Character sketch should include

Details are important when deciding how to create a good character for a story. He has a nasty scar running down his left cheek, a mop of unruly brown hair, and a slight limp. Eighteen years old, Betsy has a s pinup girl physique. If he has strong, defining personality traits, did something happen in his past to make him this way? A man of extremes, Jimmy wears his heart on his sleeve. Growing up in a large, loud family made him into an extrovert—quick to laugh but equally quick to give in to anger.

This is a calculated ploy on her part. Where does your character live? Where does she work? Where does she spend her free time? Any of these questions can change your perception of a character. Equally importantly, note where the reader first encounters the character. First seen in a restaurant the protagonist frequents, Jimmy lives in an old brownstone in a quiet area of town.

He spends each Sunday at the local park, playing chess. Betsy and the hero are college roommates. What slang do they use? Do they talk with their hands? Great writers have a way of embodying the character so that their speech patterns make the characters' backgrounds come alive. If you removed all dialogue tags "he said," "she replied," "Kayla asked," etc. Use the first time you see a character to introduce their overall impact.

Readers and viewers will always remember a character's first impression. This impression should fit squarely with the character's behavior in the rest of the story.

For example, if a character is normally sweet and kind, don't introduce her screaming at someone because she is having a bad day. If a hidden temper is part of her personality, this could be perfect; but if this is an isolated incident that doesn't further the plot it will just confuse the reader when she is nice the rest of the story.

If you met this character in real life, what would your first impressions of them be? Keep your character sketches short and sweet if you're putting together a treatment. Treatments are short overviews of your book, movie, or TV show used to sell the story.

They contain an overview of the plot, the tone, and descriptions of the characters. If you're writing a treatment, cut your character sketch down to the essentials.

You don't want to share all the quirky facts with producers or publishers, just enough to intrigue them and give a general overview. Include only the essentials, plus short details to make a character unique. You should include: Name Motivation. Details relevant to the plot. There are no hard and fast rules. I prefer writing them in the third person. This gives me the outside look that my readers will have when reading the finished piece. I think that the first person is only necessary if you are writing the novel in the first person and the sketch is of the protagonist.

Not Helpful 6 Helpful Use what you already know about your character, and build on that to make a character sketch. A quotation is a sentence taken from a text, speech, book, etc. Not Helpful 7 Helpful Do I actually have to draw the character, or am I just explaining who my character is? No drawing is required.

A sketch as used here is a written summary. You can, as long as you make it very clear when the perspective is being changed. Consider having someone else take a look at your work to make sure it makes sense to them. Not Helpful 5 Helpful Whichever you prefer. Some people like free-writing outlines, while others like formatted character sheets. If you wish to share your character with other writers, I suggest you go with a formatted outline. Not Helpful 3 Helpful The most important part of the sketch is that it gives you a good idea of the character.

Not Helpful 2 Helpful The Write Advice. Start a character sketch or character outline with the five principles: Name, age, gender, appearance, and occupation. Detailing each of these builds a stable foundation for your character and paves a path for more questions. Then ask more intriguing questions, such as: What is their outlook? Then, branching off their outlook: Are they optimistic, pessimistic, or realistic?

What are their ethical or moral beliefs? The questions should be personal and straightforward to help you understand your character. Not Helpful 2 Helpful 8. Read lots of first person POV novels. Reading a book of similar genre and the same POV can help immensely when writing. I turned the corner and I saw my mother.

For a minute I thought it was a burglar. Also, keep the character consistent with their backstory. Not Helpful 2 Helpful 4. Without a vivid description of this character's physicality, a critical dimension of the plot would be lost and the central conflict would be nonexistent.

Answering questions about your character's physicality is the first step in creating a fully realized character. This is the next question to ask because it brings into account other aspects of story writing such as setting and time.

The answer to this question will also affect other aspects of your sketch, such as what your character is wearing or how he or she is feeling. Is your character walking down the street? Is he or she sitting in a park? Is your character working on a boat? Asking what your character is doing will not only help you understand your character, but also his or her relationship to the setting in your story.

Authors may be tempted to gloss over this part of characterization. When asked what his or her character is doing, an author might give a cursory answer; he or she may answer that the subject is at the movies, for example. But consider all that there is to do at a movie theatre: Is the character waiting in line for tickets or at the concession stand?

Is he or she waiting to talk to the manager? Perhaps the character is sitting impatiently waiting for the movie to begin. Getting as specific as you can when answering this question will not only help you define your character, but will also help to define the other elements of fiction. This is probably one of the more complex questions you can ask about your character. Is your character angry? Is he or she happy, sad, tired, or depressed? Does your character love something or someone?

Asking questions about your character's emotional life might evolve into the production of a character history. While this may be tempting, you have to focus on what your subject is feeling within the context of the story you are writing. Even moving beyond relationships between characters, physical descriptions can make your characters stand out, with things such as an abnormally short height or a unique tattoo.

I remember a friend of mine describing why she loved Charles Dickens so much. He was paid by the word, and sometimes it shows, as my sister-in-law likes to say, but the thing this friend of mine loved so much about him was that all of his characters sounded different.

No two people, especially when you include differing backgrounds, talk exactly the same. Different people use different expressions. Some have an aggressive conflict style, others are passive-aggressive. Some use a lot of slang, others try to sound more educated. If all of your characters sound the same. Character development is probably the number one thing that you see criticized in book reviews, as well as movie reviews.

We expect to experience change along with the characters when we go into a story. If there are any other elements of character sketches that you believe are also important, feel free to leave a comment. This author hasn't written their bio yet. Logan Judy has contributed 35 entries to our website, so far.