How to Write a Character Sketch
Learning More About Your Characters’ Motivations and Personalities
Jun 4, 2009
Regardless of the type of writing you are doing, knowing who your characters are and knowing them well will add greatly to your work. Understanding your characters’ personalities through a character sketch helps you to understand where they are coming from and what motivates them. This, in turn, helps you understand what drives all of the action in your work, and the clearer this is, the easier your audiences will be able to connect with your writing.
But how do you go about writing a character sketch? There are numerous ways to go about it. What follows is a look at a few different methods for exploring your characters.
Interview Your Characters
Perhaps the most straightforward way of getting to know who your characters are and what drives them is by asking them outright in an interview. In order to achieve the best results, it’s a good idea to formulate your interview questions and complete your interview on separate days. This way, you are less likely to ask questions with specific answers in mind. To take this exercise to another level, ask a friend or writing colleague to come up with questions for you, and then answer the interview as your character.
It may seem like a very obvious or banal exercise, but even minor details will help you understand who your character is. Consider, for example, the possibility that your character’s favourite animal is a bald eagle. From here, you can think about what the bald eagle represents and what type of person would feel a connection with this specific creature.
Write a Character Monologue
Another fantastic and highly effective way of getting to know your character is by writing a monologue as your character. Start this exercise in a freewriting manner, simply beginning the monologue on any random thought, and see where it takes you. Essentially, this is like freewriting as your character to find out what’s on their mind. You may end up with a list of things your character has to do, or a rant about something that angers her/him – either way, you’re learning more about who they are.
To take this character sketch further, use the material from your freewriting and develop it into a polished monologue. To learn more about monologues, see What is a Monologue? and How to Write a Monologue.
Write a Day-in-the-Life Character Sketch
This is probably the most narrative way of writing a character sketch. For this exercise, write a third-person omniscient piece that describes a day in the life of your character. Describe what they look like, how they act, what they think about, and what types of activities they take part in every day.
You may find, in completing this exercise, that you get caught on a specific activity. You may, for example, discover that your character is incredibly particular and methodical about their daily cup of tea or coffee. Don’t move on from these specifics just to get through the “day” you are writing about – these minute details can have a significant impact on who your character turns out to be.
Finally, always remember that it is our quirks and idiosyncrasies that make us who we are – have fun and take the time to learn as much as you can about your characters through the character sketch!
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