A character profile is a detailed description of the life and personality of a fictional character. A good character profile will help the author get into the minds of the characters and bring them to life for the reader. If you're writing a story, all the main characters must have a character profile. Start with the basics. Define the age, appearance, occupation, social class, and behavior of the character. Then work on the psychology and background of the characters. Finally, develop the character's place in the story and the struggles they experience throughout the story. Once all this is known, you can write characters that will appear real to the reader.
Step
Part 1 of 3: Imagining Character Appearance
Step 1. Start with a simple sentence that describes the character
Many writers start with a brief description of a character before starting to create a full profile. These brief descriptions usually describe specific traits and define traits for the character's role in the story. Before designing a full character, imagine how you will introduce the character in the story and what you want the reader to know about the character. Write this down in short sentences to get started.
- When you're writing your introduction, use all the details you've created to further build on the character's background and personality.
- You can introduce a character like "tired and looking older than he really is". This is a great starting point because it provides a lot for you to dive into the character's background. Think about why he looks older than he really is and what struggles he's had to make him look tired.
Step 2. Write down the basic information of the character
This is general information about the character that can help you create a more detailed profile of their personality. This basic information includes age, birthday, current residence, and occupation.
- Then use this basic information to be even more specific. Once you've decided on the character's job, think about the income. Based on this job, which social class does he belong to?
- You don't have to fill every aspect of the character's life. It's more of an exercise to hone your creativity and let you dive into the mind of the character you're designing.
Step 3. Imagine the character's outward appearance
The physical image is important for the main character. You may have an idea of what a character will look like before you start writing their profile, or you may be just starting to develop one. Whether you have an idea or are just developing it, write your design about how it looks and how you would describe it in the story. Thinking about the character's appearance is very important to his personality as you go further.
- Start with very basic information such as the color of her hair, eyes, and clothes she usually wears. Is the character bearded or not? Is the hair color natural or dyed?
- Then detail the appearance. Decide if the character's hair is usually neatly trimmed or slightly messy. Think about what people with neat hair usually hide, or what struggles people with messy hair have.
- Also decide if the character has any special markings or traits. A scar on the face, for example, can tell the whole story of a character and how he or she experienced the wound.
Step 4. Develop character behavior
When you're done creating your physical image, deepen your character's profile by imagining how he or she acts on a daily basis. Develop behaviors such as speech patterns so that you can really visualize the characters, and the readers can relate to them more.
- Think about how this character walks into the room. Determine if he's the type to walk in confidently and introduce himself to everyone present, or someone who sneaks in because he doesn't want to stand out.
- Imagine the way the character talks. Does he have a special accent? Does he like to talk big and try to sound smart? Does he stutter?
- Design whether the character likes to make certain moves or has special habits. Maybe he tends to blink when he's lying. This can be a plot point in the next story.
Step 5. Name your character
It depends on which you prefer, character names can be very important or not very important. If you like to include a lot of symbols in your name, take some time to think about what your character's name means. Otherwise, focus on portraying the character and just pick the name that comes to mind.
- Unless there is a symbolic meaning in the character's name, don't put too much emphasis on what will come with a big name. Just focus on the description so that readers connect with the character.
- If you don't really care about character names, use the help of tools on the internet that can generate random names.
- One very important thing is to come up with a different name for each character. For example, the names Joni, Toni, and Doni will confuse the readers. The names Joni, Anto, and Hasan show more of a difference.
- Also think about the character's nickname, and in what situations the character uses a different name. For example, if everyone calls the character Hasan, but during a fight his wife calls him Hasanudin, it automatically tells the reader that his wife is furious with him.
Part 2 of 3: Developing a Character Background
Step 1. Decide where the character's hometown is
If in the story the character does not live in his hometown, design the origin of the character. If the story takes place in Jakarta, but the character was born in Kupang, explain what the character did in Jakarta. Design a further profile using this information.
- Plan how long the character stays in his hometown and if he stays there long enough, he's bound to have a local accent.
- Think about why the character left his village. Did he move because of work, or did he not fit in with his family? Does the character miss his hometown, or is he happy to leave his hometown?
Step 2. Design the character's childhood
A character's background is usually very important to all of his personality. If the character is an adult, think about what his childhood was like. Use this information to determine whether the character considers his life successful or not.
- Develop as much detail as possible regarding the character's childhood. Try to bring friends, schools, favorite teachers, hobbies, career goals, and favorite foods.
- Make an overview of the trauma the character experienced as a child. Perhaps this is why he left his hometown, or why he finds it difficult to make friendships later in life.
- Maybe the character was spoiled as a child and never put in the effort. It is also important to his personality.
Step 3. Map out the character's personal relationships
How the character interacts with other people is important to his role in the story. Decide if he is a kind and loving person, or manipulative. Decide how the character treats other characters so you can plan the next episode of that character's life.
- Start simple, with the character's personal relationships. List of parents, siblings and immediate family members. Decide if this character is married or not.
- Then think more deeply about the meaning of this personal relationship. Choose who to talk to when the character needs help, or who he turns to for money when he's having trouble.
- Does the character easily make friends with a lot of people, or just a lot of acquaintances? If he only has a lot of acquaintances, explain why he finds it difficult to build relationships with other people.
Step 4. Build a psychological profile of the character
With the physical and personal descriptions described earlier, dive into the psychology of the characters. Develop the character's hopes, dreams, fears, likes, and dislikes. Think about how this character's profile affects the way he acts throughout the story.
- Ask broad questions like, “Is this character happy?” If he is happy, think about whether there is anything in this story that destroys his happiness. Or if he wasn't happy at first, pinpoint an event in the past that made him unhappy.
- Then work out how the character reacts to the world and what makes him angry and sad.
- Does the character consider himself a success, or will he say he is a failure?
Part 3 of 3: Determining the Role of the Character in the Story
Step 1. Determine whether in this story the character will experience a life-changing event
That's important because it determines whether the characters will change or stay the same throughout the story. They can experience basic personality changes between the beginning and the end of the story. If this is the case, plan the events that lead to the character's transformation. What lessons did he learn or failed to learn?
Think about whether the character experienced a life-changing event, but he didn't change. For example, the death of a spouse should be a life-changing event for most people, but if your character isn't affected by this, explain why
Step 2. Plan whether this character will be the protagonist or the antagonist
The protagonist is the “good guy” and the antagonist is the “bad guy.” After you create character details, decide which category your character belongs to. After that, build players for your story.
Remember, not all main characters are protagonists. You can change the point of view by making the main character the antagonist who causes everyone trouble and this story
Step 3. Write another profile if the character will get older in this story
People change with age. The beliefs he holds will change over time. Think about the timeline of your story. If the timeframe is years, some of your characters will change significantly during that time. If so, build a new character profile for each character with a different age. This will help you work out how the characters change over time.
- If the change is only a matter of months, no new profile is needed unless a character actually changes during that time.
- Consider a character's relative age to decide if he or she needs a new character profile. For example, if a character turns 10 years old in the first chapter, but turns 15 in another chapter, that's too big of a jump. However, if someone turns 30 and turns 35, it's not a big jump because people over 30 have a more stable personality.
Tips
- If you're having trouble getting started, there are plenty of templates online with suggested questions for your character's biography. You don't have to fill in all the questions for the character. The questions are just to get your brain working so you can design the characters.
- Character profiles are not immutable. If you end up not liking the profile you created at the start, change it. Remember, keep your character consistent until the end of the story.
