I can see their usefulness up to a point, but.... In my current wip there is a scene at the start where 3 of the main players meet. Prior to starting I had a very clear idea in my head of each character, and how this scene would play out. Then, I started writing it, and due to the planned sequence of the scene, two of the characters flipped, taking on some attributes of the other, but not all. In the space of an hour or so they were totally different to how I had planned them, and better. It was an enchanted moment, one which reaffirmed my love of the creative process. My question is this: if I had spent a considerable amount of time filling in a spreadsheet, in which everything was clear and concrete, would I have allowed the process of writing to change this, or would I have pulled myself back into line, and stuck with the less interesting characters of my initial plan?
Sure, why not? I keep a lot of notes about what I will want the plot and characters to look like by the time I'm finished. I've changed my ideas from time to time as the story demanded, and every time I do, I change the notes I'd kept of my initial concept to reflect the new one.
To each her own I suppose, but I looked at the OP tool and my immediate thought for me was, what a colossal waste of time. There was so much clutter, trivia, stuff that had no relevance for what my characters are about.
That's one inherent problem with character sheets. It's not the only one. See other threads on the subject.
If I felt an urgent need to record details about a character, I think that I'd write it up as an interview with *another* character, to keep some in-story ambiguity. "So, what do you think of Jenny?" "Why? What's this for, anyway? Are you doing some sort of investigation?" "Goodness, no. She's dating my brother and I just wanted to know what to give her for Christmas." "Oh! Sheesh, why didn't you say so? Wow, you really take your Christmas presents seriously, don't you? Well, she's nice, you know, really nice, sort of shy. But sometimes she'll come out with something you really didn't expect and you realize that there's more underneath than you thought." "What kind of something?" "Oh, like she said this thing about the Tea Party...um, I don't know your politics. You might be offended." "So you'd say that she's a liberal?" "Oh, wow, yes. Well, one of the things that might surprise you, though, is she's not in favor of gun control." "Oh? Does she have a gun?" "No, it's a philosophical thing or something." "Would you say that she's a danger to the government?" "Um. This isn't about Christmas presents, is it?"
I have memory loss issues due to medical conditions. I use questionnaires and character biographies in part to "save" my thoughts and research on characters. My questionnaires are self-made and tailored to my personal needs and wishes - not copied from the internet. My biographies are typically long and detailed. These things used as memory aids are simply my way of remembering and categorizing a character's details that I may otherwise lose to a faulty brain. I also use the same process (questionnaires/biographies) for settings, local history, etc. I also have specific statements I wish to make through my writing, and incorporate psychological, philosophical, and esoteric themes. Working with topics which can often be anomalous (to me) would be impossible for me without something by which to record all the fine details, how they inter-relate, and how they might be presented in the story through character, setting, etc. My characters are the main representatives of these themes and statements and are used in the story to convey them, not do their own thing. Therefore, constricting them to a certain degree is exactly what I am trying to do so that they ultimately serve my purpose. In the end, I personally would not be able to write a cohesive/logical, meaningful, or fulfilling (to me) story without questionnaires and biographies, though I can certainly understand why other writers would find them constrictive or useless in their own writings.
This is my first novel and I am using Scrivener. I make a page for each character. I do have a timeline, just to keep me from making stupid mistakes and to give me structure. My opening scene starts in October 2008. At that point my main characters are a certain age, so I can work out when they were born. Then I google " male/female actors born in 19XX" and find a picture of one who I would pick would I give the role to. I put that picture on the sheet. I add some info and as I get further into the story and get to know my characters better - or get them developed further - I add details to the character sheet or change the details to suit my story. I find this fun, others might find this very anally retentive. Hetty
I'm undecided. You can fill in what you want and leave the rest blank. I tend to focus on moral and psychological traits and weaknesses, needs, wants. As far as personal wealth, it's what fits the story. Appearance, hmmm...he/she is not ugly, but as far as beauty, I leave it blank except for things like hair color, height, health. They may be good as a spring board, but I don't want to get too wrapped up in describing all aspects of a character's life that it occupies more time than overall story development.
See, I like to use character sheets as a foundation to work upon and then add your walls and your windows and your doors and your underfloor heating etc. etc.
I'll chime in once more on this subject and just say that I find character sheets terribly useless. Except to Sub Rosa who has a rather good reason to make them. People seem to build characters for situations instead of having characters deal with situations. Your story is built around them, not the plot or magic system or whatever else. Your character should basically be "Gender, Name, Purpose visa vis the events" Also, how do you forget details about your characters? You should already know the story well enough to say to yourself "This is my story". You don't forget what you plan. The only notes should be complex and multi-arching genealogies or interactions between a myriad of characters. Everything else should already be in your head. Once again, your character is built by the world he lives in not for the world he lives in. You take a specific trait and need for him and that's it. The rest the world you created should conjure the rest of the details. So, for all of you, focus more on the world you're building and then the characters. They are a product of the world and not the other way around. Readers will want to read how the MC deals with his world and not how well equipped he is to do so.
Generalized profile sheets may not necessarily be useless, but they can be a big waste of time. You should always create your own profile sheet if you really need one. That way, you can include only information relevant to your actual story, and you would not be boggled down with trying to write in a bunch of unnecessary information. I looked through most of that sheet, and the majority of the information on there have no practical application to my writing at all.
I know my major and minor characters' brands of toothpaste, the curve of their handwriting and favorite childhood stuffed toy. Sometimes details that never, ever make it into your writing--the "impractical" ones--can serve to flesh out a character in your head in a way that translates into a more genuine emotional construction. I found out my character used generic marked-down deodorant purchased with a coupon and realized just how stingy she is. The deodorant never made it into the book, but I now know to what extent she's willing to go to serve her needs. That was extremely helpful when I finally penned her story. Never underestimate the power of a detail, even if it's one that serves no practical purpose in your story. All discoveries are good discoveries when it comes to building characters. I defend character sheets to a reasonable extent. While I think writing is a more useful way of getting to know a character, character sheets and other building exercises can illuminate parts of a character in a convenient, time-saving fashion. If you like using them, use them to explore. Just don't focus on them as a be-all-end-all of what it means to craft a character.