Anne Olwin Copyright 2007

Character Development Worksheet Character’s Full Name __________________________ Character’s Nickname(s) __________________________ Significance of the name and/or nickname _____________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________

Physical Characteristics: Describe each physical characteristic and, on the line below each, tell how the character feels about the characteristic (self-perception). Age _____________ ______________________________________________________________________ Age character actually appears and the reason why______________________________ ______________________________________________________________________ Hair color and style ______________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________ Eye color ______________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________ Height ________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________ Weight _________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ Body type/Build ________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________Shape of Face and Distinguishing Features ___________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________ Coloring _______________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________ Cleanliness _____________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________ Noticeable handicaps _____________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________ Sense of style ____________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ Thing the character would most like to change about him/herself and why-_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

1

Anne Olwin Copyright 2007

Intelligences and Attitudes: Circle the ones that apply: Mechanical Analytical Physical (sports) Technical Social Artistic Mathematical Musical Introspective Optimistic Pessimistic Rational Irrational Kindhearted Hardhearted Calculating Sneaky Integrity Honorable Downtrodden Strong Weak Careless Punctual Thoughtful Fastidious Authentic Brave Barbaric Gentle Thoughtless Melodramatic Phlegmatic Choleric Sanguine Melancholy Introvert Extrovert Others personal attributes __________________________________________________ Talents _________________________________________________________________ Drive and Motivators in Character’s Life ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Likes ________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ Dislikes ________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ Pet peeves ________________________________________________________________________ Value Character places on Things and Why ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Spirituality ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Habits: Common Expressions ________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ Mannerisms, peculiarities and quirks ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Fun Pursuits/ Favorite pastimes ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Hobbies ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

2

Anne Olwin Copyright 2007

Relationships: Family (Who and describe the relationship)

• Mother __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

• Father_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

• Siblings ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

• Spouse/Lover_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

• Children ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Friendships (Who and describe the relationships) ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Other significant relationships to characters in the story ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Pets ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ General behavior toward others ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Describe how others perceive the character and note any disparity between views ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Significant Personal History: Birthplace _____________________________________ Upbringing—where and how ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

3

Anne Olwin Copyright 2007

Education—where and what ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Significant Events ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Biggest Success ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Current Situation Describe each and tell how the character feels about them. Residence ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Vehicles ________________________________________________________________________ Stuff (Belongings) ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Job/ Employment ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Relationships ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Hardships that linger ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Delights that linger ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Biggest Regret ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Secrets and who knows about them ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

4

Anne Olwin Copyright 2007

5

Secret Hopes and Dreams Places character would like to visit ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Things character would like to do ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ People character would like to meet ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Who character would most like to emulate and why ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Long-range goals ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Short-range goals ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Author Analysis of Character This character makes a good:

• Hero, because _____________________________________________________ • Villain, because ____________________________________________________ • Supporting Character, because _________________________________________

I’m intrigued by this character because: ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Time-period that best fits this character: _______________________________________ Setting that best fits this character: ___________________________________________ Other characters needed to make this character work: ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________