Have you ever had the greatest plot idea ever but lacked the characters to play it out? Or had issues with creating a new character for each new story and wound up using the same one over and over? Or maybe you have troubles keeping your characters in line; as in, keeping their personality consistant? Here's a way to help you create your characters. I call it the "character format" and I've included my example for one of my characters in pink. If you can think of a more interesting title, PM me, please. I'd really appreciate it.
(note: this doesn't have to be filled out in order! I only numbered it for my purposes!)
Character format:
1) Where is your person from? Pick a country, religion, or race. Think about it first, though. How would coming from this certain place or religion or race effect their personality? Decide if this fits or not with what you need.
- China
2) Now that you know where their from, you can pick a name what will make sense. Before, you might have picked the name Jenny when she was born in India. That wouldn't make logical sense, though, would it? Now you have basic guidlines for their name. Go online and to a search for names from the country or place you've picked if you still can't think of one.
- Wen-Mei Zhou
3) Appearance may be important, but it's affected by their history. Think of a past for your character. What happened to them when they were younger? What kind of home did they grow up in? Did they have pets? Did they have siblings? What were their parents like? Did they do well in school? If you really want or think it might be important to the story, also think about their family history.
(bullets work fine for this)
- Her mothers side of the family used to be rich until her mother and her father wasted away the fortune on gambling and drinking
- Her mother left when her father became perpetually sick and bedridden. She has not been seen since she left (Wen-Mei was six)
- Wen-Mei's grandmother came and cared for her father until she died (Wen-Mei was eleven)
- Her grandmother used to tell her stories about when she was young and was in a gang.
*Important: during the time her grandmother was staying, Wen-Mei remembered seeing her wearing an old necklace that looked like an egyptian ankh (the crosses with loops at the top)
- Wen-Mei lives near Nanjing and works as a farmer in the meager rice-fields and garden her family owns. She sells the produce at market once a week and uses most of the income to pay for her fathers meds.
- She attends school and has relatively high grades
- She doesn't have friends
- Because of her families lack of money, there is very little furnishing in her home.
(suggestion: try to keep the events in order, whether it be chronological, importance, or alphabetical! Just keep them in order and leave room to add stuff if you come up with things you forgot!)
4) Now that we know what shaped their childhood, we can have a better idea of what they're like now. Firstly, the way we dress is affected by the way we grew up. Someone who had a father who drank a lot might look tired all the time or might look frightened. A person whose parents were loving and kind would have a light to their eyes and probably well-kept clothes and hair. The someone with a drunk for a dad might have coarse hair and wrinkled clothes and messy habbits. he loved person would probably smell like something sweet, flowers or spices. The drinkers child would more likely smell like alcohol.
- smells like rice (from working in the fields) or bamboo (the floors, door-frames, and window-panels are bamboo along with other random furnishings)
- She has red-ish brown hair to her waist that is thick but soft because she always takes care to keep everything as clean as possible.
- Wears ribbons in her hair
- She's thin and on the short side of five feet tall.
- Usually wears skirts and blouses or her school uniform.
- Her skin is tan from working in the fields but it's a light tan because her skin is naturally pale and not meant for work in the fields
- Her hands are rough from use of the coarse soap often used in China and from work in the fields.
- She has eyes the same red-ish brown color of her hair.
5) A persons personality, obviously, is also affected by the environment they grew up in. The drunk mans child will probably have foul language and get into fights a lot. Or, on the other end of the spectrum, they might be fighting it with all their might and have the best manners in the world. That would still make sense, but you have to show why they don't want to be like their father. The loved child would most likely be kind and caring, not closed and silent. They might like bright happy childish colors and things while the drinkers child probably wouldn't. The drinkers child probably wouldn't be friends with the smartest kid in school, and you'd have to have a very good reason if they were. The loved one might be though, because of charismatic charm. Or maybe they were smart too. You have to consider all the causes of everything in your characters personality. Add them to your "history" if you think you wouldn't be able to remember it all.
-She's kind
- She likes to help others and do well, she spends most of her time studying for school or working in the fields
- She's always got a smile for those around her* (this might be better suited for "quirky habbits" but it could go here)
- She's a bit of a clutz and is somewhat forgetful. She isn't the brightest crayon in the box, but she tries hard and that makes the difference.
- She keeps an open mind
- It's relatively easy to convince her of something, but she never tells secrets and is very trustworthy.
6) Any annoying, or quirky little habbits your character has? Name them!
- Always has a smile for those around her*
- Might be labeled as a "neat freak"
- Always offers her help and is reluctant to back down
- Whenever she gets excited about something, she tends to repeat it over and over (example: (person)"do you want ice-cream?" (Mei)"Yes... yes; yes, yes, yes!" wink
Developing your character futher:
If you find that you have trouble keeping your character on track, help yourself get to know them a little better! A good way to do this (but definitely not the only way) is to put them in different scenarios and try to imagine how they would react. For some people, it might help to contrast it to something you would do or something a different character might do. Here are a few pre-made settings:
-- Their pet dog dies (or pet cat or whatever pet you want to imagine)
-- Their mother or father just up and leaves
-- Their friend is moving away
-- They are told that they have been chosen to save the world (as corny as that is, everybody DOES have different reactions. People don't just go "Okay!" when they're told they have to save the world)
-- They discover they can breathe underwater, or maybe they discover that they can fly.
Think about all these situations and consider the many different reactions possible, then consider your characters reaction. Their reactions to different occurences define who they are. As you can probably see, they don't have to be big and all-original. Most of the ideas I listed are commonplace. Everyone uses them. Think of a few on your own.
I'm always open for ideas. If you can think of a way to improve my character format or have any awesome ideas for character developing scenarios, send them to me!
You can post your own character format here or PM it to me for evaluation. Sometimes, you can't see when some part of your character doesn't fit in. Example: If I had said that my character lived in America, she definitely wouldn't be working in a rice paddy. She'd probably work on a farm, growing corn or potatoes or oranges. You have to consider all the aspects of a person, and sometimes you miss things.
remember: it's a rule here than only constructive criticism will be given!
IFonlyTHEYcouldSEE Community Member 
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