How to Create Lively Characters

Characters Are your characters stick figures on paper? Good Characters are not all good or all evil with nothing in between. A good character needs some negative characteristics and an evil character needs some positive characteristics. Your reader needs to love one characteristic about your evil character such as they love to work at animal shelter. Your good character needs to have at least one negative characteristic. No human is perfect, so how can a fictional character be perfect?

Some Ways to Create Lively Characters Write a List of all the Characteristics you’d like to see in your characters Describe one character at a time so you don’t get them mixed up. Ask your character questions like you just meet them. Find a picture in a magazine that your character looks like. Create a Character Sheet

Practice The Character Sheet Method Character Name:______________________________________ Answer the following questions about your character. Family and friends (names of parents, siblings, spouses, and close friends) Occupation Social status (rich, poor, middle class) Financial background What annoys him/her Date and place of birth/Age Appearance Greatest achievement/failure Hopes and fears Create a question of your own!!