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Fiction Writer's Character Chart

Once filled out, this chart helps writers get a firm grasp on characters.



Happy writing!

~ Reb





Date this chart was completed:





Character's Full Name:

Reason or meaning of name:

Nickname:

Reason for nickname:



Birthdate:

Astrological Sign:







PHYSICAL APPEARANCE



Age

How old does s/he appear?





Eye Color:

Glasses or contacts?





Hair color:

Distinguishable hair feature (bald, receding hairline, etc.):

Type of hair (coarse, fine, thick, etc?)





Typical hairstyle:









Height:





Weight:

Type of body/build:









Nationality:









Skin tone:





Skin type:









Shape of face:









Distinguishing Marks?

Scars?





Most predominant feature:

Resembles (famous or not):









Accent?









Is s/he healthy?

If not, why not:









Physical disabilities:





Physical abilities (what is character good at? sports, etc.):









FAVORITES Color:





Music:





Food:





Literature:





Expressions:





Book:





Quote:





Expletive(s) (swears):





Mode of transportation:







HABITS Smokes:

What?

How often?







Drinks:

What?

How often?







Worst bad habit?







Quirks:







BACKGROUND Hometown:



Type of childhood:



First memory:



Most important childhood event that still affects him/her:

Why?







Lower education:







Higher education:







Booksmart or streetsmart?









Religion and/or religious views and/or tendencies?

Firsts: Job?







Kiss?







Sexual experience?







FAMILY Mother (name):

Relationship with her:





Father (name):

Relationship with him:





Siblings:

Birth order:

Relationship with each:



Children of Siblings:



Extended family (aunts, uncles, cousins, etc.):



Close to family? Yes/No







CHILDREN Does character have child(ren)?

How many?





Are all children with the same partner?

If no, why not? If no, what is the custody arrangement?





How does character relate to his/her child(ren)?





Which child is character's favorite?

Why?





Character's most favorite memory of his/her child(ren)?





Character's least favorite memory of his/her child(ren)?





Is relationship with children good?





Is relatioinship with children important to character?



OCCUPATION

Where does character work?

How many years?





Relationship with co-workers?





Like his/her job?

Why or why not?







Dream job:









ATTITUDE Greatest fear:





Worst thing that could happen to him/her?





What single event would most throw character's life in complete turmoil?







Character is most at ease when:





Most ill at ease when:







Priorities:





Philosophy:







How s/he feels about self:





Past failure s/he would be embarrassed to have people know about:





If granted one wish, what would it be?

Why?







Daredevil or cautious?

Same when alone?







Biggest regret?







Biggest accomplishment:





Minor accomplishments:







Character's darkest secret:

Does anyone else know?

If yes, did character tell them?

If no, how did they find out?



PERSONALITY Greatest source of strength in character's personality (whether s/he sees it as such or not):





Greatest source of weakness in character's personality (whether s/he sees it as such or not):







Character's soft spot:

Is this soft spot obvious to others?

If not, how does character hide it?





Biggest vulnerability:







Which of the 7 deadly sins does character fight (or give into, willingly or not)?

(lust, gluttony, greed, sloth, wrath, envy, pride)





Which of the 7 virtues does your character have (or fight against)?

(chastity, abstinence, leberality, diligence, patience, kindness, humility)







TRAITS Optimist or pessimist?





Introvert or extrovert?





Drives and motivations?





Talents (hidden or not)?







Extremely skilled at:





Extremely unskilled at:







Good characteristics:





Character flaws:





Mannerisms:





Peculiarities:







SELF-PERCEPTION One word character would use to describe self:







One paragraph description of how character would describe self:













What does character consider best physical characteristic?







What does character consider worst physical characteristic?

Are these realistic assessments?

If not, why not?







How CHARACTER thinks others perceive him/her?







What four things would CHARACTER most like to change about self? (#1 most important, #2 second most important, etc.)



















If change #1 was made, would character be as happy as s/he thinks?

If not, why not?







INTERRELATION WITH OTHERS

Is character divorced? Why?

If yes, how many times?





Has character ever cheated on any signficant other?





How does character relate to others?



How is s/he perceived by...





Strangers?









Friends?









Wife/Husband/Lover?







Children







Co-workers?









Protagonist?







Antagonist?





First impression character makes is:

What happens to change this perception?







What do family/friends like most about character?





What do family/friends like least about character?







GOALS

Immediate goal(s):





Long range goal(s):





How does character plan to accomplish goal(s)?





How will other people around character be affected?





PROBLEMS/CRISIS

How character react in a crisis (calm/panic/etc.)?





How does character face problems?

Kinds of problems character usually runs into:





How does character react to NEW problems?





How does character react to change?





GENERAL

Jewelry?





Other accessories?





Drives a ... :





Where does character live?

With anyone? Yes/No





Where does character want to live?





Spending habits (frugal, spendthrift, etc)?





What does s/he do too much of?





Too little of?





Most prized possession: Why?





Play musical instrument?

Which one(s)?

How did s/he learn?





Does character like animals?





Any pets?



Likes music?

What kind?



TECHNICAL

Owns a computer? Yes/No

If not, why not?





Email address(es):

If more than one, each used for...?





"Handle":

Meaning to character:





Uses computer for business, pleasure, both?





Play computer games?

If yes, which game(s)? If yes, how many hours per day?

If so, are they/it multiplayere game/s?





Name used on each game & meaning to character?





List 4 online site(s) (URLs) visited daily?

1.

2.

3.

4.



UNCATEGORIZED

© (c ) copyright 1990-2011 Rebecca Sinclair

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

Authors Note: I worked hard on this. I wouldn't steal your stuff, please don't steal mine! Read the disclaimer below.

~ Permission is granted to LINK TO the Fiction Writers Character Chart.

~ Permission is granted to print out a copy of the Fiction Writers Character Chart FOR PERSONAL USE

~ Permission is NOT granted to copy and/or use the Character Chart in print and/or electronic form (including the

internet) without express written permission).

~ Permission is NOT granted to copy/print in any form/use The Fiction Writers Character Chart in a group setting,

electronically or otherwise , without express written permission.

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URL: http://www.eclectics.com/articles/character.html

Email: reb@rebeccasinclair.com



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