HOME | DD
#development #narrative #theme #characterarc #characterdesign #literature
Published: 2015-06-10 22:16:16 +0000 UTC; Views: 6400; Favourites: 196; Downloads: 0
Redirect to original
Description
body div#devskin0 hr { }
How to use this template:
This template is not designed to tell you a character’s hair colour, eye colour, shoe size, or how they like their eggs. It is for the process of applying the core themes and elements of your narrative to your character's development, and visa versa. Not all fields need to be filled in for every character. Use your own discretion to determine which ones are relevant. You may find that you do not have all the answers at the beginning, but they fall in place as you further develop your story.
The examples given are very basic responses, and are just there to give you an idea of what kind of content you can include. Ideally you would have multiple aspects for each field.
Core Relationships and Nature of the relationship:
- Mother - strong single-parent to child bond.
Overall theme created by these relationships:
importance of family ties
Core character traits at the beginning of the story:
selfish
Aspects of the character’s life that influenced these traits:
wealthy upbringing
Core character traits at the end of the story:
selfless
Events that led to these changes:
lost all his money and father
The character’s primary goal:
avenge his father’s death
Reflection of this goal in the primary relationships:
the connection is family
Core themes of the story:
altruism
Reflection of core themes in the character development:
loss of wealth leads to new understanding of what is truly important
Reflections of core themes in primary relationships:
would make any sacrifice for family, this extends to altruism towards others
Related content
Comments: 30
Zorbonaut [2015-12-11 08:52:11 +0000 UTC]
Nice concept, but building characters up as a diagram of traits and developments can be tricky game - At worst your characters exist in your mind only as these piles of characteristics and can't operate outside of their given framework. Great characters sometimes act completely out of character, because they're a mystery to the reader and author alike, and develop in your head too, as you write them.
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
C-A-Harland In reply to Zorbonaut [2015-12-11 22:42:35 +0000 UTC]
Very true, and as a writer you will always know more about your characters than you can ever portray to your reader, and even then they will sometimes surprise you.
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
Zorbonaut In reply to C-A-Harland [2015-12-12 10:14:29 +0000 UTC]
I'm not actually a writer, but I think it might help to flesh your characters out, by writing little stories or snippets with them alone, or how they react to situations they couldn't normally land in. Or maybe even ask yourself, what kind of story they might write, or how they picture the story or their lives.
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
C-A-Harland In reply to Zorbonaut [2015-12-12 20:47:47 +0000 UTC]
Absolutely. Those are really good ways to get to know your characters.
👍: 0 ⏩: 0
TaylorNicoleReed [2015-10-18 21:05:35 +0000 UTC]
This is fantastic! I'll be saving this to use later, as well. I've been needing something like this to keep everything straight in my head, thank you!
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
C-A-Harland In reply to TaylorNicoleReed [2015-10-18 23:49:45 +0000 UTC]
You're welcome. It's a working template, so every time I use it I adapt it slightly. My current story involves super powers so has a whole new section on linking the power to the themes and relationships. As if it wasn't complicated enough
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
TaylorNicoleReed In reply to C-A-Harland [2015-10-20 01:45:49 +0000 UTC]
I know what you mean lol. And every time you think you're finished you end up going back and adding or changing something.
👍: 0 ⏩: 0
mysticalazarathian [2015-06-24 19:57:31 +0000 UTC]
Wow~! What a wonderful character themes template! This will definitely help me in the long run! Thank you so much for making it! (:
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
C-A-Harland In reply to mysticalazarathian [2015-06-26 02:09:31 +0000 UTC]
You're welcome and thanks! I hope you find it useful
👍: 0 ⏩: 0
lucuspuckus [2015-06-21 00:45:18 +0000 UTC]
This is great! With this template a great short story seems only a few days away! Thank you!
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
C-A-Harland In reply to lucuspuckus [2015-06-21 03:22:30 +0000 UTC]
I'm glad you think so! I hope you find it useful
👍: 0 ⏩: 0
TheWorldOfRabbitleap [2015-06-18 19:48:33 +0000 UTC]
I'll have to use this for my own characters Thanks for posting this!
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
C-A-Harland In reply to TheWorldOfRabbitleap [2015-06-18 21:07:32 +0000 UTC]
You're welcome. I hope you find it useful.
👍: 0 ⏩: 0
BrokenTales [2015-06-17 20:00:02 +0000 UTC]
But my characters need to be described in exquisite physical detail in the first paragraph of my story because they're my bestest friends #shoesizeisawindowtothesoul
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
C-A-Harland In reply to BrokenTales [2015-06-17 21:37:40 +0000 UTC]
That only applies if they have different coloured eyes, are part human, and/or have a strong aversion to the sun.
👍: 0 ⏩: 0
DC-26 [2015-06-11 11:47:24 +0000 UTC]
I can't always take my own advise about themes and their importance; this looks quite helpful.
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
C-A-Harland In reply to DC-26 [2015-06-11 21:19:37 +0000 UTC]
I think everyone has that problem sometimes. I hope you find this useful.
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
DC-26 In reply to C-A-Harland [2015-06-12 12:24:13 +0000 UTC]
I always appreciate concrete ways to check myself.
👍: 0 ⏩: 0
QuixoticApricot [2015-06-11 03:18:58 +0000 UTC]
This is a really cool idea! I'll have to try this out for the characters I'm working on developing.
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
C-A-Harland In reply to QuixoticApricot [2015-06-11 03:40:28 +0000 UTC]
Thanks. I hope you find it useful!
👍: 0 ⏩: 0
ourage [2015-06-11 03:14:40 +0000 UTC]
Finally, a "character sheet" that isn't all "Left eye! Right eye! Placement of moles!" Thank you so much!
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
C-A-Harland In reply to ourage [2015-06-11 03:42:55 +0000 UTC]
Yeah...I got a bit sick of those. Whilst it's important to make sure your characters don't randomly change hair or eye colour halfway through the story, it's pretty much the least important aspect of their character.
I dveloped this after picking apart a number of other narratives and trying to work out what aspects they'd used and how they had tied them together. This was what came out of it. All the really well done stories seemed to have a way of connecting all these aspects
👍: 0 ⏩: 0