How to create a good character? How to know the person you are writing about and portray them accordingly?
According to Novakovich one will work better with the characters the more one knows them.
So how does one know his/her characters?
Well, according to him you need to sketch them in several ways. He suggest using for example a questionnaire. The answers to certain questions, for example about the background, or major struggles, might give you ideas. He is also of the opinion that with a questionnaire one can either support and develop an existing plot or develop a new plot based on the character.So I decided to list characteristics and facts about a Character that would be interesting to know when creating a character.
In that way by thinking about them one can figure out character traits or personality traits or a list of character traits that the character has.
I am not saying in any way that you should decide each and every one of the things I have listed, not at all, I am merely trying to give you, and myself, ideas about what to think about.
I thought about multiple things I would like to know and other things I have heard that other people consider being important in a character.
After I had listed some of the things I want to know about a character in order to portray them better, I realized that a mind map would probably work better.
At the end of this post there is a list about possible facts about the character one is portraying or describing.
You can also see this list as a mind map below.
This mind map (or list) is not, and is not trying to be the all compassing truth. It is just my way of displaying my thoughts about a written character, that is also the reason why you won't necessarily agree to the way the topics are ordered, but it worked for me.
Below I have embedded the mind map about a characters characteristics and backgrounds in two different ways. Once from wisemapping and once as a pdf from Google Drive. You can also download the pdf.
Or open mindmap in new tab here.
