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Blog • Perfecting your Craft
Last updated on Mar 08, 2024
How to Create the Ultimate Character Profile [+ Template]
About the author.
Reedsy's editorial team is a diverse group of industry experts devoted to helping authors write and publish beautiful books.
About Dario Villirilli
Editor-in-Chief of the Reedsy blog, Dario is a graduate of Mälardalen University. As a freelance writer, he has written for many esteemed outlets aimed at writers. A traveler at heart, he can be found roaming the world and working from his laptop.
Ask any great novelist, and they’ll likely tell you that good writing starts with good characters. But building characters from the ground up is also one of the toughest hills to climb, especially if you’ve struggled with those all-too-revealing questions:
- Are my characters convincing?
- Do my characters have depth?
- How do I make sure my character shows progression and change ?
If you’re having these doubts, you might want to turn to the age-old solution: a character profile.
What is a character profile?
A character profile is a detailed biography of a persona that covers everything from their age and appearance to their relationships with others. By understanding parts of their life that readers might not discover during the course of the story, an author can better understand that character’s life, personality, motivations, and their function within a story.
In this post, we will show you our three-part process for assembling a character profile.
What makes a good character profile template?
Many character bibles present exercises that ask you, “If your character was a color, what color would they be?” For many writers, this is either overkill or a bit too 'woo-woo' for their tastes, and they prefer to create a profile that deals in verifiable facts: height, age, and profession.
Our suggestion lies somewhere between those two approaches, where you build a holistic picture of your character in the context of your story. Our character profile worksheet is in three parts. If you treat a person like an apple, they’re going to have three layers of depth: the “skin,” the “flesh,” and the “core.” (Otherwise known as their physical appearance, backstory, and psychology.) That’s how this character profile template is structured — and if you have a particular area that you’d like to hone, you can skip to it below. Otherwise, this character bible will start with the eagle eye’s view of your character.
The Three-Part Character Profile Template:
- The Outer Layer, or Physical Appearance
- The Flesh, or Backstory
- The Core, or Psychology
How to create a character profile
As another reminder, we strongly recommend our character profile template in a PDF format and fill it out as you go along! Download it below for free right here.
FREE RESOURCE
Reedsy’s Character Profile Template
A story is only as strong as its characters. Fill this out to develop yours.
1. Construct the character's outer appearance
To be able to identify a criminal, detectives build a painstakingly thorough file of said criminal’s physical characteristics.
That’s the goal of this section, which covers the “skin” of your character: everything from their outer appearance to the way that they speak. Think of it as a kind of offender profile — one that can help you spot your character in the middle of a crowded Times Square.
The Basics 📖
- Place of birth
- Current location
- Nationality
Physical Appearance 👀
What's their:
Do they have any distinguishing features (tattoos, scars, birthmarks)?
What's their preferred outfit?
Do they wear glasses? 👓
What accessories are ALWAYS associated with them (cane, pipe, necklace, etc.)? 🌂
What's their usual level of grooming?
- Smart, very put together
- Untidy but clean
Do they have any distinguishing “tics” and mannerisms?
What's their health like? Do they suffer from chronic illnesses? 🏥
Describe their handwriting (sloppy, neat, careful, unintelligible). ✍
How do they walk? 👣
- Confident, powerful strides
- Lazy stroll
- Fast, walks at a clip
- Distracted, eyes on the ground
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Speech and Communication 💬
How do they talk (rapid, slow, measured, drawl, etc.)?
What's the style of their speech (elevated, educated, peppered with slang, etc.)?
Do they have an accent?
- Stiff, military
- Casual and relaxed
- ‘Turtle,’ tired
Do they gesture?
- Only when agitated or eager
- Doesn’t gesture
- Compulsive “hand-talker”
- Controlled, only to make a point
- Other? If so, explain:
How much eye contact do they like to make (direct, shifty, etc.)?
What's their preferred curse word?
What's their catchphrase?
Any speech impediments?
