Beboauthor.com Character Sheet
Last year, I put up this post of links to character sheets, and within a few months, two of the most valuable sheets that I linked had vanished.
Around the time I put up the post, I was writing an app, and I printed out most of the sheets to carry around with me, so that I could work on them while I was out around town. I am now typing up the questions from these print-outs. I find these profile sheets useful, and I think many other people will, too.
Below the cut is the one that was featured at Beboauthor.com. It's the same as what was on the site, except for a few edits for clarity. The commentary is by the creator of the questionnaire, not me.
Beboauthor.com Character Sheet
This is a basic form of a character sheet that I use. It is quite long, but it doesn't have to limit you. You can use as much or as little of it as you like for each character.
Modern Adult Fiction:
Full name (including middle names):
Current age:
Date of birth:
Star sign:
Nickname/aliases:
Physical Appearance - How the character looks to themselves AND how the character appears to other people. Note unusual or outstanding features. For example, are the eyes too close together, are the eyebrows arched, is the nose crooked, does the hair have split ends, are the lips thin or plump, is the jawline pronounced, is the chin weak, etc. If you have trouble, then try to pay more attention to the physical appearances of people around you, and begin to differentiate between ordinary features.
Eyes (color and shape):
Hair (color, length, texture, health, and style):
Nose (length, width, and shape):
Mouth (length, width, and shape):
Skin (color, texture, and quality):
Moles or birthmarks:
Abnormalities in the skin:
Presence of wrinkles, veins, acne, boils, warts, etc:
Face (general description):
Physique:
Height:
Weight:
Proportion of legs to body:
Hands, nails, and fingers (general description):
Glasses or contacts (if so, describe):
Clothing (usual style):
Makeup (usual style):
Age they appear to be:
Walk/run/gait (style):
Shape of Body as they walk:
Demeanor amongst strangers (timid, confident, etc.):
Relaxed stance:
Habits that affect their appearance (nail-biting, smoking, etc.):
Reactions (how do they look/react when bored, nervous, etc.):
Fidgeting (do they play with jewelry, crack knuckles, etc.):
Disabilities or health issues:
Favorite clothes and jewelry (formal and informal):
Anything else you can think of:
Interview Questions - You can answer these quickly in your own words, or as part of a conversation with your character, by answering the questions descriptively in their voice. If you don't have time, give basic answers. If you have hit a block in your story, give as rich an answer as possible.
Who gave you your nickname (when and why)?
What did you do last weekend?
What's your idea of a relaxing evening?
What is your idea of fun?
What is your life-long dream?
What is your favorite holiday?
How do you feel about (politics, current events, historical events, anything you would ask a person you were getting to know)?
Can you drive? Why or why not? Who taught you? Do you have a car? Etc.
What is your favorite childhood memory?
What is your worst childhood memory?
Did you like school?
Who was your best friend growing up? Who is your best friend now?
Name five things you would like to do before you die?
What do you want to happen more than anything else in the world?
What would be the worst-case scenario for you?
Do you have any secret crushes?
Are you married? Why or why not? Who asked who? When? Where? How long? Etc.
Have you ever cheated? Will you ever cheat?
First kiss?
First crush?
First sexual experience?
First time your heart was broken?
Who do you love the most in the world? Why?
Do you smoke, drink, or take drugs? Where? With who? How often?
Do you save money?
Do you spend too much?
Do you have any debts?
Do you have your own home, rent, or live with parents?
What are your hobbies?
Did you have a happy childhood? A happy life?
What sort of education did you have? School? College? Dropout? Etc.
Are you religious? What religion? What do you believe? Do you follow those beliefs?
Are your family and friends important to you?
Do you have a job? (Go into detail.)
Were you an oldest/youngest child? Describe birth order and relationship with siblings.
Do you have a close relationship with your parents? Describe these relationships from childhood to present day.
What or who embarrasses you most?
What are your priorities?
What is your most prized possession?
Who do you admire most?
Who has been the greatest influence on your life?
What would you change about yourself?
Do you like yourself? (Appearance, personality, achievements.)
What is your greatest achievement?
Where do you see yourself in 5-10 years?
Favorites - What are the character's likes, dislikes, and favorite things? Just like the interview questions, try to find a reason why they like or dislike certain things. This section and the interview section can be easily combined.
