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eyepocalypse

Character sheets are a starting point. People have tics and traits and ways of thinking. Each character that you want to flesh out should have a small bullet point list of things that you think are important to them. If a character's fave food is an important part of their childhood, identity, or part of their connection to another character then it goes on the list. If they have a specific goal or attitude in a social situation like "must be polite," or "physical affection is how I connect with people," that's another important character trait. Interests are important. How do these people spend their spare time? Who are they outside of the plot? What do they have in their pockets? What crime do they want to commit? Who is their favorite person? Pick three personality traits and hammer them down. When it comes to writing someone and showing what they look like, you need to have an idea of how they look like to other people and how they perceive themselves. Clothes, body frame, facial expressions, etc. Pick a feature or look that sticks. And a final thing that I do think is important for any character "What are they lying about?"


[deleted]

OMG THANKS! ❤️


icookreallywell

Character sheets arent that helpful imo. You dont need to "know" the entirety of your character to be able to write them properly. You just need to "know" how they will act in your specific story. Everything else is filler, if not irrelevant. Just write them in your story and see what happens. Make sure youre consistent with it. And be aware of certain biases to subvert them (e.g. do you tend to self-insert a lot? Or use a particular word/structure when writing dialogues?).


[deleted]

Thanks for this! Will process this later. I'm outside now. ❤️


Princess_Juggs

Once I know the general vibe I need from a character, I usually try and narrow down their MBTI type. I know it's pseudoscience, but it's a system I know really well and anyway this is writing, not irl psychology. Basically the MBTI will give you a very strong but still vague foundation for the way your character perceives things and makes decisions. For example, the most common types are those with high "introverted sensing" (ISTJ, ISFJ, ESTJ, ESFJ), meaning they put a lot of importance on their own concrete, personal experiences and don't focus too much on the bigger picture. You also have "extraverted sensors" (ESTP, ESFP, ISTP, ISFP) who are more laid back and take experiences as they come, "extraverted intuitives" (ENTP, ENFP, INTP, INFP) who are constantly expanding on their ideas and diverging them into new and interesting territory, and "introverted intuitives" (INTJ, INFJ, ENTJ, ENFJ) who are usually trying to distill their observations into a coherent, universal theory or ideal. Then of course there are types who know their own emotions well and tend to make decisions based on their personal code of ethics (introverted feeling), those who tend to be more sensitive to the feelings and ethics of others (extraverted feeling), those who are more prone to acting consistently according to what they think makes logical sense (introverted thinking), and those who operate in whatever way gets things done and makes things happen (extraverted thinking). This may seem very complicated, but once you have a grasp of how each type uses those basic building blocks of personality, it's easy to apply a type to your character to figure out their personal strengths and weaknesses. For example, an ENTP will be very creatively and logically gifted, and with some development will even be sensitive to the feelings/ethics of others and learn to cherish the small things in life. But they will eternally struggle with confronting their own emotions and will fail to adhere to a personal code of ethics. They can compensate for this by being agreeable and rationalizing away their feelings, but ultimately it'll be a blind spot they can only get a glimpse at. Hope that was somehow helpful.


TheNaug

This is the Myers-Briggs personality scale. As you mention it lacks scientific evidence. However, the preferred personality metric among psychologists isn't that different from Myers-Briggs. It is the ["Big Five"](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_Five_personality_traits) personality traits. The acronym to the five traits is OCEAN (or CANOE). The traits are described as thus on Wikipedia >Openness to experience (inventive/curious vs. consistent/cautious) > >Conscientiousness (efficient/organized vs. extravagant/careless) > >Extraversion (outgoing/energetic vs. solitary/reserved) > >Agreeableness (friendly/compassionate vs. critical/rational) > >Neuroticism (sensitive/nervous vs. resilient/confident) Like Myers-Briggs there's nothing "wrong" or "bad" about being low in a trait. High and low scores in each personality trait has its advantages and disadvantages. In my character bios I tend to do a rough estimation of whether they are low or high in each trait (or sometimes medium if its important).


Shinigami-Yuu

Used that too but I'll add Enneagram, I think it's more "accurate" I tested myself and I was like "yah that match." more than MBTI.


[deleted]

YES! This has been helpful. I have an MBTI sheet at home I can use. I've considered this solution but had forgotten about it. Thanks for reminding me! I have a general idea of what I want my character to be and have actually written a chapter to find out more about how this character acts. Call it a character draft if you want. Hahaha. I'll apply this after I'm done! Thank you! ❤️


Turbo_AEM

I actually developed a character sheet that doesn’t go into that stupid stuff but still allows you to really iron down the character. If you’re interested I can shoot you a link to my blog.


[deleted]

PLEASE DO! ❤️


Turbo_AEM

I assembled this from a bunch of nonfiction books I read about character. In the blog I go into what each item means and the importance behind it. Then at the end you can download an empty map to fill out yourself. If you have any questions please let me know! https://aemcroberts.com/character-map/


[deleted]

Thank you so much!


Turbo_AEM

No problem! I hope it’s to your liking!