What are any distinguishing speech “tics”?
What's their laugh like? What do they tend to find funny?
Describe their smile?
How emotive are they? Do they wear their emotions on their sleeve? How easily can others read them?
They have a resting _____ face.
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2. Build out the character's backstory
Characters don’t exist in a vacuum — they’re a product of their environment.
This section in the character template dives a bit deeper into your character and covers their “flesh”: the people, circumstances, and formative influences that filled them out and made them who they are today. It’s the springboard to your character’s biography.
What's the name of their hometown? 🏡
What type of childhood did they have (sheltered, neglected, etc.)?
Describe their education. 🍏
Were they involved in organizations and clubs at school?
- Gay / Straight Alliance
At graduation, they were named Most Likely To ___________ in the yearbook. 🎓
Jobs (if applicable)? What would their résumé look like? 💼
What was their dream job as a child? Why?
Who were their role models growing up? Describe them. 👨👦
What's their greatest regret?
What were their hobbies growing up? ⛳
Favorite place to be as a child?
What's their earliest memory?
What's their saddest memory?
What's their happiest memory?
What's their clearest memory?
What are their skeletons in the closet? 💀
If they could change one thing from their past, what would it be? Why? ⏳
Describe the major turning points or “life beats” in childhood.
What are three adjectives to describe them as a child?
What advice would they give to their younger self?
List their criminal record. ⚖
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- Age (if living)
- Briefly describe their relationship with your character
- What are their names and ages?
- Briefly describe their relationship(s) with your character
Children 👶(if applicable)
Extended family 👴
- Grandparents
- Uncles and aunts
What's their family's economic status? 💰
How often do they see their family in a year?
External Relationships 💜
Who are their closest friends? Describe them.
Who are their other significant friends? 👋
Enemies? Describe them. 😡
How are they perceived by:
- strangers in the street?
- acquaintances at a work function?
- colleagues in the office?
- authority figures?
- friends in their friend circles?
- the opposite sex?
- extended family?
What social media platforms are they on?
- X (formerly known as Twitter)
- Other? If so, explain.
How would they use their social media platforms?
How would they fill out an online dating profile for themselves? ✨
What’s their role in a group dynamic? 💡
Who do they depend on for:
- practical advice?
- emotional support?
- moral support?
How quickly do they respond to emails? 📨
What do they want from a relationship?
Who would be their ideal partner? 💖
Who is their significant other? Describe them. 💕
How many people would attend their funeral?
Part 3. Understand the character's goals and motivations
We’ve come now to the “core”: who your character is deep down.
This section in the character profile worksheet covers the “heart” of your character. If a backstory shapes a dynamic character, this will define them. More importantly, it will help inform the two most important points leading up to your novel: the character’s story goal and what drives them .
Psychology 💭
What do they do on rainy days?
- Street-smart or book-smart
- An optimist or pessimist
- Introverted or Extroverted
What is their favorite sound? 🔊
Favorite place in the world? 🌎
What secrets do they keep? What are they most afraid of people finding out? 🔒
What do they want the most? 🔍
What's their biggest flaw?
What's their biggest strength?
What's their biggest fear?
What is their biggest accomplishment? 📈
What is their idea of perfect happiness?
What's their favorite quote? 👌
Do they want to be remembered? What for? ⌚
How do they approach:
What is the one object or possession that they would rescue from their burning home? 🔥
What (or who) bores them? 💤
What makes them angry? 💢
What do they look for in a person?
How strong is their moral compass? When, specifically, are they willing to compromise their morals?
List the last 10 books they read. 📚
Which fictional world would they most wish to visit?
If they didn’t have to sleep, what would they do with the extra time?
What are their pet peeves? ⚠
If they won the lottery, what would they do?
Describe the character’s bucket list at the ages of 15, 20, 30, and 40.
List the 10 songs that would occupy their All-Time Most Played playlist on Spotify. 🎵
What is the best compliment that someone ever paid them?
