The following character chart might be interesting for some: http://www.epiguide.com/ep101/writing/charchart.html (I found it while "stumbling" with StumbleUpon). You can print it out in PDF format (the .doc file does not appear to work) and .RTF format. It's a huge chart which you can then print out and fill in, so you have a VERY detailed profile of your character(s), and a lot of people may find it to be handy!!
Thanks for this. It's really helpful for when creating a new character. I usually try to store a lot of their details in my head but this will help me set them down so they're easy to access.
Hmm. This is pretty much mine: Name (Optional, subject to change):____________________________________ Gender (Optional, subject to change):___________________________________ Other (At some moment in time):_______________________________________
Lol, Cogito. And thanks, Plucko. Too bad my darned printer doesn't work . . . I guess I'll have to write it out by hand. *sigh*
Oh my gosh! I love this! I have a Microsoft Excel file on my computer that list all my characters, their name, age, birthday, family, hair color, eye color, skin tone, marital status, job, pets, cars, boyfriend/girlfriend, grade, school, what they want to study, and if they play any instruments. I love this though. I'm going to use it on a bunch of my characters. Thanks
Oooh, so glad I clicked on this thread! I bookmarked and next time I need to organize any new characters, I'm using it. Why does everyone else stumble upon gold but me? Heh, when I try to use stumble upon, I always give up and feel like it's a waste. But then I see people finding all these good little sites. I guess I just give up too soon.
Interesting concept, and I have tried similar ones in the past, but they didn’t work for me. Now, I sit down at my laptop and begin to write, and my character’s personality, strengths and weaknesses are revealed to me as I go along. My characters are like family members to me, only better, because I can shut them up…or kill them off.(Just kidding honey—My hubby reads all my posts.) Sometimes in the middle of writing a story, my character will go through a drastic change that I didn’t see coming. Or I will see the direction a character is going and try to pull back from it, but will be unable to, because my character has taken on a life of his/her own. And that depicts true life, which is what writing is all about for me.
I thought the most useful category on this chart was "Date this chart was completed". But maybe I can use it for ideas as opposed to actual recording.
A very interesting chart. I had no idea people would go into such detail to write down things about characters outside the story. I generally keep my characters in my head but may give this a try and see if it helps. I think it will help me more for supporting characters rather than main characters but we'll see.
Wow, nice find. I never really set anything in stone when I'm writing as I find myself having or wanting to change stuff throughout the story. I'll definatly give this a go. By the way, the Rich Text Format works in Microsoft Word. That might be valuable for some of you to know!
I don't want to sit down and map out the details of my character on a chart. That feels so structured, so austere, so rigid. I want to feel my characters. With the facets of their existences dutifully typed out on a chart, they may be detailed and thought out, but they have no life. Cultivating your characters from a spore conceived in a moment of apparent inspiration to a phantasm as real as reality itself is something that a mere chart could never do. That's just me. I'm sure it helps some people. But I don't think that a real person could ever be captured within the confines of a chart--no matter how thorough it may be.
Whoa. That's a big chart. I have a ton of these things saved on my computer, including this one. But for some reason, I never actually use them, I just like to look at them. They are good just for thinking about things. Thanks =D
Wow. I really like that and am glad you posted it. I have been looking for a good character chart for a while. I have a hard time writing some characters and something like that will be really helpful.
