Developing realistic characters (Authors United)

Title: Developing realistic characters

luciddream - March 26, 2006 05:39 PM (GMT)

I thought some of you may like this snippet from Screenwriting Bible, I always write full biographies of my main characters, from birth to story start, but this list has been extremely useful to me when creating compelling (and consistent) characters:

QUOTE

Your [characters] have sociological, psychological, and physiological characteristics. Use the following to provoke your creative thought.

Sociology:
Occupation Education Criminal record
Birthplace/upbringing Ethnic roots Past/present home life
Political views Social status Hobbies
Affiliations Private life Work history
Work environment Personal life Religion

Physiology:
Height/weight Build or figure Attractiveness
Appearance Hair/eyes Voice quality
Defects/scars Health/strength Complexion
Clothing Physical skills Athletic ability

Psychology:
Fears/phobias Secrets Attitudes
Prejudices Values/beliefs Inhibitions
Pet peeves Complexes Addictions
Superstitions Habits Moral stands
Ambitions Motivations Temperament
Personal problems Imagination Likes/dislikes
Intelligence Disposition

Hope that it proves useful for someone =)

aleana15 - March 26, 2006 08:06 PM (GMT)

This is cool, thanks alot for putting it up. I'll remember its here and use it for my characters - perhaps creating profiles for my fairy characters will give me some inspiration to carry on with the story!

Lugana - April 2, 2006 07:26 AM (GMT)

Thank you for posting this. This is going to come in handy while developing my characters for “Clairc”, being what has been giving me the most trouble. :D You might want to place this into A.U. University later on.

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