answer all the questions posed by the chart for each of my major characters.
Have you looked at that character sheet? Many of the questions are completely irrelevant or unanswerable for many characters. I have seen the same thing for most character sheets. Furthermore, answering some qusetions early will overconstrain your characters. It's a cookie cutter approach, and tends to make flat, rigid characters. Learn about characters the way you get to know any of your real-life acquaintances. Know them by your interactions with them, and through their actions that you observe.
Of course I looked at the character sheet! don't be silly. Of course some questions will be irrelevant for some characters. My strategy is to skip those that could not/would not apply. If you're talking about a thirteen-year-old, skip the questions about spouses! You say that answering some questions will over-constrain your character. Can you give me an example of this? I suppose if the character chart asked you what color shirt the character would be wearing, that could lead to some over-restraint. Then again, if the character chart you are using asks you THAT, perhaps you need a better chart. I have to disagree with you, that character charts inherently create cookie-cutter characters. I think the questions this chart (and most charts) pose aren't all that specific. I mean, no matter who your character is, he or she has hopes, was born SOMEWHERE, has long-term goals, etc. Arguably, your story may not require all of this information, but I am of the opinion that, the more you know about a character, the better you can "write" him or her. I think the reason why most character charts contain the same questions is because they are intended to be basic. When it comes right down to it, a character chart is just a way of organizing information about a character. A character chart just helps some people by providing basic questions that, if they truly know their characters, they should be able to answer. It helps make sure you don't realize, after 40,000 words, that you've claimed your character has five, twelve, three, and seven children, all at different times. In other words, character charts help maintain CONSISTENCY. Obviously, you feel strongly that character charts are detrimental for your personal style of writing. You like to learn as you go about the characters you create. I TOTALLY get where you're coming from. I do find, however, that "seat of the pants writing" doesn't work for me. Perhaps it is just because I'm a tad scatter-brained, but I need to keep all my information in one place so that I can maintain a character's voice when I write. We may just have to agree to disagree here, but I think my previous point still holds. No matter how you get to know your character, whether by creating him first through cataloging information (chart) or by writing the story and letting the character evolve, you STILL should be able to answer all those questions once you've finished writing. Basically, you can either develop characters, then write with them, or you can write the story and develop the characters as you go. Either way, you (should) still wind up with the same information. I just prefer the first option.
wow the character sheet dosent miss a thing does it! I am new to writing and am aways looking for new ideas. Cogito, I think is right here arnt you almost overthinking your character to death? I can see maybe doing the past event sheet as the past dosent change (unless time warps) people grow and change everyday according to events that happen to them , isnt this true of your characters as well?
I don't get them. Anything important about my characters and the plot stays in my head. For references sake I don't need much more than a paragraph, if that. I don't know. I just can't figure out why you'd need them. I guess if they work for you, use them, but their usefulness completely eludes me, to repeat myself yet again. Diff'rent strokes for diff'rent folks. Just like different study methods work for different people, I guess different techniques work for different people. I can do fine developing them as they go based off a short description, but at the same time I can still remember the names of the class I went to pre-school with when I was three and have never seen since, while others can't.
I'm kinda on the same page as Mr What. I keep all of my character's traits in my head or in a short paragraph, but meh, I downloaded the character sheet just in case I do need to think of some oblique fact about my character. I do see what Cogito is saying about the "cookie cutter" character, but it could be useful for a beginning writer or to judge the change in a dynamic character over a novel or story - like others have said.
I don't think that's necessarily true. If your ideas aren't original, it won't matter whether you go at character development blindly (which actually might only invent inconsistency or vagueness - not originality) or if you have a whole biography written. I find that, once I have a core idea for a character, it helps me to sketch out my character ideas in a mechanical way like this. I either sit down and write a few descriptive paragraphs or I fill out statistics about them on a chart. From there, I have a preliminary idea of who I am dealing with and can begin to write them. As I develop the story, however, I generally change the character a bit, and sometimes I scrap my original ideas altogether. Your personal writing notes (character sheets included) only constrain you as much as you let them constrain you. I dislike this idea. I barely know myself, and I know other people only to certain degrees. I don't think I'd be able to take much pride in a work as haphazard as the rest of real life. I wholeheartedly agree with this. It's always a good idea to keep notes on your story, and these sorts of charts are just a means of organizing your character notes for the sake of coherence and clarity.
...w...o...w... this really shows how little I know about half of my characters. Thanks so much, this shall be incredibly helpful!
Oh and I'd think these sheets would be more helpful in some instances as a base frame work. For instances... you may write up a sheet. You're character may be splendidly generic... but like in real life, people are unpredictable in books as well. Just 'cause your character has a thing for tea cups and has a pet dog they adore and dote on doesn't mean you can't have them in a zombie story kicking butt. Heck the dog could even be the motivation they need to go for the chainsaw. I think these sheets are good provided you keep in mind your character will grow beyond your expectations and that this is a natural process for them (your character).
I think Donna Tartt is excellent at character development, she gave an interesting interview with Sarah Anne Johnson about her techniques and style.
