Character Building Worksheet

Fiction Writer's Character Chart
NAME:
Character's Full Name: ______________________________________________
Reason or meaning of name: ____________________
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Nickname: ___________________________________
Reason for nickname: ______________________________
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Birthdate: ________________________________________
Astrological Sign:_____________________________

PHYSICAL APPEARANCE:
Age: _____________________________________
How old does s/he appear? ___________________
Eye Color: _____________________________
Glasses or contacts: _________________________
Weight:__________________________________________
Height: __________________________________________
Type of body/build:________________________________
Skin tone: _______________________________________
Skin type: ________________________________________
Shape of face:_____________________________________
Distinguishing Marks:______________________________
Predominant feature:_______________________________
Hair color:_______________________________________
Distinguishable hair feature (bald, receding hairline, etc.):
________________________________________________
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Type of hair (coarse, fine, thick, etc?)__________________
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Character's typical hairstyle:__________________________
Looks like:_______________________________________
Is s/he healthy?____________________________________
If not, why not:_____________________________
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Physical disabilities:________________________________
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FAVORITES:
Character's favorite color:____________________________
Why? ____________________________________
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Character's least favorite color:_______________________
Why?____________________________________
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Favorite Music:____________________________________
Why?____________________________________
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Least favorite Music:_______________________________
Why?____________________________________
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Food:____________________________________________
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Literature:________________________________________
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Expressions:______________________________________
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Expletives:_______________________________________
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Mode of transportation:_____________________________
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Daredevil or cautious?______________________________
Why? ____________________________________
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Same when alone? _________________________________

HABITS:
Smokes: _________________________________________
What?____________________________________
When and how much?_______________________
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Drinks:__________________________________________
What?____________________________________
When and how much?_______________________
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Other:___________________________________________
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HOBBIES:
How does character spend a rainy day? _________________
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BACKGROUND:
Hometown:_______________________________________
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Type of childhood:_________________________________
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First memory:_____________________________________
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Most important childhood event that still affects him/her: __
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Why?____________________________________
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Education:________________________________________
Religion:_________________________________________
Finances:_________________________________________
Why?____________________________________
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FAMILY:
Mother:____________________________________________________________________________


Relationship with her:_______________________
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Father:___________________________________


Relationship with him:_______________________
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Siblings:1)________________________________
2)________________________________________
3)________________________________________
4)________________________________________


Birth order:_______________________________________
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Relationship with each:
1) _______________________________________
2) _______________________________________
3) _______________________________________
4) _______________________________________
Children of siblings:________________________________
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Extended family?__________________________________
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Close?___________________________________________
Why or why not? __________________________________
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ATTITUDE:
Character's greatest fear:_____________________________
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Why?____________________________________
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What is the worst thing that could happen to him/her? ____
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What single event would most throw character's life in complete turmoil? _________________________________
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Why? ___________________________________
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Character is most at ease when: ______________________
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Most ill at ease when: ______________________________
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Depressive or SAD (Seasonal Affective Disorder)? _______
Priorities: ________________________________________
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Philosophy:_______________________________________
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How s/he feels about self: ___________________________
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Past failure s/he would be embarrassed to have people know about: ___________________________________________
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Why? ____________________________________
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If granted one wish, what would it be? _________________
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Why? ___________________________________
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PERSONALITY:
Greatest source of strength in character's personality (whether s/he sees it as
such or not): ______________________________________
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Greatest source of weakness in character's personality (whether s/he sees it as
such or not):______________________________________
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Character's soft spot:________________________________
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Is this soft spot obvious to others?_____________________
If not, how does character hide it?_____________________
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Biggest vulnerability:_______________________________
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TRAITS:
Optimist or pessimist:_______________________________
Why?____________________________________
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Introvert or extrovert:_______________________________
Why?____________________________________
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Drives and motivations:_____________________________
Talents:__________________________________________
Extremely skilled at:________________________________
Extremely unskilled at:______________________________
Good characteristics:_______________________________
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Character flaws:___________________________________
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Mannerisms:______________________________________
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Peculiarities:______________________________________
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Biggest regret:_____________________________________
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Minor regrets:_____________________________________
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Biggest accomplishment:____________________________
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Minor accomplishments:____________________________
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Character's darkest secret:___________________________
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Does anyone else know?_____________________________
If yes, did character tell them?_________________
If no, how did they find out?__________________
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SELF-PERCEPTION:
One word CHARACTER would use to describe self: ______
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One paragraph description of how CHARACTER would describe self:______________________________________
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What does CHARACTER consider best physical characteristic? ____________________________________
What does CHARACTER consider worst physical characteristic? ____________________________________
Are these realistic assessments?_______________________
If not, why not?____________________________
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How CHARACTER thinks others perceive him/her:_______
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What four things would CHARACTER most like to change about self? (#1 most
important, #2 second most important, etc.)
1.________________________________________
2.________________________________________
3.________________________________________
4.________________________________________
Why?____________________________________
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If change #1 was made, would character be as happy as s/he thinks?___________________________________________
If not, why not?____________________________
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INTERRELATION WITH OTHERS:
Is character divorced?_______________________________
Has character ever cheated on signficant other?___________
How does character relate to others?___________________
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How is s/he perceived by...
Strangers?_________________________________
Friends? __________________________________
Wife/Husband/Lover?_______________________
Hero/Heroine?_____________________________
How does character view hero/heroine?_________________
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First impression:__________________________________ Why?____________________________________
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What happens to change this perception?________________
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What do family/friends like most about character?________
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What do family/friends like least about character?________
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GOALS:
Immediate goals:__________________________________
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Long range goals: _________________________________
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How does character plan to accomplish these goals?_______
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How will other characters be affected?_________________
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PROBLEMS/CRISIS:
How character reacts in a crisis:_______________________
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How character faces problems:________________________
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Kinds of problems character usually runs into:___________
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How character reacts to NEW problems:________________
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How character reacts to change:_______________________
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GENERAL:
Favorite clothing:__________________________________ Why?____________________________________
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Least favorite clothing:______________________________ Why?____________________________________
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Jewelry:__________________________________________
Other accessories:__________________________________
Drives:___________________________________________
Where does character live?___________________________
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Where does character want to live?____________________
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Spending habits (frugal, spendthrift, etc):_______________
Why?____________________________________
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What does s/he do too much of?_______________________
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Too little of?______________________________________
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Most prized possession:_____________________________ Why?____________________________________
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Play musical instrument?___________________________
Which?__________________________________
How did s/he learn?________________________________
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UNCATEGORIZED:
Person character secretly admires:_____________________
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Why?____________________________________
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Person character was most influenced by:_______________
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Why?____________________________________
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Most important person in character's life before story starts:
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Why?____________________________________
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How does character spend the week before the story starts?
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