Character Development Form

While browsing Deviantart - really, in order to procrastinate - I found a very comprehensive, detailed character form that I thought others here might be interested in:

http://fyuvix.deviantart.com/gallery/?q=character+form#/dlx9kf

I've begun it for three of my characters, and have so far found it delightful. It's long, definitely, and might seem overwhelming to a younger or beginning author. I say give it a try, even if it's just the basic section.

Just thought this was something worth sharing.

Deviantart is blocked on this computer. Is there a way of reposting it here?

Sure! Here's the digital form, not on Deviantart: http://pompfiction.com/links/character-profile-form/

Let me know if this works!

It's so looooong.

I have so many characters.

I have homewooork.

D:

I really don't see how some of this shit is going to be relevant. Blood type, astrological sign, element? That's factoid minutiae, like what you see in those character bios in manga. Who gives a toss?

Good point. Yeah, I don't see how some of that crap is relevant, either, so I just ignored it. Whatever's not relevent I either decided I'm putting n/a or just leaving blank.

I'm not going to bother filling it out. I don't want to fill out a fucking spreadsheet for my characters.

At first I thought this was a character profile that I could actually get behind, but then I realized that the basic headers "+show" meant that it would open up into a jillion mutinae instead of an order for a basic description and then a vingette or something "showing" the trait in action. This makes me a sad panda :(

edited 20th Apr '11 10:42:08 AM by OhSoIntoCats

Then don't. No need to be rude about it.

Okay, after reading people's reactions to this thing, I think I made a misktake posting it here. You all have my apologies.

You did nothing wrong. While I personally dislike list forms, that is no reason to be rude about it.

I downloaded the chart and starting looking through it. I have a lot of characters, but I think that this will be fun and helpful.

Well, I think it was neat for helping me decide on a few minor mannerisms, but there's far too much pointless crap on here. Not bad though, gave me something to do while I drink my coffee.

Skimmed the form. Many details, such as blood type, are irrelevant. Others are worth considering, though — "possible pscyhological reasons for their sexual fantasies/behavior" and "how has this character most changed from youth" got me thinking about potentially pertinent details previously left unconsidered for one of my characters. Might use it for a character I haven't developed very well.

edited 20th Apr '11 12:32:09 PM by KillerClowns

Oddly enough, I know one character's blood type because I looked up information on military dog tags. I do not, however, know the birthdays of any characters. Which is odd considering I made a timeline of the story.

I agree that some of the stuff there sounds pretty irrelevant.How are stuff like ears and eyes, and limbs supposed to be important, unless your character is from a different species?(WTF is up with posture?) While others are just confusing or unclear (What does Element imply? As in Elemental affinity?). Some are pretty important though. (Anything in past history, and emotional characteristics.) and others are just a fun thing to think about. (Likes/Dislikes. And "What song best fits this character")

Peoples' minds work differently in creative endeavors; some might find that level of detail worthwhile.

Also, it IS worth keeping a character notebook or file where you write everything down you decide about a character so that you don't go and contradict yourself later. This can be "lazy", in that you make no decision about things until you need to know them, but once it's worked out, you should remember it :)

How seriously I took this form.◊

Wow, that is long. I'm going to take it.

@Leradny: hehe!

I tried filling it out....but lost interest partway through.

Such is the problem with more than basic character sheets.

^ It's because there's so many useless details. You can make well-rounded and interesting characters and know nothing of things like social status, childhood disillusions, zodiac sign, hell even their birthday.

It's a character exercise, those facts, not a how-well-developed-your-character-is test.

edited 20th Apr '11 4:47:31 PM by MrAHR

And it's asking for absolutely everything leaving nothing to the imagination.

Having something left to the imagination is the mark of a well-written character. It means there's things worth guessing or interpreting a different way.