August 24, 2014

Character Sketch Template

Character Sketch Template

Ralph White

Best selling author, Columbia MFA, and Fiction Foundry guest, Jean Kwok was kind enough to share her character sketch with me. I modified it somewhat and set it into a MS Word Table. Here's the result.

Name of Character

Role in story
Physical description age, height, weight, hair, skin, physique facial features clothing grooming distinguishing features or habits, mannerisms upon close inspection voice fragrance
What other people notice about her/him first second
Background Ethnicity Education Religion Personal experience Occupation, work experience Sexuality Residence
Character traits Strongest (or dominant) trait Weakest (or latent) trait Philosophy Politics Interests Vital secret
Significant event that molded the character’s personality
Is the reader likely to have stereotypical expectations about this character? How does the character defy the stereotype? How does she conform to the stereotype?
Relationships Best friend Other friends Family Enemies
Essence of the character Core need(s) Ambition in life What character does alone Will reader like or dislike the character and why.
Character arc Does the character change in the story? How? Epiphany How does the character grow? What does the character learn?
Motivations/Ambitions What does the character want? abstract concrete Does character have intermediate goals?
Conflicts What could prevent the character from achieving her objectives? Internal conflicts External conflicts
Summary If the story were principally about this character what would that story line be? Describe the character’s story in three acts: beginning middle end
Freestyle description of the character.
In the character’s own words: something the character says which is illustrative of her/his self-perception.

Share with your friends