Character Templates

I don't recall specifically directing my response to you. More to the point, if none of my reasons for despising templates - that's templates in sense that every single other thread has used them in, not a custom-definition we've somehow come to a consensus on in this thread alone - apply to you, then I can't imagine why you'd THINK it was directed at you.

That we are in agreement on this point only confuses me further.

My response was, is and remains directed at the people - and they are legion - who fall into the easy traps as mentioned above and DO take their template as writ in stone. People who spend hours agonizing over the hair colour and style of a character that will never be physically described or the same time DESCRIBING a character purely because they've already gone to the trouble. People who doggedly twist the plot to achieve an ends which they refuse to admit is implausible and inferior.

That they exist is an irrefutable fact, that they post on WritingForums.org is an inevitability and that we could do with less of them, I'm sure you will agree.

It seems to me from a great deal of what you've ranted about here that you didn't bother to read my post. If you care to understand where someone else is coming from, try actually listening to their side of the argument.

EDIT: I've only just noticed now that Ixloriana actually posted some of the things that I listed in a spoiler. You may try to argue that this is evidence that I didn't read their post (which it is) but this only proves that my post was in no way targetting theirs.
My point stands: If it's an inconsequential detail, you shouldn't bother with it and if it can't be applied with relevance to any and every character then including it in a template - something which, by definition is uniform in its application - then it's an irrelevant waste.

 

While I don't write the typical templates, on my main characters I write something short on the characters which seem important to the story specifically the protagonist and antagonist, I don't do it for every character. For the Template I put the Character's name, Personality, Physical Description, motivation, and background. It seems silly for myself to involve those basic details which are not important to the story, therefore other information will show itself when writing. For myself often once I begin writing the characters shall form therefore, I try to allow my characters to invent themselves rather than put too much information out there, often writing their background and basic personality traits will give me ideas to go further, however I won't go any further with the most part with the templates once I begin writing the novel.

 

Didn't expect this to start such a discussion. I started this topic a while ago to see if anybody knew of any good ones... apparently it's a subject people have very strong feelings about! lol

 

I like character templates and character interviews. Don't think I ever actually use them once I'm done though. With the exception of keeping tracks of little details to keep your story consistent, I think they are only useful when it comes to inspiration. Writing about my characters gets my thoughts flowing and I get ideas and start plotting like crazy. Interviews especially. Most of the questions can be pointless (you are not forced to answer all of them), some of them can give you very good ideas about your character and the story.

 

Tcol said it better than I could - rep to him/her. No one gives a damn about your character's favorite color, favorite song, birthday, horoscope sign, parents' professions, favorite place to visit as a child, etc. unless these things are relevant to the story, and in most cases, they aren't. Every time I see a template like this I roll my eyes.

Here are the things you should think about if you choose to use a character template:

- Fears: not just trivial little things like cockroaches or the dark, but things that really affect the character in day-to-day life. I.e. a fear of not being in control of their own life, or fear of not having physical boundaries respected, or fear of being alone. Things that would affect a lot of their major decisions, as well as serve as motivation (for either the protag or the villain).
- Goals - in the long run, what is important to them, what are they willing to sacrifice and work for, and what do they not care that much about
- What type of events would serve as critical turning points, either in terms of personality or in terms of a motivation shift, for this person?

Things like that...this type of thinking will help with not only the character, but also the plot, and will help you maintain control of the big-picture of your novel.