Things to include in a character profile? Help?

[YourMyAll_]

. . .

Been writing a story, and I should of done this before I started but, meh. I'm making a character profile for characters in my story. I need things that I should include in it, like, Birthday, Name, Nationality, etc.
I'm new at this... sweatdrop

[Ysavvryl]

Unless you're role-playing, a character profile is usually something only you as the writer will see. So put in there whatever is useful to you: details that you want to keep straight like birthdays and important events, perhaps a phobia or habit. Perhaps a reference picture. If the character has some kind of secret that you're keeping from the audience, definitely flesh that out in a profile, with things like little clues that would reveal it.

I don't use profiles often, but I have used them with Pokemon fanfics; it helps there to keep track of who owns what Pokemon, what moves are known, and all kinds of little details that would be easy to lose with such a huge cast. And I do work on those profiles as I go along, instead of doing them right at the start. That's part of my writing process, though.

[DarknessofHeavenandDreams]

You can

A) Not make one and write the story
B) Fill in only things that you think will be important to the story and write about how this affects the plot and the character
C) Fill in just the basics and add more as you write so you can remember details.

[Full_Moon_Werewolf77]

Name:
Age:
Physical Description:
Character Archetype:
Educational Background:
Family Background and Worldview:

Heres what I learned from my Conceptual storytelling class I hope it helps if you have any questions on what is a character archtype or anything you can ask me.

[Niamh the Fae]

Do you have a specific reason why you need one? If not, I'd say just write down anything about the character that it's possible you might forget, just to have a single place to check if you forget an eye color or an age or how many dogs their family has.

[Sir Icehawk]

DarknessofHeavenandDreams

You can

A) Not make one and write the story
B) Fill in only things that you think will be important to the story and write about how this affects the plot and the character
C) Fill in just the basics and add more as you write so you can remember details.

Dis. Dis a dousand dimes.

[Ellie the Magnificent]

I am sure most people would suggest you don't write a character profile, especially a detailed one.
I personally prefer to write mine detailed as possible, because I like to know the characters before
I write about them. I mean, you wouldn't start talking about painful events or sexual encounters
with complete strangers would you? Just write what you are comfortable with, whether it's OCD
like mine tend to be or just simple details, so you don't loose track of important facts half way
through. You could look up some of the 'Ultimate Character Sheets' and see if any fit your style,
and you can always change, re-word, add or take away anything from any sheet you find.

[DarknessofHeavenandDreams]

Ellie the Magnificent

I am sure most people would suggest you don't write a character profile, especially a detailed one.
I personally prefer to write mine detailed as possible, because I like to know the characters before
I write about them. I mean, you wouldn't start talking about painful events or sexual encounters
with complete strangers would you? Just write what you are comfortable with, whether it's OCD
like mine tend to be or just simple details, so you don't loose track of important facts half way
through. You could look up some of the 'Ultimate Character Sheets' and see if any fit your style,
and you can always change, re-word, add or take away anything from any sheet you find.

The details on profiles tend not to be about backstory or personality, but 'favorite flavor of ice cream' which is one of the major reasons we don't do detailed profiles. Another is the effort being put into it should be put into a story. A character's personality depends on the situation and does not exist in a vaccuum.

Just explaining. It's your character and your time. Go ahead with your profile.

[Klaark]

Just fill in the details you've already mentioned in the story, and fill out the profile as you go. They're just notes so you reference it quicker if you need to.

[Pseudo-Onkelos]

You don't need a character profile. It serves no purpose in writing a story.

[Tympest]

I'd suggest just writing about the character(s), you'll get to know them better as you go and can take notes from there.

[Hiei the Epic]

DarknessofHeavenandDreams

Ellie the Magnificent

I am sure most people would suggest you don't write a character profile, especially a detailed one.
I personally prefer to write mine detailed as possible, because I like to know the characters before
I write about them. I mean, you wouldn't start talking about painful events or sexual encounters
with complete strangers would you? Just write what you are comfortable with, whether it's OCD
like mine tend to be or just simple details, so you don't loose track of important facts half way
through. You could look up some of the 'Ultimate Character Sheets' and see if any fit your style,
and you can always change, re-word, add or take away anything from any sheet you find.

The details on profiles tend not to be about backstory or personality, but 'favorite flavor of ice cream' which is one of the major reasons we don't do detailed profiles. Another is the effort being put into it should be put into a story. A character's personality depends on the situation and does not exist in a vaccuum.

Just explaining. It's your character and your time. Go ahead with your profile.

i always use very detailed profiles. it helps greatly in keeping things nice and organized. i use them a lot, and i also make a note section of certain events during the story that i need to remember.

if i'm on page 450 and need to go check out something that happened between 50 and 100, i check my notes for that character, and pull any relevant info i need from the profile itself to continue what i'm writing.
writing without a profile of any kind can easily lead to a common issue of "oh s**t, i completely forgot what her best friend's name was in 6th grade and i think i mentioned that earlier but i don't remember where." or "damn, it would have been really cool to make a hint of this situation on page 80, but now i'm dumping it all on page 400 because i only just now thought of it."

fleshing out characters is the heart of good story writing, and most established writers use profiles with notes. to not do such seems a bit unintelligent in my view.

[Maeve Faylenn]

For the life of me, I can't remember where I found this- but some where online. It help me when I am writing. Hope it's of use to you as well.

