Characters can make or break even the best of ideas, but where do you start when building great characters?

It might depend on what type of writer you are. Here are a few options for getting started.

Character Profiling

Start with the basics: Who is your character?

• Create a character profile sheet and be as detailed as possible
• Physical characteristics
• Eye/hair color, weight, height, etc.
• Personality traits
• Happy, gloomy, morose, optimistic, etc.
• Likes/Dislikes
• Fears/Dreams
• Talents/Goals
• Secret or otherwise
• Flaws (We’ll talk about this on in more depth later)

Start with a picture

Instead of starting from scratch, find a picture you think is interesting and describe what you see. Go deeper than how they look.

• What motivates these characters?
• What are there goals?
• What are they afraid of?
• How did they end up in this situation?
• What emotions are they dealing with?
• Where will they go from here?

Start making a list of character traits that will help bring them to life.

The key with the beginning stages of character development is to get to know your characters, find out what problems they are facing (there MUST be a problem), and what the first stage of their journey looks like.

If you want to hear the full discussion now, listen to “Episode 5: Creating a Character with Depth” on #WritePublishRepeat Podcast.