Character Histories/Bios

stu1883 · Post by **stu1883** » Mon April 18th, 2011, 9:12 am

Hi everyone,

Do any of you, before you begin writing, sit down and write a full charatcer background of each character in your story?

I am motoring along with my forst draft and don't want to stop, so I'm thinking about doing something like this after I have got my draft finished and include ot in the edit/rewrite process. Is this something any of you do?

Cheers all

Stu

parthianbow · Post by **parthianbow** » Mon April 18th, 2011, 9:47 am

Yes, Stu, it's an excellent idea, even if done later on, because it will give you real insight into your characters' minds. I do it before I start a book.

stu1883 · Post by **stu1883** » Mon April 18th, 2011, 10:47 am

Thanks Ben, I am going to do it before my next project but since starting my first draft again I have found that certain character traits and background stories that I had not imagined have happend and made my story stronger.

Its become like an organic and sprouting plant that has taken its own direction and all I am doing is bringing to life on the page.

How are things going with Soldier of Carthage?

parthianbow · Post by **parthianbow** » Mon April 18th, 2011, 1:19 pm

Thanks for asking, Stu.
It's actually been renamed, and is now called Hannibal: Enemy of Carthage. I was sad to see the original title go, but the new one will be far more recognisable, and will therefore sell more copies. It comes out on June 9th, so not long to go...

fljustice · Post by **fljustice** » Mon April 18th, 2011, 2:04 pm

Character descriptions are a very good idea. There are lots of "character worksheets" out there to use as a starting point. I used to do a lot of career counseling and use a couple of psychological tools in my character development. The Myers-Briggs sixteen psychological types is my favorite. It gives me a starting point and framework for how the person thinks and acts when things are going well and under stress. I can then plot their emotional through line (how they change from the beginning to the end of the book) and know what stressors (aka plot points) will get them there.

stu1883 · Post by **stu1883** » Mon April 18th, 2011, 2:58 pm

[quote=""parthianbow""]Thanks for asking, Stu.
It's actually been renamed, and is now called Hannibal: Enemy of Carthage. I was sad to see the original title go, but the new one will be far more recognisable, and will therefore sell more copies. It comes out on June 9th, so not long to go...[/quote]

Can't wait! Thought the original title was better too, but never mind. So long as it sells.

Good luck with it, put me down for a signed copy.

stu1883 · Post by **stu1883** » Mon April 18th, 2011, 2:59 pm

[quote=""fljustice""]Character descriptions are a very good idea. There are lots of "character worksheets" out there to use as a starting point. I used to do a lot of career counseling and use a couple of psychological tools in my character development. The Myers-Briggs sixteen psychological types is my favorite. It gives me a starting point and framework for how the person thinks and acts when things are going well and under stress. I can then plot their emotional through line (how they change from the beginning to the end of the book) and know what stressors (aka plot points) will get them there.[/quote]

I don't suppose you can direct me to somewhere that I could look at these sheets please? They could be useful. Thanks in advance.

Michy · Post by **Michy** » Mon April 18th, 2011, 4:27 pm

[quote=""fljustice""]The Myers-Briggs sixteen psychological types is my favorite. [/quote]

I don't want to hijack this thread, but do want to ask about this.... the Myers-Briggs personality classifications fascinate me. Several years ago I took the test a few times online, but I'm not sure how accurate the results were, due to the fact that it was self-administered and I had difficulty choosing answers to many of the questions (they were vague and none of the choices seemed to fit me, so I chose many of my answers metaphorically and I'm not sure that is the correct approach).

Are there any good online sources for this test? I would like to "officially" know my type.

LoveHistory · Post by **LoveHistory** » Mon April 18th, 2011, 6:44 pm

I haven't written them down, but I do figure out some history and basic temperaments for my main and secondary characters. I tend to keep to four basic temperaments of Sanguine, Choleric, Melancholy, and Phlegmatic.

Ken · Post by **Ken** » Mon April 18th, 2011, 7:06 pm

[quote=""LoveHistory""]I haven't written them down, but I do figure out some history and basic temperaments for my main and secondary characters. I tend to keep to four basic temperaments of Sanguine, Choleric, Melancholy, and Phlegmatic.[/quote]

Hey LoveHistory! Good spelling!!