Quote:

In learning more about creating characters for my novel I learned far more about creating the world around them, and the history to them then ever I thought I would, or would need to.
A person is not only a personality, but they are experiences, hopes, joys, passions, and foibles all rolled into one little package. For a writer you must not only create these in yourself, but for several, if not hundreds of other people as well. Those with the fullest detail, I have found, are actually far easier to write about then those who I know nothing about.
With that having been said, I have devised a way to have all of this in one easy place, a list of questions to answer about any character for any setting so that I can have a complete history, personality, and everything else all at my finger tips. How often have you started on the third chapter, or even the third page, and had to go back to the beginning and remind yourself that “gee, her hair was blond, not red.”
This list of questions makes that a lot easier. For those of you who do not think there is enough room to write what you need to, or want a digital vertion here is a list that you can cut and paste into a word processor, and use it as much as you like. If you need explanations on any of the questions, or advice on answering one, send a comment, I am sure someone will love to answer it.
Remember: The questions are about your character, not about you, so answer appropriately. Keep in mind that these questions are not all necessary for every character, in fact for bit parts you may only want to answer a couple of them. This was designed for the lead character of a novel in mind, and you will have to adjust it as necessary. This was also designed with fantasy and SF stories in mind, so some questions are specifically geared to those genres. Also, some of these have been changed slightly from the originals posted on the pages above, but it all boils down to the same thing.

The Questions

Date this form was created: 
Full name of Character: 
Reason, meaning or purpose behind the name: 
Nickname: 
Reason for nickname: 
Race: 
Occupation/class: 
Social class:
Physical Appearance:
Age: 
How old they appear: 
Eye Color: 
Glasses or contacts? 
Hair color length and style: 
Weight and height: 
Type of body (build): 
Skin tone and type (i.e., harry, slimy, scaly, oily, fair, burns easily): 
Shape of face: 
Distinguishing marks (dimples, moles, scars, birthmarks, etc.): 
Predominant feature: 
Is s/he healthy? 
If not, why not? Or why are they healthy? 
Do they look healthy? Why/why not?
Favorites:
Char’s favorite color: 
Least favorite, why? 
Music? 
Least favorite music, why? 
Food: 
Literature: 
Expressions: 
Expletives (curse): 
Mode of transport: 
Hobbies: 
How do they spend a rainy day?
Personality:
Are they a daredevil or cautious? 
Do they act the same alone as when with someone? 
Habits: 
Drinks: 
How much: 
Greatest Strength: 
Greatest Weakness: 
Soft spot: 
Is their soft spot obvious, why/why not: 
If not, how do they hide it: 
Biggest Vulnerability:
Background:
Hometown: 
Type of childhood: 
First Memory: 
Most important child hood event that still effects him/her: 
Why? 
Education: 
Religion: 
Finances:
Family:
Mother: 
Relationship with her: 
Father: 
Relationship with him: 
Siblings, How many, relationship with each: 
Children of siblings: 
Other extended family: 
Close? Why or why not:
Attitude:
Most at ease when: 
Most ill at ease when: 
Priorities: 
Philosophies: 
How they feel about themselves: 
Past failure they would be embarrassed to admit: 
Why? 
If granted one wish what would it be, why?
Traits
Optimist or pessimist? Why?
Introvert or extrovert? Why?
Drives and motives:
Talents:
Extremely skilled at:
Extremely unskilled at:
Good characteristics:
Character flaws:
Mannerisms:
Peculiarities:
Biggest regret:
Minor regrets:
Biggest accomplishment:
Minor accomplishments:
Darkest secret:
Does anyone know?
How did they find out:
Self-perception:
One word they would use to describe themselves:
One paragraph of how they would describe themselves:
What do they consider their best physical characteristic and why:
The worst one? Why?
Are they realistic assessments?
If not, why not?
How they think others preserve them:
What four things would they most like to change about themselves:
Why?
If they were changed would they be the same person, why/why not:
Would changing of number 1 make them more happy? Why/why not:
Interaction with other people:
How do they relate to others:
How are they perceived by strangers:
Friends:
Wife/husband/lover:
The Hero/Heroin:
How do they view the Hero/Heroine:
First impression of the char:
why?
What happens to change this perception:
What do people like most about this char:
What do they dislike most about them:
Goals:
Immediate:
Long term:
How do they plan to accomplish them:
How will others be effected by this:
Problems/Crisis:
How do they react in a crisis:
How do they face problems:
Kind of problems they usually run into:
How they react to new problems:
How they react to change:
General:
Favorite clothing, why:
Least favorite, why:
Jewelry:
Other accessories:
Drives:
Where do they live:
Where do they want to live:
Spending habits, why:
What do they do too much of, why:
Most prized possession, why:
People they secretly admire, why:
Person they are most influenced by, why:
Most important person in their life before story starts, why:
How do they spend the week just before the story starts:

[I Spirit Fox Kurama I]

The more you know about your characters, the more convincingly you'll be able to write them, the more variables you'll have to worth with and flesh out the story and the more depth you'll be able to provide the reader. Real people are full of stupid little details. Omitting those when making a character will render your character little more than that-- just a caricature of a person, instead of an individual readers are able to attach to.

That's not to say dump all the details in at once during the course of writing the story. But having the details present will allow you to write them into the flow of the story naturally, gradually building the character into something believable.

[Cogent Dream]

You only need one if your story is going to be long enough that there are details you might forget about your character. These are normally little bits of history (birth place, age as the story progresses, significant experiences, etc.).

You don't need to remember trivial stuff like name (if you forgot your character's name shame on you), hair colour, blah blah blah ... You only need information relevant to the story that will help you make sure you don't contradict something you said about the character earlier.