A character profile is a detailed description of the life and personality of a fictional character. When done right, it helps the author get into that character's mind and bring it to life for the benefit of readers. If you're writing a story, all of your main characters should have profiles. Start with the basic features. Define your character's age, appearance, occupation, social class and habits. Then it creates the psychological characteristics and the background. Finally, decide what place it will have in the story and the difficulties it will face. When you have done all of this, you can write characters that will be like real people to readers.
Steps
Part 1 of 3: Imagine the Character Appearance
Step 1. Start with a simple sentence describing the character
Many writers start with a very short description before creating a full profile. Usually this brief description is about a peculiar feature and makes it clear what role the character will play in the story. Before designing the full profile, imagine how you might get the character into the story and what you would like readers to know about him. For starters, write it down in a short sentence..
- After writing the introduction, use all the details you provided to create more details about the character's background and personality.
- You could present a character as "tired and showing many more years of his age". This is a great place to start because it gives you ample room to develop background. Think about why he looks older than his age and what difficulties he encountered throughout life have consumed him like that.
Step 2. Write the basic data of the character
This is general information that will help you create a more detailed profile of his personality. The basic information is age, date of birth, residence and occupation.
- Then use this information to go into detail. If you have decided on your character's occupation, think about his income. In what social class do you place it?
- You don't have to write down every single aspect of his life. More than anything else this is an exercise to get your creativity going and get you into the mind of the character you are designing.
Step 3. Visualize the physical appearance of the character
Physical descriptions are important to the main characters. Maybe you already had the character's appearance in mind when you started writing the profile, otherwise you will have to create one. Either way, write what you expect to look like and how you will describe it in the story. Moving on, think about how her appearance affects her personality.
- Start with the most basic information, such as hair and eye color and the clothes she usually wears. Does he have a beard? Do you have dyed or natural hair?
- Then get into the details. Decide if the character usually looks well groomed or scruffy. Think about what a particularly tidy person might be hiding or the difficulties a disheveled individual might find himself in.
- Also determine if the character has any distinctive signs or characteristics. A scar on the face, for example, can be particularly revealing about the character's story and can allow you to explain how he got that wound.
Step 4. Develop your habits
After you are done with the physical description, delve into the character's profile by imagining how he would behave in daily life. Working out habits, such as the way you speak, helps you really visualize the character and helps readers get more in tune.
- Think about how your character enters a room. Decide if he's the guy who does it confidently and introduces himself to everyone or sneaks in so no one sees him and stays in the corner.
- Imagine the way the character talks. Do you speak with an accent? Do you use a lot of big words to try to sound smart? Do you stammer?
- Think about any other tics or habits. Maybe when he lies he blinks. Later it could turn into a plot element.
Step 5. Give it a name
Depending on your preferences, the name can be of great importance or be secondary. If you like to use highly symbolic names, take some time to think about what you would like the character's name to symbolize. Otherwise, focus mostly on the description and choose a name that comes to mind.
- Unless you intend to give symbolic meaning to the character's name, don't worry too much about coming up with a nice name. Instead, focus on the description so that your readers connect with the character.
- If the character's name doesn't really matter to you, there are random name generators on the internet that can help you.
- It is very important to use distinct names for different characters. For example, having a character named John, another named Jack, and a third named Joe bewilders readers. If you call them John, Armando and Scott will be easier to tell apart.
- Also think about what nicknames the character might have and in what situations they are used. For example, if everyone calls a character Joe but during an argument his wife calls him Joseph, the reader will immediately understand that she is angry with him.
Part 2 of 3: Developing the Character Background
Step 1. Decide the birthplace of the character
If he doesn't live in his hometown, decide where he comes from. If the story takes place in New York but the character was born in Atlanta, explain what he is doing in New York. Design the rest of the profile using this information.
- Determine how long the character lived in his hometown and whether it was long enough for him to develop the local accent.
- Think about the reason that prompted the character to leave his city. Did he only move for work or did he not get along with his family? Does he miss his city or is he happy to be gone?
Step 2. Describe his childhood
Usually a character's background is very important to their overall personality. If he's an adult, think about what his childhood might have been like. Use this information to decide whether the character feels he has been successful in life or not.
- Invent as many details as possible about the character's childhood: best friend, school, favorite teacher, hobbies, favorite food, dreams for the future.
- Perhaps the character was a spoiled child who never faced difficulties. This is also important for his personality.
Step 3. Prepare an outline of the character's personal relationships
Decide how he interacts with the people who play a major role in the story. Decide if he is kind and thoughtful or a manipulator. Imagining how the character treats others will help you plan the rest of his story arc.
- As for the character's personal relationships, start with the simplest aspects. Write who his parents, brothers and sisters, and other close relatives are. Decide if he is married or not.
- Then think more deeply about what these personal relationships mean. Think about who he would turn to if he needed help or who he would ask for money if he needed it.
- Does the character make friends easily or does he just have a lot of acquaintances? In the latter case, explain why she has a hard time bonding with people.
Step 4. Build the character's psychological profile
Once you've completed the physical and personal description, delve deeper into the character's psyche. Develop his hopes, dreams, what he likes and what he hates. Think about how his psychological profile affects the way he behaves throughout the story.
- Ask yourself a general question, for example: "Is the character happy?" If the answer is yes, is there anything in the story that could compromise his happiness? If he's unhappy from the start, decide what's in his past that's preventing him from being happy.
- Then work on how the character interacts with the world and what makes him angry and sad.
- Would your character consider himself accomplished or would he claim to be a failure?
Part 3 of 3: Defining the Role of the Character in the Story
Step 1. Decide if the character will face a life-changing event throughout the story
This is an important aspect because it determines an eventual evolution of the character through the narrative arc. It could undergo a fundamental change between the beginning and the end of the story. If this happens, decide which event caused the character to transform. What lesson has he learned or failed to learn?
Think about the possibility that the character faces an event that could change his life but remain the same. For example, the death of a spouse is a life-changing event for most people, but if your character doesn't suffer any particular consequences, explain why
Step 2. Decide if your character will be a protagonist or an antagonist
The protagonist is the "good", while the antagonist is the "bad". After figuring out the details, decide which of your characters fall into each category. This way you will have the cast for your story.
Keep in mind that not all main characters are protagonists. You could flip the perspective by making your main character an antagonist who causes problems for all the other characters
Step 3. Write a second profile if the character ages throughout the story
People change as they age; the things they believe in are no longer the same. Think about the time scale of the story - if it spans a certain number of years, some of your characters could change a lot over that time period. In this case, develop new profiles for each age stage. This will help you understand how the character changes over time.
- If only a few months go by, you won't need a new profile unless the character changes completely within that time frame.
- Consider the relative age of the character to decide if a new profile is needed. For example, if the character is ten in one chapter but fifteen in the next, that's a big time jump. However, going from thirty to thirty-five is not such a big leap, because a thirty-year-old has already developed his own personality.
Advice
- If you encounter difficulties early on, there are plenty of suggestions on the internet on the questions you need to ask yourself to create your character bio. You don't have to answer all the questions, they just get your brain in motion so you can create the character.
- The character's profile is not engraved in stone. If at some point you don't like it anymore, change it. Just remember that the character must remain consistent with the final version of the story.
