There are a great number of tools throughout the internet for character generation.  I have used a number of them and mostly decided to create my own.  Mine is relatively simple, and you customize it to fit the type of character. 

 

Here’s an example and how I use it.  In this one I’m creating a main character.

 

NAME: Roland Marcus Arena

 

ROLE:  Main Character Example

 

GENERAL DESCRIPTION:

     - Tall, slim with long hair

     - Blue / Gray eyes – active and darting like he’s always looking for trouble

     - Angular facial features

     - Scar over right eye – there since his father hit him with a paddle as a boy.  It was supposedly an accident.

 

BACKSTORY: 

     - Roland grew up in a poor neighborhood across the river from NYC. 

     - His first fight was over a stick-ball bat. 

     - He broke the kids arm. 

     - He was always tall, so the bully always tried to put him down.  The problem was, no bully could succeed. 

     - Roland was not a fighter, but knew how to fight.

 

     - He told his friends that just before a fight, he’d see red, and then the fight was over. 

     - He tried to make them understand that it was not his nature to fight, but once pushed into a corner his wild side came out.

 

MAIN INTERNAL CONFLICT:

     - His father used him as a punching bag too often.  Roland took it because he did not want to see his mother get beat up. 

     - All that anger stayed inside.  He made a vow never to get married because he did not want to accidentally let his wild side out. 

     - It is in his protective nature, and the foundation of his character.

 

STORY ARC:

     - Roland will start as an introvert that avoids conflict, not because of fear, but because he does not want to lose that much control.

     - He’s going to meet Amalia and she’ll slowly move him towards people.

 

In the end Roland and Amalia have a circle of friends that understand Roland’s protective nature and appreciate him for who he is.

 

If the character is a supporting character, or a single appearance character, I stop above the Backstory.  No need to develop him or her further.  I add to this list as I see fit.  Sometimes I add sexual preference.  Other times I add their linguistic pattern.  Things like “Georgia Peach” to remind me to use more of a Georgian set of mannerisms, and some speech patterns.  For example, they may say “What kind of Coke do you want.” Where in New York they’d say, “What kind of soda do you want?”  In Indiana it is more customary to say, “What kind of pop do you want?”

 

Did you groan at my examples?

 

Yeah, I thought so.  But.  You do get the point.  I add and subtract from the template as I see fit.  Keep in mind, this is a new tool for me.  In short stories I never take the time to create a character sheet.  With the novel, I see no way to keep a character honest to themselves without it.