Or download the pdf
1 The Character
1.1 PHYSICAL
1.1.1 NAME1.1.1.1 NICKNAME
1.1.2 AGE
1.1.3 APPEARANCE
1.1.3.1 DRESS
1.1.3.2 SIZE
1.1.3.2.1 HEIGHT
1.1.3.2.2 BUILD
1.1.3.2.3 DIET
1.1.3.3 POSTURE
1.1.3.4 DISTINGUISHING MARKS
1.1.3.4.1 SCARS
1.1.3.4.2 TATTOOS
1.1.3.4.3 PIERCINGS
1.1.3.4.4 BIRTHMARKS
1.1.3.5 STATE OF HEALTH
1.1.3.5.1 ILLNESS
1.1.3.5.2 ALLERGIES
1.1.3.6 RACE
1.1.3.7 CHARACTERISTICS
1.1.3.8 HEAD
1.1.3.8.1 HAIR
1.1.3.8.1.1 HAIR STYLE
1.1.3.8.1.2 HAIR COLOR
1.1.3.8.2 EYES
1.1.3.8.2.1 EYE COLOR
1.1.3.8.3 NOSE
1.1.3.8.4 MOUTH
1.1.3.8.5 SHAPE
1.1.3.9 FLAWS
1.1.3.9.1 HANDICAP
1.1.3.10 ASSETS
1.1.3.11 SKIN
1.1.3.12 VOICE
1.1.3.13 GAIT
1.1.3.14 CLOTHING
1.1.4 SEXUALITY
1.1.5 RIGHT- OR LEFT HANDED
1.2 PERSONAL HISTORY
1.2.1 CHILDHOOD
1.2.1.1 EARLIEST MEMORY
1.2.1.2 AMOUNT OF MOVING
1.2.1.3 TRAVEL
1.2.1.4 CHILDHOOD DREAMS
1.2.1.5 SCHOOL
1.2.1.6 FEELINGS
1.2.1.6.1 FAVOURITE THINGS
1.2.1.6.2 SMELLS
1.2.1.7 FRIENDS
1.2.1.7.1 POPULARITY
1.2.1.8 ENEMIES
1.2.1.9 PERSONALITY TRAITS
1.2.2 MOST TREASURED POSSESSION
1.2.3 EDUCATION
1.2.4 MAJOR EVENTS
1.2.4.1 MAJOR STRUGGLES
1.2.4.2 THE BEST
1.2.4.3 MOST EMBARRASING
1.2.4.4 THE MOST TRAUMATIC
1.2.4.5 CHARACTER TIMELINE
1.2.4.6 WORST THING HE/SHE HAS DONE
1.2.4.7 THE GREATEST SUCCESS
1.2.4.8 EROTIC HISTORY
1.2.4.8.1 LOVE OF LIFE
1.2.4.8.2 FIRST KISS
1.2.4.8.3 FIRST MEMORY
1.2.4.8.4 MOST TREASURED MEMORY
1.2.4.8.5 FEELINGS
1.2.4.8.5.1 WHEN
1.2.4.8.5.2 WITH WHOM
1.3 SOCIAL/CULTURAL
1.3.1 FAMILY1.3.1.1 PARENTS
1.3.1.2 CHILDREN
1.3.1.3 PETS
1.3.1.4 SIBLINGS
1.3.1.5 KIDS
1.3.1.6 HER/HIS/THEIR FEELINGS
1.3.1.6.1 THEIR BACKGROUND
1.3.2 FEELINGS ABOUT SOCIAL SURROUNDINGS
1.3.3 FRIENDS
1.3.3.1 HER/HIS/THEIR FEELINGS
1.3.3.1.1 THEIR BACKGROUND
1.3.4 ENEMIES
1.3.5 DATING, MARRIAGE
1.3.6 SOCIAL CLASS
1.3.6.1 FREQUENTLY USED
1.3.6.1.1 WORDS
1.3.6.1.2 PHRASES
1.3.6.1.3 MANNERISMS
1.3.6.2 RELIGION
1.3.7 COLLEAGUES
1.3.8 HOW IS HE/SHE VIEWED BY OTHERS?
1.4 PSYCHOLOGICAL
1.4.1 (UN/)HAPPINESS
1.4.1.1 IDEA OF HAPPINESS
1.4.1.2 OUTLOOK ON LIFE
1.4.2 (DIS/)LIKES
1.4.2.1 IDEA OF GOOD/BAD ENTERTAINMENT
1.4.2.1.1 CULTURAL
1.4.2.1.1.1 BOOKS
1.4.2.1.1.2 MOVIES
1.4.2.1.1.3 MUSIC
1.4.2.2 FOOD
1.4.2.3 DRINK
1.4.2.4 LAUHGS/JEERS AT/ABOUT
1.4.2.5 GETS ANNPYED BY...
1.4.2.6 GETS CHEERED UP BY...
1.4.3 DESIRES
1.4.3.1 FUTURE
1.4.3.2 OCCUPATION
1.4.3.3 AMBITION
1.4.3.3.1 MOTIVATION
1.4.3.3.2 GREATEST ACHIEVEMENT
1.4.3.3.3 ROLE MODELS
1.4.3.3.4 GOALS
1.4.3.4 SOCIAL LIFE
1.4.3.5 HOPES
1.4.3.6 DREAMS
1.4.4 BELIEFS
1.4.4.1 SELF-KNOWLEDGE/ SELF IMAGE
1.4.4.2 RELIGION
1.4.4.3 BIASES/PREJUDICES
1.4.4.4 VALUES
1.4.4.5 ATTITUDES
1.4.4.6 POLITICS
1.4.5 CONFLICTS AND CHANGE
1.4.5.1 REACTION
1.4.5.1.1 PASSIVE
1.4.5.1.2 ACTIVE
1.4.6 HABITS/MANNERISMS
1.4.6.1 ANNOYING ONES
1.4.6.2 TICS/QUIRKS
1.4.6.3 TYPICAL EXPRESSION
1.4.6.3.1 WHEN HAPPY/ANGRY/SAD
1.4.7 WEAKNESSES /STRENGTHS
1.4.7.1 FEARS
1.4.7.1.1 TRAUMAS
1.4.7.2 REGRETS
1.4.7.3 WHAT DO PEOLPE LIKE BEST/LEAST ABOUT HIM/HER?
1.4.7.4 INTERESTS
1.4.7.4.1 OBSESSIONS
1.4.7.5 TEMPERAMENT
1.4.7.6 SECRETS
1.4.7.7 AMOUNT OF SELF-CONTROL/SELF-DISCIPLINE
1.4.7.8 INTELLIGENCE
1.4.7.8.1 WHERE FROM
1.4.7.9 GREATEST EXTRAVAGANCE
1.4.7.10 WEAKEST/STRONGEST CHARACTER TRAITS
1.4.8 UNCONSCIOUS ASPECTS
1.4.8.1 LIES?
1.5 ENVIRONMENTAL
1.5.1 WHERE DOES HE/SHE LIVE?1.5.1.1 REGION
1.5.1.2 COUNTRY
1.5.1.3 ALONE/WITH FAMILY
1.5.1.4 RICH/POOR
1.5.1.5 FEELINGS
1.5.1.5.1 WHEN DID HE/SHE MOVE THERE?
1.5.1.5.2 HOME?
1.5.1.5.3 HOW DID HE/SHE END UP THERE?
1.5.1.6 RESIDENCE
1.5.1.6.1 WHERE
1.5.1.6.2 HOW LONG
1.5.1.6.3 STYLE
1.5.1.6.4 WITH WHOM
1.5.1.7 BIRTHPLACE
1.5.1.7.1 COMPARED WITH NOW
1.6 LIFESTYLE
1.6.1 EDUCATION1.6.1.1 AMOUNT
1.6.1.2 SPECIAL TRAINING
1.6.1.3 FEELINGS
1.6.1.3.1 FAVORITES
1.6.1.3.2 DISLIKES
1.6.2 OCCUPATION
1.6.2.1 WORK HABITS
1.6.2.2 SALARY
1.6.3 HABITS
1.6.3.1 DRUGS
1.6.3.2 HOBBIES
1.6.3.3 COLLECTIONS
1.6.3.4 SKILLS
1.6.3.5 DIET
1.6.3.6 SPORTS
1.6.4 HEALTH
1.6.5 THE CONTENTS OF
1.6.5.1 HIS/HER BAG
1.6.5.2 HIS/HER POCKET
1.6.5.3 HIS/HER GARBAGE CAN
1.6.5.4 HIS/HER BEDROOM FLOOR
1.6.6 WEALTH
1.6.6.1 SAVINGS
1.6.6.2 RICH
1.6.6.3 POOR
1.6.6.4 CAR
Feel free to comment or share your thoughts,
Kim A. Dremreich
I started my "free writing courses online" -project with the course "Start writing fiction" from the Open University. You can see all my posts regarding this course here. This is Part 1.7 of the project.
No comments:
Post a Comment