...are a wonderful thing; an enormously useful writer's tool. Many writers, several in the LWC, advocate creating character profiles. While I have not yet ever done this, I think it's a great idea.
I feel I can get into the head of any of my characters and I have many (sometimes vague) ideas about most of their backgrounds and personality traits. But I am fully and painfully aware that I am scattered and forgetful and prone to general mental confusion.
So character profiles are something I need to do and plan to do...sometime soon. When I do embark on this project, I have the perfect resource to help me: Noah Lukeman's book, The Plot Thickens: 8 Ways To Bring Fiction To Life. This book offers a lot of great information, but almost half of it is on character development.
Much of this is in the form of questions and hypothetical situations. It encourages writers to consider things from a character's upbringing (family attitudes on religion, childhood pets, early school experiences, etc.) to the geography of where they live and how such things might affect how they live and what they are familiar with. The book also describes different situations to help writers think about how various characters would behave, think or feel under certain circumstances.
This is only a shred of the many ways Lukeman's book helps you look at the many facets of your main and secondary characters. The ideas generated by this book are almost overwhelming, but invaluable for a WIP or just learning and practicing how to create characters. I am looking forward to using it for creating character profiles - when I get to it. Because Lukeman's book is so inspiring, I know I will be starting on that project sooner than I would otherwise.
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