Because readers crave truly unforgettable characters

For me, all stories are rooted in character. Even if the spark of my idea as captured by my Dump Doc is a situation or trope, it can’t become a novel for me until I personally fall in love with who’s in that situation or dragged through that trope kicking and screaming.

As a result, fleshing out characters is just as important to my writing process as the outline phase, which I’m on the record saying is what I consider my first draft. But most standard character design templates are either complicated for the sake of complexity, or too vague to function, and rarely get to the true core of who these people are and what makes them tick.

So we’ve designed our own! Paid subscribers to the Substack can get the download for our fillable Character Template at the bottom of this post, but for everyone else, I’ve picked my seven favorite prompts as a starting point.

Physical descriptions

Unless you’re writing sci-fi about brains in jars, your character has a physical form that will probably come up at some point. So what best describes their horrible visage meat sack basic aesthetic characteristics?

  1. Prominent physical features. Does this character, like most romance heroes, have a twice-broken nose? Freckles? A dramatic scar over one eye? A centered front tooth like Tom Cruise? When people in your book describe your character to others… what do they focus on? What stands out and makes them unique, beyond that they have startling violet eyes, auburn hair, and an aquiline nose (no shade to romantasy heroines with these descriptions, I too imprinted early on Alanna the Lioness)?
  2. Scents. As we walk you through in our Free Mini Course, you’ve got five senses, so use ‘em! What does your character smell like, naturally? What scents define them and their day to day lives? If they work at a cafe, they probably always smell faintly of coffee grounds and buttery pastry. If they’re outdoorsy, maybe they smell like freshly cut grass and sun-warmed skin. To build upon this scent-ual journey, what scents does your character favor in ways that other people can pick up? A fruity shampoo, Chanel No 5 they inherited from a beloved grandmother, fresh herbs from their medicinal lotion?

Background

From where did this person spring forth? What, and who, made them who they are today?

  1. Parents. Are your characters’ parents still together, is one or both dead, was there a nasty divorce? Who is/was your character closest with, and why? Or did they not know their parents at all/lost them young, who did they latch onto like a duckling for mentorship and surrogate support?
  2. Cliques. In school/as a child… how would their peers categorize them? Were they a jock or a nerd? A theater kid or a gleek? A goth or a burnout? And does that external categorization suit them because it’s a good shorthand… or because they carefully curated that perception for their own purposes?
  3. First Rejection/Failure. Be this a rejection by a crush, disappointing their parents, failing a test, not making a sports team, or something more angsty… what would your character consider their first time wanting something and not getting it? And how did that rejection define failure for them as they grew up?

Community

Who are the people your character sees consistently? And are they adding something to the book… or do they simply exist? All characters, even side characters, should be narratively supporting (or impeding) the goals and/or desires of your protagonists.

  1. Acquaintances. Who are the people orbiting your character in their day to day, and in what contexts? Who do they see the most and wish they saw the least, and vice versa, and why can they not course-correct the frequency in a more preferable manner?

Themes

What is this story ABOUT? And why is THIS the best character to explore that?

  1. Spiraling. You character has some kind of goal or belief system at the start of the book that motivates their decisions. Taken to the extreme… what’s the worst possible result of not achieving that goal, or not fulfilling that belief? AKA… the stakes!

You might not have all the answers right away, and that’s ok! Characters evolve as you get into freaky little situations with them, but you need to have a sense of their essence before you can start plotting, and then that plotting can inform their essence right back. But having a character interview template that gets to the heart of how your character was formed pre-novel and what motivates their decision-making in the present will only deepen your relationship to them, give you prompts to explore when you’re blocked, and ensure that they’re well-rounded and containing of multitudes.

Get the complete fillable character interview template. Or become a paid subscriber to our Substack and all of our templates are included – past and future.

“Read” this post as a YouTube video instead, if you’re so inclined!

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