ALISON LYKE AUTHOR
  • Home
  • About
  • Books
  • Blog
  • Contact
  • Newsletter
Picture

Real Characters in Unreal Worlds: Character Sketch

10/16/2020

1 Comment

 
A story can have a vibrant world and a brilliant plot, but it’s all for naught if the characters don’t act like genuine people (or elves, trolls, whatever, you get it). This blog series is about creating authentic characters who act and react realistically in fantastic and futuristic worlds. 
Picture
Writing a rough character sketch is the first step to creating a fully formed fantasy or science fiction character ready to adventure in your world. Character sketches should focus mostly on the character’s traits and personality instead of looks. It’s much easier to craft your character’s outside once you’ve figured out their insides. Plus, their physicality might change throughout your personality crafting. Maybe their backstory gives them a scar, or they belong to an order wherein everyone has purple hair. 
​
Even though looks come later, you might not want to start from a blank slate, so your character basics might include a rough age, gender, and body type. I also like to add their name, their goals, and some stand out personality traits. Stand out qualities might include friendliness, level of conscientiousness, and emotional stability (or lack of these).
​
Sometimes, I start out with none of these, or just a name, and let the character reveal herself to me as I work through their backstory. But starting with a rough sketch often best. Here’s a checklist to help create character sketches 
  1. Name
  2. Age
  3. Gender
  4. Physical Attributes
  5. Alignment (see my massive series on this topic)
  6. Obvious Personality Traits: things you would notice within five minutes of meeting this person
  7. Goals (either life of short term/adventure)
That’s really it for the sketch list. Keep in mind a character sketch doesn’t have to meet all these criteria and often includes other info, such as the narrative reason you’re creating the character.
​
Next blog, I’m going to discuss a few quick tricks to make even minor characters authentic. 

Other Blogs in This Series:

Character Motivation
​Backstory
​
Dialogue
1 Comment
Gerald C link
7/20/2024 01:37:05 am

Great read, thanks for sharing this

Reply



Leave a Reply.

    Alison Lyke

    Categories

    All
    Action & Combat
    Character Alignment Series
    Memorable Villains
    Real Characters Series
    Sci Fi & Fantasy World Building
    Short Story
    Writing Life
    Writing Speculative Fiction

    Archives

    November 2022
    September 2022
    March 2022
    January 2022
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    October 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    October 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    October 2018
    July 2018
    February 2018
    November 2016
    June 2014
    May 2013
    August 2012

    RSS Feed

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.
Photos from sofi01, BetterBizIdeas
  • Home
  • About
  • Books
  • Blog
  • Contact
  • Newsletter