I don't know if it's the same for everyone, but my characters are like living breathing people for me. It probably makes me a bit crazy. I kind of figure writers get to be grownups who held on to the concept of invisible friends and spun it into a way of life.
As E.L. Doctorow said: "Writing is a socially acceptable form of schizophrenia."
When I get a story idea, it develops along with the characters themselves. Then I let them take the wheel and drive. Of course I need to get to know them really well before I can understand what they're thinking and how they'd react to the specific events. That's where the character profile comes in.
When writing, you should create character cards on all of your characters, big and small. You need to know them inside and out. So many of our actions are based on ingrained beliefs and behaviors that are intricately tied to our background. You can't know how a person would react unless you fully understood where they came from.
Here's a few basic things you should have on your character's card:
Basic information
Name
Age
Ethnicity
Physical description
Height
Weight
Coloring (hair, skin and eyes)
Background
Family information
Hometown
Economic upbringing
Personality description
Temperament
Habits (good and bad)
Quirks
Likes and dislikes
Current lifestyle
Job
Friends
Routines
These are just the basics, your character profiles could be pages and pages long. Of course, you don't have to write everything down. I don't. Some writing courses and authors giving advice will tell you to write it all out. But if your brain maintains the information, I don't see the need. Just as long as you're getting to know them the same way you would a friend, you'll understand them enough. IMO
Here's how I wrote out a few of the character cards for my Circle of Light protagonists:
Name: Brielle Anne Hunter
Birthday: Nov. 18, 2005
Hometown: Washington D.C.
3 Words: Empathetic, Intelligent, Confident
Family: Father Alexander Hunter II, Mother Devanna Hunter, older brother Alex and little sister Evin Lee.
Physical Description: 5'5" with light brown hair and green eyes. Slight build with light skin.
Personality Description: Wind elemental power, and hyper animo with super sonic brain capacity and processing speed. So intelligent and empathetic that she can read minds and make near perfect predictions. Confident and kind, caring and compassionate. She likes to spend her free time volunteering, spending time in nature and with friends or family.
Name: Zoe Langford
Birthday: March 13, 2005
Hometown: Washington D.C.
3 Words: Fiery, Boisterous, Compassionate
Family: Father Benjamin Langford, Mother Rose Langford, no siblings.
Physical Description: 5'6" with dark curly hair and light blue eyes. Light brown skin and athletic build.
Personality Description: Fire elemental sign leaves her with a very fiery personality. She's bright and friendly but can fly into a rage when provoked. Outgoing, bubbly, and everyone's best friend. But not really. She's Bri's best friend and won't let anyone forget where her loyalty lies. She's class president because she's a prominent personality and well respected.
Name: Tristan Huxley
Birthday: Oct. 31, 1824
Hometown: New Orleans
3 Words: Dark, Moody, Mysterious
Family: (I can't share this yet so sorry :))
Physical Description: 6'2" with tan skin, dark wavy hair and golden-brown eyes, thick muscular build with scars
Personality Description: The epitome of dark and mysterious, Tristan is connected to a dark world in a way that no one quite understands yet. Very moody and mysterious. Independent to a fault but connects with Brielle and eventually learns to trust her and her friends, reluctantly becoming "part of the team." His magical abilities vary: strength, speed, teleportation (to a certain extent), shadow demon control.
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