I almost forgot that about a week ago, I said I was going to do a post on character development—and while a good chunk of this work happens in revisions (I know, I know, I keep talking about that), I think my "template" will be useful for you to start thinking about now.
I don't know about you, but I am powering through my word count. I'm happy with the story—the plot is fast paced, the action is tight—but I still don't really know my characters. I have the basics, but I haven't been able to "go deep" and so when I start writing about them, I don't quite know what to do with them—what they'll say, how they're react, how things make them feel.
I figure some of you might also be struggling with character descriptions—so for today's post, I'm sharing my character template.
Here are the questions I have to answer for each main (and some supporting) characters:
Family: Here, I include names of parents, as well as names and ages of any siblings.
Where does my character live? Remember, your character doesn't have to live in your city, country, or even your planet. In the Superman Duffy graphic novel IT'S A BLAST! Chase (aka: cartoon me) meets some alien farmers from three different planets.
Describe character in one sentence: You can include a physical description here (i.e.: colour of hair, height, etc) but you can also talk about your character's personality. Like, for my sister Amelia, I might say: Amelia is a precocious six-year-old girl with a weird fascination with insects—she thinks she's an entomologist.
What is my character's favourite word? Catch phrases can tell a lot about a character. For my current story, one of my character's favourite words is WOW. He says it a bit sarcastically, which I admit, I've been known to do. Drives my mom crazy.
What makes my character special or unique? This is an important one, and where you should spend the most amount of thought. It's the reason your character will stand out. Why will your character stand out? Casper the friendly ghost, for instance, is unique because he's a friendly ghost.
What super power would my character wish for and how would he/she use it? Obviously, I'd wish for super speed—so I could beat my arch nemesis on the track in every race. I bet Gordon "Lightning" Smith would wish for the same.
What was my character doing before the story started? You don't have to spend too much time here, but I find that taking the character back to the day, week, or even hour before the story starts helps you to understand WHERE the story starts—and what the catalyst for the story is.
Obviously I'm just scratching the surface here, but the questions are meant to spark your imagination. Remember, characters should be unique, have both strengths and weaknesses, and be three dimensional—no cardboard cut-outs!
Gotta jet! May the words be in your favour...
~ Chase Superman Duffy
No comments:
Post a Comment