Submitted by acmfox on Mon, 04/05/2010 - 10:04pm

 Do your characters jump off the page or are they more like cardboard cutouts? We've had some interesting discussions and links about character development, so I thought this would be a good opportunity to use some of that collective wisdom to create a character sketch. The character you develop can be one from an existing story that you've written (that needs some fleshing out), or can be one for a future work. In any event, the point is to create a truly memorable character that you know well. The steps described below are not necessarily all inclusive. Feel free to adjust as necessary to meet your own personal requirements.

1. Observation

In a public place, pick a person to observe. Ideally, this should be someone you don't know. Spend some small amount of time observing. What do you notice? What mannerisms, physical features, patterns of speech stand out. Note a couple that are most striking to you. Now go home (or to wherever you prefer to write).

2. Flesh it out

Give your character a name and describe his/her physical characteristics (doesn't have to match the appearance of the person you observed in step one).

3. Background and history

Where was your character born, educated; what is his/her profession, job history, hobbies, likes, dislikes, etc.

4. Interview

Interview your character to learn a little bit more about him/her. You know some of the facts from step three, but why are they like that? What prompted them to feel that way, make the choices they did?