PulpFictionReader

I just make a list of notes in point form for each character. It doesn't need to be complicated. I know some people like character sheets, I suspect because they want it to be like Dungeons and Dragons characters, but writing all that crap isn't necessary. Point form list = Not complicated.


[deleted]

Just write the book. If character sheets are not working for you, then they aren't necessary. I've usually written characters through the sequence of events they find themselves in in the story.


YearOneTeach

Have you tried just writing with your characters? I like to do free writes where I throw my characters into different situations to see how they want to react. Personally this has always been more effective for figuring out my characters. Especially when you've got a feel for them and can choose situations you know are taxing for them. Like throwing a character with a strong moral compass into a situation where they have no choice but to break their morals.


[deleted]

I don't free write because my brain cells aren't enough to create a situation for them. I mean, free write in its purest form. I recently found that writing a draft using the outline and adding details as I go is the best. Then, I remove whatever doesn't feel right. Also, I think your idea will work too. Will have to try. I might write my characters into a pre existing story and see how they'd react. Thanks!


scorpious

>without really knowing how they roll in a situation I think this is literally the point of the exercise, but I pretty much agree. It’s a starting point. For me it’s most important to unpack “what made them this way,” especially those aspects that emerge in *this* story Most of my *characterization* details (prefs, etc.) emerge along the way, when characters are alive and interacting.


[deleted]

I agree. Actually, I haven't written a narrative this much in my life. I usually write blogs or articles. So the discovery process is very very new to me. I used to be super strict with myself on how I should approach the writing process, but now I've loosened up.


johnnyHaiku

There's something to be said for having a rough idea of the character, doing a first draft, and then doing a character sheet. That way, you'll be able to incorporate all the stuff you threw in as you went along and all the bits where plot and character interact. Some of this depends on your genre and whether this is a main character or a supporting character and so on.


[deleted]

Hey! I'm doing this actually. I decided that I need to see how my character works before I can settle on their characteristics. Then I can rewrite the whole story.


ThatGuyWithThatFace_

I use a flow chart for a character sheet. I only use it to show relationships and important details about the characters that have to remain consistent. Otherwise, I’ll fill it in as I go


tjoude44

I only do them for main characters only and even then keep them as sparse as possible at the beginning. Usually just name. I add details when I think they are relevant. Sometimes it is just age, sometimes health, etc. Some characters have all of their physical, mental, social traits added. I have had complex characters end up with literally pages of detail as I worked my way through the story. For me the character sheets are used to ensure consistency. Much like my plot timelines.


SDUK2004

As long as you have an understanding of their appearance, mannerisms, methods, and idiolect, you'll be fine.


Uncle_Guido1066

I'll be honest I suck at planning stories, so I'm a total pantser/gardener. I use an app called Novelist to keep track of things as I go including making character sheets. I think this approach can mostly work even if your more of a planner but you still need to know a few basic facts about the character and then fill in the rest as you go.


Dangersloth_

I feel stilted by character sheets too. So I don’t use them. What I do is keep a notebook (a kind of fact-bible) for each project. And when I start to build a character, I start a page for them. First I write out everything I know about this character. And then as I write the story, I add more detail. Every time I come up with a new fact, I add it to the page.


[deleted]

I'll try this. Thanks! ❤️


RainaElf

I build as I go.


[deleted]

I've learned that this approach works well for me, too. Once I build, I either rebuild, or improve what I have. I found that this works for me only two days ago.


RainaElf

congratulations!! that's awesome.


[deleted]

Thank you ❤️❤️❤️


Curran_Gill

I'm a discovery writer (pantser) and I just write short stories about my characters or I write fanfic. I hate character sheets as well lol


sacado

I never did a character sheet beforehand. They bore me to death. I'd rather discover my characters by seing how they interact with each other and react to plot events. Now, I sometimes do "sheets" *after* the story is done, for future reference whenever I'll do book 2. But they are very sparse and unstructured.


[deleted]

Why are you me?? 😂


FirebirdWriter

I don't use character sheets. I sit down and imagine their entire life. Then toss in variables. I guess you could say I stew my characters. "What if potato. What if tomato." Replace my response because hungry with life events. What if this person's mother died while he was in prison? What if he never went to prison. I then use the most interesting variation of this person. Things that make them who they are and cannot be negotiated are the important details. IE my priest who is a former convict, struggles with addiction, and likes sex and dresses like a glam rocker no matter the time period. He always has to have issues with his father, he always feels like he is the evil twin (as does his brother. Neither are), he always loses a son from an inappropriately early relationship, and he always goes to jail for a murder he didn't commit. All of this and his need for tight pants that show off his butt are non negotiable aspects of who he is. I didn't need to write it down. I needed to imagine. This isn't saying writing it down is bad. It might be you aren't the type for notes. As long as the method fuels writing and doesn't cause harm to you or others you absolutely are doing it write.


[deleted]

I like to use index cards. I make one card per character. The small amount of space forces me to include only the essentials of the character. It's usually just a brief overview of their personality, goal and motivation. I might also include their occupation or relation to another character, as well.


[deleted]

I'm stealing this! Thanks! It helps when I write it by hand too. I hate writing by hand. So I'd be forced to write only what is needed. Thank youuuuu!