In an elevator, do they push the elevator button more than once? 🚪
What would they want their tombstone to say?
The Present and Future 🔮
What is their story goal? (answer in a single paragraph)
Story motivation (answer in a single paragraph)
In other words: what does your character want in the story? And why do they want it?
Every other answer in the character profile template builds up to this. It's critical information to know because it’ll make up the unshakable foundation — and raison d'être — for your story. Whenever you feel like your story is straying off course, go straight back to your character’s story goal and motivation, and you'll find the beating heart of your book.
24 responses
Rachel Mendell says:
02/06/2018 – 12:23
excellent! so much info - thank you.
↪️ Reedsy replied:
07/06/2018 – 04:37
Our pleasure, Rachel. Glad that it helped!
Diane says:
07/06/2018 – 08:50
Wow! I tried to find such kind of list many times. Thank you so much! Creating character is always difficult for me. I imagine tutoriage character but it was not full. With this list Finally I will finish it.
22/01/2019 – 15:37
Nice I was gonna make one myself but this is great since normally I obsess to the point of procrastination.
Gwendolyn Clark says:
13/05/2019 – 00:09
I was never sent a copy to download
↪️ Martin Cavannagh replied:
13/05/2019 – 08:20
Hi Gwendolyn, could you drop us an email at [email protected] and we'll sort you out with a link :)
Sabrina Douglas says:
08/06/2019 – 16:40
I have not received the PDF yet.
10/06/2019 – 13:48
With Gmail, our emails often can be found in the Promotions folder. if it's not there, send us an email at [email protected] and we'll sort you out :)
Tactical Weasel says:
08/06/2019 – 23:18
I was never sent a copy to download either.
Ibidun says:
02/07/2019 – 01:47
This is a developed list of questions for sure. Thank you!
susannelorraineharford says:
21/08/2019 – 08:01
Thanks! Great help in this articke. X peace, susanne
james bolin says:
22/08/2019 – 21:05
This my be a crazy question, but I am writing a science fiction book, and I already made character profiles for my ow use. But, that being said, would it make sense to also include a section in the book that includes all the main characters profiles. It would serve as a reference in case someone wants to know the characters hair color, birth date, and other details. any advice would help thanks
23/08/2019 – 09:04
It would be a somewhat unusual move — but it's not for me to say if it's wrong. Often, you see books provide family trees and brief histories of the 'world' of the story... but that tends to be so that readers can check up on facts that are highly relevant to relationships and plot of the book. In almost all cases, readers won't really need to know things like hair color or date of birth. So, I'd think hard before putting a character stat sheet in your book.
↪️ Nyla replied:
02/09/2019 – 16:12
I don't see why not! Some books did it (sort of); Wings of Fire, Tailchaser's Song, Warriors... I don't think including one would be a bad move. Definitely not something that would kill your story. Keep in mind that I'm a beginner when it comes to books, so I may not know any better. I'm just saying that in my opinion, I don't think it's a bad move.
Satyajay Mandal says:
25/08/2019 – 04:31
You can tweet me to get more updates on the story I'm directing
02/09/2019 – 16:13
What do you mean by "education"? Like what school they went to?
17/09/2019 – 09:02
Yup. Are they a college grad? What did they study? Did they leave school at 18 and take up an apprenticeship — that sort of thing.
27/09/2019 – 14:03
Will i ever get the document to download!
07/10/2019 – 15:48
Hi Sky, if you're still having trouble downloading the template, could you drop us a message at [email protected]? Thanks! Martin
20/10/2019 – 03:56
I will update you about all the details
Max Sangers says:
23/03/2020 – 20:16
I like it, just pls refrain from bad language :)
26/03/2020 – 04:49
No need to refrain from using bad language, if it is assigned to the villains instead of the heroes/heroines
26/03/2020 – 05:02
No need to refrain from using bad language if it is assigned to the villains instead of the heroes/heroines
28/03/2020 – 05:01
This is @*#$ing AWESOME!!!
