It's definitely not a secret that all good books need to have unique and well-written characters that engage and intrigue your audience. There are plenty of ways that you can plan our your character's identity and endless combinations to create a quirky and relatable character that your readers will love. After years of trying to find the best way to create a character's breakdown of who they are in detail, I have finally found a template that works the best for me; and hopefully it will work for you, as well!
Step One: Give Them A Name
Believe it or not, the name of your characters plays a key roll in the audience's interest in them, as well as hinting to the character's traits. I plan to write a separate post about my personal master list of names that I have pieced together and use religiously to name my own characters to share with you, though usually any website or blog dedicated to baby names will work well, too.
For this step, you should include your character's first and last names at least, though for further depth, I recommend including a middle name or initial, as well as any nicknames associated with your character. As a best-practice, you should research popular names within the era that your book is set in, as well as researching the meanings of the names and their geographical region. In addition to this, it helps to make a short list of names that may fit your character to narrow your selection down.
For young, new-aged characters, a short and simple name may serve you best, or a name that can easily be converted into a unique nickname. In my case, some of my own characters are mainly referred to by their nickname, which has no affiliation with their actual names (such as Fish, for their obsession with swimming, or Dove for someone who is gentle or quiet in nature). In other cases, older an more well-known names, such as Tabitha or Rupert may be better suited for someone who is older in age or wiser in their way of thinking. This step is completely unique to you and your perspective of names, what they sound like, what sort of people you affiliate the names with, etc. You really can't go wrong here, as long as you follow your gut.
Step Two: Physical Identity
For this step, I typically include the age, height, weight, hair color/type/style, skin tone, as well as any distinguishing features such as scars or birthmarks that your character may have. It also helps to include any other characteristics, such as wearing glasses or contacts, or if they have unusually thick eyebrows. These features listed are not necessarily things that you will describe in your writing (In fact, be careful not to over-describe your character's physical appearances in your actual writing), though I find that listing them out enriches your description of the character that your readers will definitely notice. You may also include characteristics such as the way that their voice sounds when they speak, laugh or sing, which will help when needing to describe these sounds in your writing, such as a different character's point of view, or times when your character is meeting someone for the first time and are overly aware of said sounds.
Step Three: List Their Traits
These can be both good traits and bad traits that your character may not even notice about themselves, though it helps me to separate the lists into two groups. I will also release a post about the different sorts of traits that your characters could have, as well as conflicting traits, such as being bossy yet reserved, or being sweet yet moody. These are also things that you shouldn't actually describe in your writing as if they were the character's eye color, but I find that putting them down on paper serves as a guideline for how your character should react in different situations. In certain cases, it certainly helps when describing actions that the character might perform, such as crossing their arms or rolling their eyes. It goes without saying that an anxious or shy person would typically not behave this way, whereas an extroverted or ill-tempered character would likely have no issues expressing their feelings through physical movement.
Step Four: List Their Personal Quirks And Hobbies
Quirks can have a wide range of definition, so anything that does not fit in the above categories can go here. Personally, I typically include any unusual habits that the character may have, such as counting their steps while they walk, chewing their fingernails, or being sensitive to different textures and sounds, and I also like to include any physical quirks, such as sneezing loudly or multiple times in a row, having certain dietary restrictions, or their favorite flavors. Quirks are one of my favorite things to appoint to characters, since everyone has their own unique ones, even if they aren't aware of them. If you need inspiration, all that you have to do is watch people, and you'll be able to make your own list of what you can simply observe in them. Honestly, this list is so expansive that I will also be making a post with lists of different quirks that your characters might have to give you ideas.
As for hobbies, this list is also quite expansive but luckily, pretty self-explanatory. A hobby may or may not be relevant to your story line, though it does help with your character's depth and hinting at their hobbies will definitely make them more relatable to the audience. Everyone has a hobby; it can be something physical, like sports or working out, or it can be something as laid-back as collecting stamps or gaming. Hobbies are fun because you can give any hobby to any character and sometimes it can be a fun surprise to the audience. For example, no one would expect that the school bully enjoys feeding the ducks in the local park, rather than skateboarding and listening to heavy metal bands. It's a good thing to experiment with this section a bit and have some fun with it!
Step Five: Motivation And Fear
These are things that every character must have, even the more relevant secondary characters. There are so many different motivations for a character, whether it be as major to the plot of your story such as saving the world, or be as simple as gaining the courage to ask someone on a date. This all depends on what role your character plays and what personality they might have, so there is definitely room to wiggle with this step. Even if you don't go into detail with what each character's motivation is, having it planned out will help you include whether they are successful to their intention or not. No one likes to find plot holes is a book, so this will help you check your boxes before wrapping up a story.
On the opposite end of the spectrum, everyone fears something, so it is also crucial to make your characters have something that makes them shiver. They could be afraid of the doctor or have a diagnosed phobia, or it can even be something like your character being afraid to let people down or being cared of becoming their parents. This, again, is going to be unique to your character's, so take some time to think about what sort of fears you can give them in order to deepen your story line and make each character three-dimensional. This really does help create a well rounded character, even if you don't necessarily touch base on the topic for each individual throughout the book. Things like this have a way of bleeding into your story if you have it in the back of your mind every time the character comes on screen.
And there we have it, my personal recipe for a character sheet! I'll post an example of how this looks on paper when I do it, in case you'd like some additional guidance. You can put these steps into nearly any order and customize it as you please, though I typically have it laid out in this specific way:
Name:
Nickname(s):
Age:
Height:
Weight:
Eye Color:
Hair Color:
Hair Type:
Hair Style:
Skin Tone:
Distinguishing Features:
Voice:
Good Traits:
Bad Traits:
Quirks:
Hobbies:
Motivation(s):
Fear(s):
Sometimes, depending on the character's immediate relevance, I'll also provide a place for the character's background and relation to the main character(s). Hopefully, this helps you out and gives you a good template for character creation in your next story! Good luck and happy writing!