Colors:
Famous people:
People in their lives:
Family:
Animals: Food:
Books:
Music:
Films:
Sports:
Activities:
Words/expressions:
Talents or Skills - What can your character do? Add any kind of information that might be relevant. Here are just a few ideas:
Drive:
Play a musical instrument:
Write:
Draw:
Play sports:
Bake:
Shoot:
Dance:
Characteristics and Traits - How does the character behave, alone and around other people? Are they generally nice, bad-tempered, enthusiastic, etc.? Give details: why are they this way? Can they change? Basically, talk about their weaknesses and strengths of character: their virtues, their flaws, and where these might stem from. Where did they get their morals, or lack thereof?
Here are some examples:
Kind:
Charitable:
Mean:
Miserly:
Generous:
Loving:
Cold:
Short-tempered:
Loud:
Timid:
Shy:
Wild:
Brave:
Cautious:
Optimistic:
Other - There are a lot of things you could say about a person; it's the same with your characters. Anything you think will make your character more rounded can be included. Remember that everything in a character sheet does not make its way into a story, but it can help the writer to already know this stuff about their characters.
Are they married or in a relationship? Add details like length of relationship, how they met, how they really feel about each other, how their relationship appears to other people, any affairs, how they treat each other in public and in private.
Do they have children? With who? What ages are their children? What age was the character when the children were born? Were the pregnancies planned? Is the character still with the children's other parent? Does the character have a favorite child? How does the character treat their children in public and in private? Are they strict, or laid back? How do they discipline the children?
Do they have grandchildren? (A lot of the previous paragraph can be used here.)
What relationships do they have with other characters in the novel? First impression, likes and dislikes, etc.
How do other characters see this character? Is the character well-liked, feared, appreciated, ignored, etc.? Does the character realize this?
What are the character's goals and aims for the future?
How does the character react to pressure, drama, grief, anger, etc?
This character sheet isn't perfect, I know, but it can be a starting point. I tend to add and delete things as I go along, depending on what I need. All characters are different and therefore have different life experiences. You can add details as the story progresses, because the character will more than likely develop throughout the story itself. I would also recommend writing at least a couple of paragraphs of certain experiences in the character's voice: their last holiday, their last argument, the last time they laughed until they cried, their first appearance in the novel, their day/week/month directly before the story starts, etc. There are plenty of other examples of character sheets around the internet, I'm sure, so if this one doesn't cover what you want, try searching around for others.
Around the time I put up the post, I was writing an app, and I printed out most of the sheets to carry around with me, so that I could work on them while I was out around town. I am now typing up the questions from these print-outs. I find these profile sheets useful, and I think many other people will, too.
Below the cut is the one that was featured at Beboauthor.com. It's the same as what was on the site, except for a few edits for clarity. The commentary is by the creator of the questionnaire, not me.
Beboauthor.com Character Sheet
This is a basic form of a character sheet that I use. It is quite long, but it doesn't have to limit you. You can use as much or as little of it as you like for each character.
Modern Adult Fiction:
Full name (including middle names):
Current age:
Date of birth:
Star sign:
Nickname/aliases:
Physical Appearance - How the character looks to themselves AND how the character appears to other people. Note unusual or outstanding features. For example, are the eyes too close together, are the eyebrows arched, is the nose crooked, does the hair have split ends, are the lips thin or plump, is the jawline pronounced, is the chin weak, etc. If you have trouble, then try to pay more attention to the physical appearances of people around you, and begin to differentiate between ordinary features.
Eyes (color and shape):
Hair (color, length, texture, health, and style):
Nose (length, width, and shape):
Mouth (length, width, and shape):
Skin (color, texture, and quality):
Moles or birthmarks:
Abnormalities in the skin:
Presence of wrinkles, veins, acne, boils, warts, etc:
Face (general description):
Physique:
Height:
Weight:
Proportion of legs to body:
Hands, nails, and fingers (general description):
Glasses or contacts (if so, describe):
Clothing (usual style):
Makeup (usual style):
Age they appear to be:
Walk/run/gait (style):
Shape of Body as they walk:
Demeanor amongst strangers (timid, confident, etc.):
Relaxed stance:
Habits that affect their appearance (nail-biting, smoking, etc.):
Reactions (how do they look/react when bored, nervous, etc.):
Fidgeting (do they play with jewelry, crack knuckles, etc.):
Disabilities or health issues:
Favorite clothes and jewelry (formal and informal):
Anything else you can think of:
Interview Questions - You can answer these quickly in your own words, or as part of a conversation with your character, by answering the questions descriptively in their voice. If you don't have time, give basic answers. If you have hit a block in your story, give as rich an answer as possible.