Comments are currently closed.
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The Ultimate Character Bio Template: 200 Character Development Questions
A character bio template is a shortcut for developing realistic characters. It’s the key to creating believable protagonists and antagonists that come alive through your writing. Character bio templates include guiding questions to help you shape your main characters as you write.
Remember: writing great fiction starts with writing great characters!
By answering significant questions about your character’s development, not only will you be able to understand a character inside and out, but you’ll also be able to show your readers the depth of your character.
Creating life-like characters goes beyond just plopping your character into the storyline, giving them a name, and describing a few traits.
Get The Free Character Sheet!
Unlock Your Character's Full Potential with Our Free Character Sheet.
And it’s not just for fiction – but for non-fiction , too. Are you writing a memoir? A biography? A self-help book using “case studies” or examples of people in particular situations? Experimenting with creative writing prompts ?
You’ll want to fill out a character bio template for your main character if you’re writing one of these non-fiction books as well!
Even if your character is modeled after a real person, that’s not enough to make him or her come alive for the reader. As an aspiring author , the first rule of thumb is to fully develop your character. You need to create an individual with a story of their own that readers want to engage and connect with as they read your book.
Your character’s development should not be an afterthought – after all, you’re telling a story, and the story likely centers around the characters.
Invest the time to answer these questions in our character bio template, and you’ll see just how real your character will become.
What is a character bio?
A character bio is a document or template that outlines the biography of a character in a story. Commonly used in the form of a character sheet template, which includes in-depth questions that highlight the character’s traits , descriptions, and journey, the character bio is used as a resource for the writer’s reference.
A character bio template helps the writer keep track of the character’s arc, background, and preferences which then helps the reader understand the character’s dynamics through the story. By creating a character with a past, present, and future, storytellers are able to paint a vivid picture of the character’s behavior and actions as displayed in the story.
The main goal of using a character profile template is to increase the realistic attributes of the character, to ultimately make them more believable and relatable for the reader.
Character bio templates are used mainly by fiction writers and authors, screenwriters, and other storytellers. Character profile templates should be filled out for all main characters in the story, including antagonists, to improve the overall character development.
Why is character development important?
Character development is important because the more developed a character is, the more realistic the character is – and readers want to invest in characters that are believable.
Have you ever been so connected to a book or story that you were devastated when you finished reading it? You were sad to say goodbye to the characters. You wished you could open up the portal to that world forever.
If you’ve experienced that, then you were emotionally invested in the characters and their lives. You connected with them – you felt like you truly knew them. And that’s because the writer did such a phenomenal job developing the character, that they seemed real to you as the reader.
That’s exactly what you want to do with your own writing. You want to write characters that are so fully developed, the reader will become invested in their lives.
And the secret to fully developing characters lies in being able to answer detailed questions about your character, which is how this character bio template will help you.
Top character development tips to use when writing:
- Start with a mind map or outline of your character’s journey in the story.
- Brainstorm the character’s main characteristics as needed for the story’s plot.
- Practice writing about your character to get a solid idea of who the character is.
- Give your character a main goal, purpose, motivation, and flaw.
- Fill out the character bio template to fill in any gaps and get clear on their history and small details.
- Interview your character to build their perspective.
- Complete writing exercises from your character’s perspective to fully develop the character’s mindset.
- Begin writing your story with your fully developed character in mind.
Why should you use a character bio template?
Using a character bio template will help you create realistic characters that your readers will believe in, and connect with.
You should develop a character bio to create believable characters for two reasons.
First, by answering character development questions in a character profile template, you’ll know the character like the back of your hand, which helps you tell your story better.
Second, the character sheet template will help you create an actual individual by painting a comprehensive, detailed picture of who they are – from what they look like to their personality quirks to their biggest mistakes in life.
Reasons to use a character bio template:
- To help you tell your story better
- To prevent inconsistencies in details
- To create a life-like character, full of personality with a comprehensive living history
- To use as a reference when incorporating details about your character
- To improve your character’s development
- To help readers connect and relate to your character
- To immerse your reader in your story
What should a character profile include?
