Creating a character for a story involves developing a complex and believable individual who will drive the narrative forward.

  1. Determine the Character's Role: Decide what role the character will play in the story. Is he the protagonist, antagonist, love interest, sidekick, or someone else? The character's role will influence their traits and motivations.
  2. Create a Backstory: Develop a backstory for your character. This includes their childhood, family, education, experiences, and anything else that shaped who they are. A well-developed backstory can provide depth and motivation for your character's actions.
  3. Define Physical Appearance: Describe your character's physical attributes. Consider their height, weight, hair color, eye color, and any unique features. However, avoid making physical appearance the defining characteristic of your character.
  4. Develop Personality Traits: Think about the character's personality traits, such as outgoing, introverted, optimistic, pessimistic, kind, mean, etc. These traits should be consistent but allow for growth and development throughout the story.
  5. Identify Strengths and Weaknesses: Every character should have both strengths and weaknesses. These can be physical, emotional, or intellectual. Their strengths will help them overcome challenges, while their weaknesses will add tension and realism to the story.
  6. Determine Motivations and Goals: Understand what motivates your character. What are their dreams, fears, and desires? Their motivations will drive their actions and decisions throughout the story.
  7. Create Conflicts: Conflicts are what make a story interesting. Consider the internal and external conflicts that your character faces. Internal conflicts can be inner struggles or moral dilemmas, while external conflicts can be rivalries, social issues, or other challenges.
  8. Develop Relationships: Your character should interact with other characters in the story. Think about their relationships with family, friends, romantic interests, and enemies. How do these relationships impact their actions and decisions?
  9. Consider Development Arc: A character should change and grow throughout the story. Consider the character's development arc and how they will change or grow as a result of the events in the story.
  10. Refine and Revise: As you write and learn more about your character, continue to refine and revise their traits and motivations. The character may evolve in ways you didn't expect, and that's okay!

<aside> đź’ˇ Remember, characters should be multi-dimensional and realistic. They should have flaws and be able to grow and learn from their experiences. The more you know about your character, the more effectively you can write their story and make them relatable to your readers.

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Characters and your story

Column Name Description
Name The character’s name
Character e.g. Hero, Loyal friend, Sage, Trickster, Martyr, Fun villain…
Role e.g. Magician, warrior, mentor
Institution & Rank e.g. Hogwarts, Pupil
First appears When the character first appears in the story

Character

Main Character Sheet

Sub Character Sheet