Who gave you your nickname (when and why)?
What did you do last weekend?
What's your idea of a relaxing evening?
What is your idea of fun?
What is your life-long dream?
What is your favorite holiday?
How do you feel about (politics, current events, historical events, anything you would ask a person you were getting to know)?
Can you drive? Why or why not? Who taught you? Do you have a car? Etc.
What is your favorite childhood memory?
What is your worst childhood memory?
Did you like school?
Who was your best friend growing up? Who is your best friend now?
Name five things you would like to do before you die?
What do you want to happen more than anything else in the world?
What would be the worst-case scenario for you?
Do you have any secret crushes?
Are you married? Why or why not? Who asked who? When? Where? How long? Etc.
Have you ever cheated? Will you ever cheat?
First kiss?
First crush?
First sexual experience?
First time your heart was broken?
Who do you love the most in the world? Why?
Do you smoke, drink, or take drugs? Where? With who? How often?
Do you save money?
Do you spend too much?
Do you have any debts?
Do you have your own home, rent, or live with parents?
What are your hobbies?
Did you have a happy childhood? A happy life?
What sort of education did you have? School? College? Dropout? Etc.
Are you religious? What religion? What do you believe? Do you follow those beliefs?
Are your family and friends important to you?
Do you have a job? (Go into detail.)
Were you an oldest/youngest child? Describe birth order and relationship with siblings.
Do you have a close relationship with your parents? Describe these relationships from childhood to present day.
What or who embarrasses you most?
What are your priorities?
What is your most prized possession?
Who do you admire most?
Who has been the greatest influence on your life?
What would you change about yourself?
Do you like yourself? (Appearance, personality, achievements.)
What is your greatest achievement?
Where do you see yourself in 5-10 years?
Favorites - What are the character's likes, dislikes, and favorite things? Just like the interview questions, try to find a reason why they like or dislike certain things. This section and the interview section can be easily combined.
Colors:
Famous people:
People in their lives:
Family:
Animals: Food:
Books:
Music:
Films:
Sports:
Activities:
Words/expressions:
Talents or Skills - What can your character do? Add any kind of information that might be relevant. Here are just a few ideas:
Drive:
Play a musical instrument:
Write:
Draw:
Play sports:
Bake:
Shoot:
Dance:
Characteristics and Traits - How does the character behave, alone and around other people? Are they generally nice, bad-tempered, enthusiastic, etc.? Give details: why are they this way? Can they change? Basically, talk about their weaknesses and strengths of character: their virtues, their flaws, and where these might stem from. Where did they get their morals, or lack thereof?
Here are some examples:
Kind:
Charitable:
Mean:
Miserly:
Generous:
Loving:
Cold:
Short-tempered:
Loud:
Timid:
Shy:
Wild:
Brave:
Cautious:
Optimistic:
Other - There are a lot of things you could say about a person; it's the same with your characters. Anything you think will make your character more rounded can be included. Remember that everything in a character sheet does not make its way into a story, but it can help the writer to already know this stuff about their characters.
Are they married or in a relationship? Add details like length of relationship, how they met, how they really feel about each other, how their relationship appears to other people, any affairs, how they treat each other in public and in private.
Do they have children? With who? What ages are their children? What age was the character when the children were born? Were the pregnancies planned? Is the character still with the children's other parent? Does the character have a favorite child? How does the character treat their children in public and in private? Are they strict, or laid back? How do they discipline the children?
Do they have grandchildren? (A lot of the previous paragraph can be used here.)
What relationships do they have with other characters in the novel? First impression, likes and dislikes, etc.
How do other characters see this character? Is the character well-liked, feared, appreciated, ignored, etc.? Does the character realize this?
What are the character's goals and aims for the future?
How does the character react to pressure, drama, grief, anger, etc?
This character sheet isn't perfect, I know, but it can be a starting point. I tend to add and delete things as I go along, depending on what I need. All characters are different and therefore have different life experiences. You can add details as the story progresses, because the character will more than likely develop throughout the story itself. I would also recommend writing at least a couple of paragraphs of certain experiences in the character's voice: their last holiday, their last argument, the last time they laughed until they cried, their first appearance in the novel, their day/week/month directly before the story starts, etc. There are plenty of other examples of character sheets around the internet, I'm sure, so if this one doesn't cover what you want, try searching around for others.