If you’re happy to use a basic profile for the characters for your books and short stories, check out my post from last week.https://wendysteele.com/2018/09/07/character-profiles-sparse-or-detailed/

If you’d prefer more detail, here’s the list I promised:

Name:

Age:

Height:

Weight:

Hair colour and style:

Eye colour:

Complexion and skin tone:

Character’s body build:

Character back story:

Identifying marks:

Facial features:

Hand features:

Scent:

Mannerisms or gestures:

Strongest personality traits:

Weakest personality traits:

Needs of the character:

Ambitions:

Father’s name:

Age:

Physical appearance:

Mother’s name:

Age:

Physical appearance:

Sibling’s names and descriptions:

Favorite sayings:

Interests and hobbies:

Favourite foods:

Favourite colors:

Pets:

Education:

Religion:

Financial situation:

Future plans:

Possessions this character values most:

What drives your character:

How does your character handle conflict:

What is standing in your character’s way:

What is their favourite room and why:

What vehicle do they drive:

Favourite sport(s):

What are your character’s prejudices:

How does your character feel about love:

About crime:

What is their neighborhood like:

What is your character’s philosophy on life:

What is your character’s family life like:

If you want a more detailed background for your character, you could break their life into 5 year spans, or if they’re fairly old, 10 year ones.

You could take everything from the above and make a profile summary of a paragraph or two.

I like a photograph as well, so why not think of the actor who could play the part of your character and print off a picture.

 

Character profiles can be useful if you have to break away from your writing for a few weeks, and you want to reimmerse yourself in their world.

Happy writing!