Writing worksheet: Draw up a character
Personality résumé for fictional characters
For all y’all creating fictional characters, here is a little worksheet I’ve had in my document files for many years. These questions aren’t things I always know the answers to at the beginning of a novel, but asking myself at least half of them early on, and getting some solid answers, will usually be enough to get me started. By the end of the novel I generally know the answers to all these questions.
How much planning and interviewing you do beforehand versus along the way will depend on your preferred writing/plotting style. But if you’re finding you need to get to know your character more clearly, wherever you are in the process, these might help.
The questions
What’s your character’s name and how old are they?
Where did they grow up and where do they live now?
Relationship with parents or other family members: what’s that like?
Who are their best friends? Why do they get along with them, and what conflicts do they have with them?
What’s their living space like? (Tidy, cluttered, plain, colorful, stark, cushy, noisy, quiet, cramped, spacious…)
Do they like books, music, shows, films? What kinds?
Financial situation: rich, poor, somewhere in between? Where does their money come from?
What do they look like? How do they dress, and do their hair and jewelry and makeup?
What state of health are they in? Any chronic conditions or disabilities?
What was/is their school like? How were their grades? Which subjects were they good at, and which were they bad at? Did they go to college (or plan to), and if so, to study what?
What do they do for a living (for characters old enough to work)? What would they like to do instead, if different? Or for young characters, what do they want to do when they grow up?
Romantic relationships, if any: who are they attracted to? Who have they dated, if anyone? How did those relationships go?
What religious affiliations do they have, if any? What are their views on spirituality and religion?
What is their ethnicity and cultural background?
What political beliefs do they hold?
How’s their sense of humor? Do they laugh a lot, or not much? What do they find funny?
How’s their temper? Do they get in fights and arguments a lot, or not much?
What does your character want most—or think they want most, when the story starts? (They might find they truly want something different by the end.)
What does your character fear most, or struggle with the most? What’s holding them back from getting what they want?
What’s their happiest memory?
And their most traumatic memory?
How would their personality be described by those who know them? How would the character describe their own personality?
Some of this will be used in your story and some won’t, but it’s all important for you to know as the writer!
