What to include in a Character Biography -
- Name: Full name. If your character has an alias, you may want to include that as well.
- Gender: This could be anything, really. Most authors stick to male and female but their is more options!
- Sexual Orientation: The importance of sexual orientation varies from story to story. For instance, a character’s sexual orientation is extremely important in a Romance novel, but less so in an Action/Adventure story where no love interest is ever introduced.
- Age: You can fudge here by saying something like, “Paul is in his early thirties”. Age may change how relatable a character is to your readers and drive how they deal with the world.
- Class/Status: A character’s class or status will determine a lot of things about him or her, especially the way he or she feels about money and his or her customs, traditions, privilege, and treatment of other socioeconomic classes.
- Physical Description: Include things like skin, hair, and eye color. Mention scars or tattoos, piercings, clothing choice, height, weight, etc. If they are from a particular region with identifying characteristics, you may want to include them as well.
- Quirks: Does he/she have a personal item that is always with him or her? Does your character have a nervous tick including habits, phobias, hobbies, diseases, and addictions. Quirks make characters more rounded and are outward displays of their personality.
- Morality: A character’s morality often describes their role in a story. Loose morals may signal that the character is an antagonist, while right-mindedness is more of a protagonist trait.
- Personality Strengths/Weaknesses: This is one of the more important things about a character to get right. Personality will determine whether or not a character is relatable to the reader on a much grander scale than age or gender. For example, a character concerned with Justice may also be stubborn and a bit outspoken. It is important to note the strengths and the weaknesses here, as no character is ever wholly good or evil.
- Skills: Basically, what is your character good at? Does he or she have any learned or inherent skills that separate him or her from the crowd? Even if many characters in your story have similar skills, make sure to describe how this character’s skill set differs from everyone else’s.
- Education: Education does not necessarily mean intelligence, but the kind of education, where the character got it, and why is often important to the story. The language the character uses, whether he or she has a broad vocabulary or even if he or she is able to speak the same language as other characters, all derives from the education he or she received. Class may play a part in education, and a character’s skills will certainly be affected by his or her education.
- Likes/Dislikes: This is everything from how the character takes his or her tea to any prejudices he or she has. Where does he/she like to go? What does your character like to do? What sort of people does he/she prefer? Like and dislikes are heavily driven by everything else on this list. Keep the rest of your character’s bio in mind as you write about their likes and dislikes.
- Childhood/Backstory: Where is your character from? What language does he/she speak? What sort of parents does he/she have? Anything that got your character from birth to the beginning of the story is backstory.
- Profession: What does your character do to earn a living? If he or she does not work, address this. A character’s profession takes up most of their adult life, so it’s important that the reader knows what they do and how seriously they take it.
- Relationships: Relationships are complicated. Talk about your character’s relationship to anyone they come into contact with regularly and who has a large impact on their life at the beginning of the story. Ideally, you should mention someone your character gets along with and someone he/she definitely doesn’t get along with. It’s a good idea to mention any romantic interests he/she has at the beginning of the story, his/her relationship with immediate family, and how he/she does with being alone and in crowds of strangers (this ties in with strengths and weaknesses).
- Location: Where is the character? If he or she was born there, mention this. The location of the character often tells the reader the location of the story. Don’t overlook this.
- Time Period: When does this person live? Time period and location are technically setting, but they weigh heavily on a character, so be sure to include them.
- Religious Beliefs: Whether or not a character’s religious beliefs play a huge part in the story, it’s often good to know what they feel about God(s) in their world. Categorize superstitions under religious beliefs, even though these are usually defined as quirks. If your character’s beliefs aren’t important to the story, feel free to omit them from the description; if they are, don’t forget to mention them!
- Fantastical Traits: Is this character magical? Can he/she time travel or do anything that normal human beings are incapable of doing? If we know at the onset that your character is fantastical in some way, tell the reader! Like skills and quirks, fantastical traits set your character apart.
- Goals: This item is last, but it should really be first. More important even than a name, a character’s goals drive the plot. You should make at least one of his/her goals clear in your bio.
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