A Few Character Creation Tidbits

I like to think the characters’ appearances are very flexible, besides a few character-defining features. My hope is the characters are very distinct from each other.

My typical character creation process goes something like this:

1. A role needs to be filled in the story! Time to create a new character.
2. Find a name. (I imagine this is much like choosing a baby name. They both involve several Nameberry visits.)
3. Where are they from? Usually depends on the role and the setting during that scene(s). Two and three are pretty interchangeable. If step 2 comes before step 3, I am more likely to change the character’s name to be more “regional.”
4. Basic backstory and personality in notes app or docs.
5. So they are from — ! And they’ve experienced — ! How would a character from this place look with this backstory look?
6. Sketches (usually after they’ve been mentioned or present in the text).
7. Sims 4 Model . . . this is a bit silly, but I find creating a model of each character in Sims really helps me visual all the traits together.
8. Pinterest boards! Each character has a board with associated imagery and fashion.
9. Spotify Playlist! This is perhaps the highest honor a novel character can be bestowed.

So, yeah.

Here’s a few reference items I created for the characters that might be interesting!

Hi, dad!

Thanks for reading!

🙂