
Maybe Robin is taking initiative in his home town to reform drunk driving laws. What does Robin want and why? Say his wife was killed by a drunk driver. What drives your character and why? What is their main motivating factor? All good characters have something they want that drives their story. How does this resemblance affect how Robin interacts with Rose? If Rose is, say, in her early teens how does Robin handle talking to her about puberty, dating, etc.? Do these topics make him uncomfortable? If so, why? Is Robin a more conservative man? As you can see, you can learn a lot about your character's personality by focusing on their relationships. For example, say Robin has a daughter named Rose who bears a striking resemblance to his late wife. Focus on the major relationships your character has and ask questions specific to that relationship. All characters have relationships with one another and the world that affect how they move through life. Talk about interpersonal relationships.How is he affected by the death of his wife? Does this affect his present relationships with his children or other family members? How did he cope when his wife died? How does he cope now? How long has his wife been gone? What was their relationship like? As you can see, you can focus on one aspect of the past and branch out from there. What conflicts does your character face? How has he or she reacted to events in the past? How have certain events shape your character? For example, say you're writing about a 58 year-old widower named Robin Leland with two kids. From here, push yourself to go more in depth.Allow yourself to branch out freely and expand upon existing ideas. As you progress through your sheet, ask more complicated questions. Jot down a paragraph or two and consider what about the character needs further exploring.Īsk more complicated questions. This is more of a brainstorming session to help you figure out what about the character would be helpful to know. Keep in mind, this does not have to be terribly extensive yet.This can help you get acquainted with your character. Draw a short picture if you're a visual learner or if you're doing a graphic novel or comic.Is your character male or female? What are the character's most notable physical characteristics? Does he or she have a family? A spouse? Friends?.Who is your character and what world does he or she exist in? A character sheet for a 28 year-old lawyer living in modern day Manhattan is obviously going to look vastly different than one for a 45 year-old wizard living in a fictional universe of your creation.You may work on 1 character sheet at a time or work on multiple sheets simultaneously, which may be beneficial if you want to map out character relationships at the same time. Spend a bit getting acquainted with the character you want to outline in your sheet before writing it down.

The best character sheets tend to be specific to one particular story or person. Before you start your character sheet, write or draw a rough sketch of your character. Write or draw a rough sketch of a character.
