Book Type Guidelines/Help

OC Basics

You have most likely noticed that there are a lot of character sheets lying around. Character charts, character quizzes, character lists, etc. If you know what I'm talking about, you have most likely found that all of these character help items have not been so helpful. I, for one, find that doing all of them only bore my imagination and let me procrastinate my time away. While some of the information may be useful to know, in the beginning, the majority isn't.

Try writing a few paragraphs from scenes where that character plays a major part. A scene where they show their personality.

Ex.
" She glanced around, hyper-aware of her position out in the open. Circling around the middle field, she continued her search for the young male who ran off ahead. Traps? What traps? Of course no one would dare to try to trap him. Regardless of the fact that they were fighting a force far above their pay grade. Not that they're being paid, but the meaning still stands. The minute she sees him again, he'll learn that actions might have consequences you can't walk away from.

She couldn't hold back a snort. This? This was what they were wanted for? They wanted them to be contained in a job with obligations and duties and- and responsibilities?! Hah. She's not one for the daily grind. Isn't one for the whole, 'clock in, clock out' phase. If they had a problem, they should deal with it themselves. Like they were supposed to. Like she had been told, oh so long ago by the very people that now ask for help.

Not this time. Dashing forward, forcing herself through the pain in her body, faster, faster, she flung herself into him. Taking his place like he almost took hers, way back in the beginning. She barely had any time left to brace herself before the force hit, knocking the breath out of her. Her vision started to turn black, she hoped that the others grabbed him and were able to escape before he turned his attention back to them. "

The above shoves insight into her character, past, relationships, and gives ideas for scenes. Depending on the character you could do more or less scene/paragraphs. I'd recommend one scene from Before the climax, one from During the climax, and one from After the climax.

A tip to remember for character quirks, is that while you don't need to have one, it is easier if the quirks are 'set off' by something. Straightening when around authority figures, verbal ticks when emotional, sleeping in a chair when feeling unsafe. Having a 'trigger condition' lets you know when to write about them, keeps the information fresh, gives you a reason if you forgot to write it in anywhere, and saves you time basically rewriting the same information over and over again, thus breaking your story stride.