HOW TO BUILD THE PERFECT CHARACTER PROFILE

Welcome to episode #1 in my new series: HOW TO CREATE RELATABLE AND ADDICTIVE CHARACTERS. This week I go through the first part of my character profile template, the questionnaire! These are only the MOST IMPORTANT QUESTIONS that you NEED to know about your characters... remember, next week we're going to dive into creating JUICY INTERNAL CONFLICT and making your characters relatable on page ONE. Subscribe so you don't miss it!!

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Subscribe for weekly episodes of #WritersLifeWednesdays !!

✨ V A L U A B L E R E S O U R C E S✨

MORE VIDEOS YOU WOULD LIKE:

→ HOW TO WRITE DUAL POVS

→ SHOWING VS TELLING INTERNAL CONFLICT

→ HOW TO WRITE POWERFUL SIDE CHARACTERS

→ HOW TO WRITE THEME INTO YOUR STORY

✨F O L L O W ✨

✨ A B O U T ✨
My name is Abbie Emmons I teach writers how to make their stories matter by harnessing the power and psychology of storytelling, transforming their ideas into a masterpiece, and creating a lifestyle that makes their author dreams come true.

Story isn’t about “what happens” — it’s about how what happens affects and transforms the characters. I believe that there is an exact science (a recipe, if you will) behind a perfect story. And if you know what ingredients you need, you can create your own perfect story with ease and confidence. That’s what we talk about every week on this channel – and if it’s something you’re into, be sure to subscribe and join this community!

[Indestructable]

I need you to read audiobooks for a living. Your voice is so intense. I just know it would be great. I'd listen.

[itarfer]

Fixed it!
THE BASICS:
Character’s name:
Role in story:
Physical description:
Age:
MBTI/Enneagram Personality Type:
INTERNAL: THE MOST IMPORTANT THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT YOUR
CHARACTER What is their greatest fear?
Inner motivation:
Kryptonite:
What is their misbelief about the world?
Lesson they need to learn:
What is the best thing in their life?
What is the worst thing in their life?
What do they most often look down on people for?
What makes their heart feel alive?
What makes them feel loved, and who was the last person to make them feel that way?
Top three things they value most in life?
EXTERNAL: NOT NECESSARY, BUT GOOD TO KNOW AND SAYS A LOT ABOUT YOUR
CHARACTER
What’s their favorite book, movie, and band?
Is there an object they can’t bear to part with and why?
Describe a typical outfit for them from top to bottom.
What names or nicknames have they been called throughout their life?
What is their method of manipulation?
Describe their daily routine.
Their go-to cure for a bad day?
CHARACTER GOALS:
How is your character dissatisfied with their life?
What does your character believe will bring them true happiness or contentment?
What definitive step could they take to turn their dream into a reality?
How has their fear kept them from taking this action already?
How does your protagonist feel they can accomplish their goal while still steering clear
of the thing they are afraid of?
THE BACKSTORY SCENE THAT CHANGED EVERYTHING
THE SCENE WHERE…
What does your character go into the scene believing and how are they surprised by the
outcome?
How does your character struggle to hold onto their old beliefs?
What is their conclusion/new belief?

[emmakusmaul]

But I like knowing the eye color and hair color of characters!!!! :’(

[cheshirewolf]

Man this video remains me of that one ticktock where it's like:
What you want: "meeting my ocs would be so lovely and wholesome"
The reality: "I BROKE these people so MUCH, the AMOUNT of loved ones I have killed! I WOULD NOT SURVIVE LEFT ALONE IN THE SAME ROOM AS MY OCS"

[Hanedie]

I'm binge-watching your videos like Netflix 🤣

[clintcarpentier]

Abbie - "What's your MBTI type?"

Me - "Villain."

[m.a.kelleher]

One thing I've learnt from a few books I've read, if you're going to describe your characters face, you have to do it early on. Otherwise, the picture you've had of that character through the whole book will suddenly be destroyed and it's a REALLY HARD to think about these characters the same way ever again. Love this video, love your channel.

[rajeshwarimehrotra]

Character Name:
Role In Story:
Physical Description:
Age:
MBTI Personality Type:

INTERNAL:
Fear:
Believe:
Best Thing For Them:
Worst:
Turn on and off:
Passion, talent:
3 most valued things:
who makes her feel love:
Daily Routine

[RoseCadenza]

"What is the best thing in his/her life?"
Man, starting to get tough now.

[youknowcleo]

The eye color in my story is one of the most important things to remember about the characters!!! The eye color is the color of their magical power. For example, one of the main character's eye color is an icy, baby blue. He has ice magic.

[LoreFriendlyMusic]

"What is his or her favourite book, movie and band?... Not applicable if you write fantasy or something that exists in another world..." ...You seriously underestimate my overplanning when it comes to worldbuilding :p

[BUGHUNTER]

I'm starting to realize that understanding how to write a good character is very much about understanding psychology. So learning how to do this is almost like therapy for me, asking these questions about myself and how my life has shaped who I am, my preferences, everything. It's freeing in a way. Not feeling as guilty about certain things. I always knew there was a deep psychological aspect to storytelling that pulled me in, but I couldn't quite wrap my head around it. Thank you for making these videos, I'm definitely going to continue watching. I wanna write at least one awesome story

[princessthyemis]

If this makes sense, I've never really questioned NOT doing character's eye colors....never questioned WHY it was always the go-to thing authors described. but you're totally right! Why not reveal personality through something else, which you can't do by eye color anyway?! Can't BELIEVE I never thought of this.

[emcyar]

A bonus I like to add to character's: a theme song. But beware, it can be time-consuming to find THE song for your character. But it allows you later to get in this character's mindset very quickly.

[frostyhannah]

"We don't need to know your character's favorite brand of laundry detergent"
Idk why I found that so hilarious

[bimbatoo]

Something that I like to do is, before I create a character, peg down a random MBTI type and kinda infuse that personality type into their ark, then infuse their ark into the story.

[justyoureverydaycasualship]

if you want fun, silly ones that just build up your understanding of your characters. try making a vine compilation for them, or find some of those "incorrect quote" things/imagine your OTP things and assign them to your characters. these of course are just for fun. but another really fun one I found recently, assign your characters Daemons. like if their world were similar to that of the dark materials series, or they themselves lived in that world, what would their Daemon take form as and why (you can also give the Daemon a name if you want, for fun.)
Hogwart house sorting your characters is also very fun. maybe even what their godly parent would be if they were a demigod in the Percy Jackson universe.

basically play fandom with your characters and make a bunch of useless au's for them. cause its fun!

[Altarior]

I'd honestly say describing the eyes has a fair bit of importance. The eyes are the "windows to the soul", that's why they're so huge in animation, too. When I read a book, one of the first things I try to visualize in a character is their face, starting with the eyes. Knowing something as mundane as what a character's eye color is honestly helps me imagine the character in my mind a lot easier. Plus, you can definitely tell stuff about the character through the description of their eyes. Are the eyes tired, lively, bright, glazed over, etc.?

[jennat.c.]

I needed a questionnaire that didn't have meaningless questions. Thanks, Abbiee! ❤️😀

[MelTorrefranca]

So ready for this series!! 😱 It’s crazy because I’ve literally just been working on character descriptions in my book and BOOM your video is in my feed. Also, I’m glad someone else thinks some of those random questions are kind of stupid. I understand it helps understand your characters better, but they’ll just never be used! Thank you for sharing :)