CHARACTER CHART

Date this chart was completed:
Character's Full Name:
Reason or meaning of name:
     Nickname:                                    Reason:



PHYSICAL APPEARANCE:

Age:                                              How old does s/he appear?
Eye Color:                                        Glasses or contacts:
Weight:                                           Height:
Type of body/build:
Skin tone:                                        Skin type:
Shape of face:                                    Distinguishing Marks:
Predominant feature:
Looks like:
Is s/he healthy?
     If not, why not:



FAVORITES:

Character's favorite color:
Music:
Food:
Literature:
Expressions:
Expletives:



HABITS:

Smokes:                                           What?
     When and how much?
Drinks:                                           What?
     When and how much?
Hobbies:



BACKGROUND:

Hometown:
Type of childhood:
First memory:
Most important childhood event that still affects him/her:
     Why?
Education:
Religion:
Finances:



FAMILY:

Mother:
     Relationship with her:
Father:
     Relationship with him:
Siblings:
     How many?                                    Birth order:
Relationship with each:
     Children of siblings:



ATTITUDE:

Most at ease when:
Ill at ease when:
Priorities:
Philosophy:
How s/he feels about self:
Past failure s/he would be embarrassed to have people know about:
     Why?
If granted one wish, what would it be?
     Why?



PERSONALITY:

Greatest source of strength in character's personality (whether s/he sees it as
such or not):
Greatest source of weakness in character's personality (whether s/he sees it as
such or not:
Character's soft spot:
     Is this soft spot obvious to others?
     If not, how does character hide it?
Biggest vulnerability:



TRAITS:

Optimist or pessimist:                            Why?
Introvert or extrovert:                           Why?
Drives and motivations:
Talents:
Extremely unskilled at:
Good characteristics:
Character flaws:
Mannerisms:
Peculiarities:
Biggest regret:
Minor regrets:
Biggest accomplishment:
Minor accomplishments:
Character's darkest secret:
     Does anyone else know?
     If yes, did character tell them?
     If no, how did they find out?



SELF-PERCEPTION:

One word CHARACTER would use to describe self:
One paragraph description of how CHARACTER would describe self:
What does CHARACTER consider best physical characteristic?
What does CHARACTER consider worst physical characteristic?
     Are these realistic assessments?
     If not, why not?
How CHARACTER thinks others perceive him/her:
What four things would CHARACTER most like to change about self?  (#1 most
important, #2 second most important, etc.)
     1.
     2.
     3.
     4.
     Why?
If change #1 was made, would character be as happy as s/he thinks?
     If not, why not?



INTERRELATION WITH OTHERS:

How does character relate to others?
How is s/he perceived by...
     Strangers?
     Friends?
     Wife/Husband/Lover?
     Hero/Heroine?
How does character view hero/heroine?
     First impression:                            Why?
     What happens to change this perception?
What do family/friends like most about character?
What do family/friends like least about character?



GOALS:

Immediate goals:
Long range goals:
     How does character plan to accomplish these goals?
     How will other characters be affected?



PROBLEMS/CRISIS:

How character reacts in a crisis:
How character faces problems:
Kinds of problems character usually runs into:
How character reacts to NEW problems:
How character reacts to change:



GENERAL:

Favorite clothing:                                Why?
Least favorite clothing:                          Why?
Jewelry:
     Other accessories:
Drives:
Where does character live?
Where does character want to live?
Spending habits (frugal, spendthrift, etc):       Why?
What does s/he do too much of?
     Too little of?
Most prized possession:                           Why?



UNCATAGORIZED:

Person character secretly admires:
     Why?
Person character was most influenced by:
     Why?
Most important person in character's life before story starts:
     Why?
How does character spend the week before the story starts?