A character profile template should include all of the relevant details that the writer needs to incorporate into the story, to fully develop the character.
Some writers use a basic character bio, with only relevant details that show the character’s arc within the story, while other writers use an advanced, comprehensive character bio with specific details about the character’s life, personality, aspirations, and internal and external features.
The type of character profile you include will depend on several factors, such as the type of work you are creating (ex: novel, short story, film), and the type of writer you are (ex: do you need a comprehensive profile, or just a one-page summary?). At a minimum, you should include the specific details about your character that highlight his or her role in the story, and how they develop within your story.
What to include in your character profile template:
- Character basics such as name and age
- Physical description of the character’s appearance
- The personality traits of the character
- Overview of the character’s health
- Career and education details
- Preferences and motivations of the character
- Description of the character’s family life
- Overview of the character’s main relationships
- Important life stages and milestones
- Character perspectives, outlook, and opinions
- Character’s role in the story’s development
How to use this character bio template
This particular character bio template is comprehensive, and designed to be used as an in-depth resource with more advanced character development questions. Novel and short story writers will benefit from this character sheet template to create a full character bio.
Fill this template out fully for each of your main characters (protagonist and antagonist), and use the sheet as a reference for your writing.
Click here to jump to the Character Template!
It’s best to complete the character bio template once you have your story’s outline, but before you actually start writing your rough draft. If you’ve already started writing your rough draft, that’s okay – you can still use this character bio template and it will be helpful as you edit and complete your draft.
Read this article if you want to learn more about how to write a book outline .
How to use a character bio template to improve your character’s development:
- Start with a good idea of your character’s creation , like who they are and what their purpose is in your story.
- Know your character’s flaws , motivation, main goal, and purpose.
- Begin filling out the basic section in your character bio template.
- Get clear on the physical descriptors of your character.
- Fill out health section of the character bio template.
- Next, build out your character’s career details .
- Think about what your character prefers .
- Dig into the family history in the character’s bio.
- Then, move on to the relationships section of the template.
- Narrow down your character’s main life stages .
- Develop the character’s perspectives and views of the world.
- Next, build the character’s story development .
- Review the full character bio template to make sure every detail connects, and that there are not any inconsistencies.
- Practice writing from your character’s perspective to get a natural feel for the way your character thinks and acts.
- Practice writing about your character from different perspectives (as a narrator, as a friend/lover/enemy of the character).
- Repeat all the above steps for any major characters in your story.
- Reference your completed character bio template as you begin writing.
Following the tips above will help you to develop a realistic character that readers will be invested in.
Don’t just share this character bio template directly with your reader – it is meant to be a complete guide for you as you write about who your character is, and how he or she affects the story.
This character bio template serves as a skeleton for developing a realistic character, so you should be able to answer each question. You need to be able to answer everything about your character, but your reader only needs to know the details that help tell the story.
These character development questions are comprehensive, so this doesn’t mean you need to tell your reader everything about your character. Only give your reader what they need to know about your character as it pertains to your story.
If you’re writing a genre or story that requires more questions, feel free to add more as you see fit! For example, if you’re writing a sci-fi novel, maybe you need to answer more questions about your character’s species, or the special powers that they possess.
As you write, you’ll want to have a copy of your completed character bio template nearby so it can be retrieved easily and referenced. This will help you tell your story more accurately, by avoiding little mistakes or inconsistencies in your plot and story setting .
For example, let’s say you start the story by describing your character as a vegetarian, but later on have your character order a hamburger at a restaurant. This is a detail that many engaged readers will notice!
Tips for using this character bio template in your writing:
- Complete the character bio after your outline is completed. Start filling out the character bio sheet after you complete your story outline , but before you start fully writing your chapters. This will ensure you have a solid idea of what details make sense based on your story’s main events, but still gives you the opportunity to incorporate the small details into your actual story.
