A while back on another board, we did an exercise known as The Grill. The premise was simple. A character was introduced with rudimentary information. That character was then asked a question, any question, by one of the grillers. It was an interesting discussion, given the variety of characters and the questions presented. The characters talked, revealing their own personalities and histories. It was very similar to running a scene, but because it was another person asking the questions, it really added another dimension to the development. Role play with your characters if possible, the depth of the character and the story can be remarkable. - Darkkin
Tatoos. Pfff... Unless they have some religious or cultural meaning, I never bother with them. Moreover, I don't believe a character, RPG or not, should be determined by an "alignment". This is more characteristic of the D&D system. This is the reason why I prefer open rule systems, where good roleplaying always comes before statistics. And even if you were playing in a more rigid rule system, good roleplaying should never EVER be limited by the informations in the character sheet. Say you were playing D&D, and your paladin were lawful good. Does that mean that he would never lie? Never hurt other people? Never act selfishly? Of course not! In fact, if you have a smart DM/GM/Stooryteller/Narrator/whatever-you-want-to-call-it, he will want to put the characters in situations where they will be tempted to go against their "alignments" because every good story needs conflict! The characters need to develop! They need to change! So, what I'm trying to say is the fact that you write a character sheet will not automatically make your character static or fixed. "Try to create and manage a character some time WITHOUT hanging a couple dozen adjectives on him or her, WITHOUT compiling a check list, and see how it works for your writing." And just what do you think I did BEFORE writing sheets? Doesn't work for me. I am an extremely disorganized thinker. I think a thousand things at the same time. If I don't organize them, putting them to paper first, I can never make any sense out of them. A character sheet is not supposed to be a rigid frame, just an outlook into the character. As I write the story, much of what I have written is bound to change, but who cares? It is all part of the process of developping and getting to know your character.
I'm finding that my characters are fleshing themselves out as they interact with each other. When I started my current book, I had a good general idea of my MC, but I felt that the first chapter needed some interaction (my MC was burglarizing a house), so I gave him a friend to do it with. The friend was largely unformed in my mind, but as they proceeded with the burglary, the second character became a real character, and my sense of the MC deepened. Because of the way they were interacting, it eventually became clear to me why each of them was participating in the burglary, and their reasons were very, very different. Later I threw in another character simply because he was needed for a plot point, but as he proceeded doing his thing, he also fleshed out into a very distinct character with sympathetic attributes I did not expect. He was just supposed to be a no-good turncoat, but he has grown into something far more complex and compelling. All my significant characters seem to be doing that. Even a Hindu statue in the story, which does not actually say or do anything, has taken on a personality because of the way my MC interacts with him and thinks about him.
I did this last night. I wrote a short story about one of my characters reliving his past with his father, which was abusive to him and his mother. This memory brought out a lot of pain and frustration on the MC's pasrt. It REALLY helped bring out his feelings and ... for lask of a better word... character... lol Oh and I memtioned to my husband to see if he had any ideas for getting to know my characters. He laughed at me! Then he said... "Do you realize that you're... getting to know yourself? I mean the guy is a figment of your imagination!" I was embarrassed. Non writers have no clue... hmmph!
My characters sprout from one thought - from "lime green" came Isabel, from "shack in the woods" came Oil, from "spiders" came Ricky Gilly. I then take that one thought and envision that characters appearance, way of dress, environment, time of day, part of the country, weather, and then I sit back with the thought that connected them in the first place and just watch, patiently, and the story will begin to unfold. And I do a charac profile. Yes, they do change but the basics remain and the profile is enriched along the way.
I personally prefer this approach because it helps to really ask the answer any question as to why the character does what he or she does. If you know the character inside and out then you can stay consistant with his character, or design the changes he's faced with. People are flexible yes, but they do things for various reasons, and if we don't know why, a whole scene could turn up useless because it contradicts who the character is. But as many above have also said I like to let them grow a little bit. I imagine scenes and Scenarios and let the mc go through them and based on what happens I start to formulate ideas about what kind of character he is and who I want him or her to be. Then I ask all of the hard questions. Beyond that, knowing your character thoroughly helps you conceal or reveal character traits that you wouldn't figure out. But never forget that as the character comes alive he or she will begin to write themselves. let it happen. you may have to rethnk some things but that means the character and the story are coming alive.