- Use the character template as a reference guide when writing. Don’t just fill out the template and share it with your readers. This exercise is meant for you, as the author, so that you can fully develop all the intricacies of your character, and incorporate relevant details to shape who your character is, and their purpose in the story.
- Don’t skip any questions that can be answered. Answer as many questions about your character as possible. Obviously, if a question does not apply to your character (like if they are a child and do not have any past relationships), skip it. But don’t avoid questions simply because you don’t want to think. Cutting corners in this way will reflect in your character’s development.
- Only give your reader what they need to know when you’re writing. Just because you answer every question in the character development sheet, doesn’t mean that your reader needs to know all of those details. Only give what’s necessary, and what will help your reader understand your character better.
- Add more questions as needed. This character bio template is meant to be a starting point for you. If you need to add more questions, do so, especially if you’re writing a genre like hard science fiction where your characters are non-human.
- Think about the small details. Once you start writing, the character bio template will bring value to your dialogue , scene setting, and plot. Don’t be afraid to focus on the small details.
200 questions for your character bio template
Here are the questions you should answer about your character in order to bring them to life:
Character bio template basics
Begin by answering these basic questions about your character. These character development questions are the surface-level facts that you can use to start building your character.
These are the essential facts to fill out for your character, such as name, birthday, race, gender, etc. This section should be particularly quick for you to fill out since you most likely know all of these details for your character already. These questions help show your character’s development on a surface level.
These are the basic questions for your character bio template:
- What is your character’s name?:
- Do they have any nicknames?:
- What is the meaning/significance of their name?:
- What is the character’s gender?:
- How old are they?:
- When is their birthday?:
- Do they have a death day?:
- What is their zodiac sign?:
- Where do they live?:
- Where were they born?:
- What is their ethnicity?:
- What is their nationality?:
- What is their race/species?:
Physical descriptors
Now you can start building out your character’s physical appearance. These are external questions that will paint a physical description, so your reader can envision what your character looks like.
The physical attributes for your character bio template are important because they will also help you write vivid descriptions and actions in your book.
These are the physical appearance questions for the character bio template:
14. What is their physical appearance?:
15. What is their skin tone?:
16. What is their complexion?:
17. What is their natural hair color?:
18. What is their height?:
19. What is their weight?:
20. What is their body type?:
21. What is their build?:
22. How is your character’s posture?:
23. Do they have any birthmarks?: 24. Do they have any scars?:
25. Which is their dominant hand?:
26. What age does the character appear to others?:
27. Do they have a dyed hair color?:
28. What is their usual hairstyle?:
29. Do they have any tattoos? What is the meaning behind them?:
30. Do they have any piercings?
31. What is their makeup style (if any)?:
32. What is their clothing style?:
33. What is their clothing size?:
34. What is their shoe style?:
35. What is their shoe size?:
36. How is the appearance of their nails?:
37. How are their eyebrows shaped?:
38. What do their facial features look like?:
39. What is the character’s face shape?:
40. Do they have facial hair?:
41. What does their voice sound like?:
42. What distinguishing feature about them do people notice right away?:
The character’s personality
Now it’s time to start scratching beneath the surface to better understand the type of personality the character has. These character development questions focus on describing the personality traits within the character’s demeanor as they are in the present time of the story.
For example, most people who are naturally introverts will always be introverts. But, maybe your introverted character has only recently developed a habit of talking to people on the subway as they commute to work every day.
These are the personality questions for the character’s development:
43. Are they an introvert or extrovert?:
44. What are their personality traits?:
45. What is their MBTI personality type ?:
46. Are they an optimist or pessimist?:
47. How is their temperament? Are they generally hot-headed, or cool as a cucumber?:
48. What mood are they often in?:
49. What everyday attitude does your character have?:
50. What are their strengths?:
51. What are their flaws?:
52: What are their mannerisms?:
53. What are their habits?:
54. Are they an early bird or a night owl?:
55. Do they have any pet peeves?:
56. Which of the 7 deadly sins does the character most represent?
57. Which virtue does the character possess most?:
58. What are the character’s weaknesses?:
59. What are their strengths?:
60. Are they expressive? How do they express themselves?:
61. Are they ruled by heart or mind?:
62. What is their mindset?:
63. What is their philosophy?:
64. What are they motivated by?:
65. What words or phrases does the character often say?:
66. What is their life motto?:
Character health bio
This section is all about your character’s health. It covers everything from mental and physical health, to major surgeries, to allergies.
If certain questions don’t pertain to your character, feel free to skip them. Or, if anything needs to be added, do so. Make this section as relevant to your character as it needs to be.
These are the health questions for the character bio template:
67. Is your character more active, or sluggish generally?:
68. Does your character often forget people’s names, or do they have a photographic memory?:
69. Is your character impaired in any way?:
70. What is your character scared of?:
71. Does your character have any addictions?:
72. Are they fast learners? Do they have poor problem-solving skills?
73. Is your character mentally tough ? What are their mental strengths?:
74. In what aspects is your character mentally weak ?:
75. What are their physical strengths?:
76. What are their physical weaknesses?:
77. Do they have any major past illnesses?:
78. Have they had any surgeries?:
79. Have they been in any accidents?:
80. Is your character emotionally stable?:
81. Do they have any allergies?:
Career details
Now it’s time to cover what your character does for a living – or how they spend the majority of their time. Is your character making a living doing a job they hate, but attending night school to get their dream job?
A person’s choice of career, or their type of dream job, says a lot about that person’s qualities and interests, or lack thereof. That’s why it’s important to add career questions to your character bio template.
These are the career questions for the character bio template:
82. What is their job title?:
83. What company do they work at?:
84. What type of career do they have?:
85. What is their education level?:
86. Did they go to college? Where? For what?:
87. How is their work ethic?:
88. What is their job history?:
89. What is their income?:
90. What political party/organizations do they belong to?:
91. Do they do any volunteer work?:
92. What is their dream job?:
93. What job would they do poorly?:
94. How is their job satisfaction?:
Character preferences
Everyone has their likes and dislikes, from books to activities to the time of day. By answering all of these questions about your character in your character bio template, you’ll be able to build up a person that’s realistic and believable.
These are the personal preference questions for your character bio template:
95. What is your character’s diet like?:
96. What are their favorite foods?:
97. Favorite drinks?:
98. Favorite movies?:
99. Favorite music?:
100. Favorite books?:
101. Favorite animal?:
102. Favorite place?:
103. Favorite activities?:
104. Favorite time of day?:
105. What makes them happy?:
106. What makes them sad?:
107. What are their hobbies?:
108. What are their interests?:
109. What do they love to do?:
110. What do they hate to do?:
111. What are they inspired by?:
Family life of the character
Let’s face it – family, or a lack thereof, shapes a person. The same is true about your character.
This section is all about your character’s family life, from their parents to extended family, and even pets.
By knowing the family your character came from, you’ll also learn a lot about your character and why they are the way they are.
These are the family life questions for the character bio template:
112. Who were they raised by?:
113. What is the status of their parents?:
114. What is their mother’s name?:
115. Mother’s age?:
116. Mother’s background?:
117. What is their father’s name?:
118. Father’s age?:
119. Father’s background?:
120. How is their relationship with their mother?:
121. How is their relationship with their father?:
122. What is their parenting type?:
123. Are they an only child? First, middle, or youngest?:
124. How many siblings do they have?:
125. What is their relationship with their siblings?:
126. Do they have kids of their own, or do they want them in the future?
127. What are some interesting details about their other relatives?:
128. Is their family close-knit or distant? How has family life shaped the character? Do they have any sibling rivalries, or are they best friends with a particular sibling?:
129. What do they like most about their family?:
130. What do they like least about their family?:
131. What are their children like (if applicable)?:
132. Do they have any pets?:
Character bio relationships
In this section, you’ll be answering all the questions that have to do with your character’s relationships – from friends to lovers to enemies.
Think about all of the influential relationships your character has been involved with. Each person, and each relationship, is different, so keep that in mind as you fill out this section of the character bio template.
Each of us becomes involved with people who teach us lessons, whether these individuals stay in our lives long or not. The same is true for a well-developed character!
These are the relationship questions for the character bio template:
133. Who are their best friends?:
134. Who is their worst enemy?:
135. Do they have many acquaintances or a few close friends?
136. What is their sexual preference?:
137. Their sexual orientation?:
138. What is their relationship status? Are they happy with it?:
139. Are they married? Divorced? Widowed?:
140. Who was their first love?:
141. Who is their current or aspiring love?:
142. Are there any exes that influenced the character, either positively or negatively?
143. Who does your character love best in terms of their friends and relations?:
144. Who does your character dislike in terms of enemies and acquaintances?
145. Who knows the character best?
146. Who is closest to your character?
Character template life stages
It’s time to cover your character’s life stages. If your character is an adult in your story, then you’ll want to fill out quick details on each question in this section. If your character hasn’t reached a certain stage yet, just skip that part.
For each life stage, you can write a few sentences to describe the overall time period for the character. Don’t feel the need to list out every single thing that happened to your character in a certain life stage – unless you want to.
These are the life stage questions for your character bio template:
147. What was their childhood generally like?:
148. Did anything significant happen in their childhood?:
149. What were their teenage years like? Did anything significant happen?:
150. What were they like as a young adult? Did anything significant happen?:
151. Have there been any significant events in their adulthood?:
152. When did they really grow up and come into themselves? (Their “coming-of-age moment”):
153. Are there any important moments or experiences that shaped them?:
154. How have they changed as a person throughout their life?: Were they raised as a spoiled only child, but later became a Buddhist monk?:
155. Are there any major regrets the character has from their life?:
156. What are the biggest life lessons your character has learned?:
Character perspectives
Next, we’ll go through the questions that will help show us how your character thinks about the world and perceives things.
This is important because it helps shape your character’s mindset, especially if you are narrating the character’s inner thoughts and dialogue.
Filling out this section of the character bio template will also help you as you practice writing in your character’s point-of-view, and will give you a sense of your character’s thought process, and how their mindset affects their actions.
These are the perspective questions for the character bio template:
157. What are your character’s religious beliefs?:
158. How was their upbringing?:
159. What are their core values?:
160. How are their morals? What does s/he believe is evil? What does s/he believe is good?:
161. What would your character risk their life for?:
Character’s story development
Now it’s time to answer all of the questions that have more to do with your character’s thoughts, actions, and role within your storyline.
You need to know what’s driving your character in the story, and what’s getting in their way. Answer each one of these questions as it relates to your story.
For example, when describing the character’s main goal, don’t answer it in terms of their entire life’s main goal – think of the main goal in terms of your story. Maybe your character’s main goal is to live without regrets. But how does that relate to your story? You need to make it more specific to your plot. Maybe your character’s main goal within the context of your story is to help hide persecuted children, even if it means death and dishonor.
These are the story development questions for your character’s development:
162. What important things will happen to the character in your story?:
163. What will they achieve?:
164. What will they fail at?:
165. What is your character’s lifestyle like as it pertains to your story’s time period or setting?:
166. What are some traits your character will possess during your story?:
167. What culture do they identify with?:
168. What is their main goal in the story?:
169. What are some minor goals they have in the story?:
170. What does your character desire?:
171. What are/were their biggest mistakes?:
172. What would “rock bottom look like for your character?:
173. What is their dream life like?:
174. What is their worst nightmare?:
175. What are their favorite memories?:
176. What are their least favorite memories?:
177. What are some things they want in life?:
178. What are some things they don’t want in life?:
179. What obstacles are currently in their way?:
180. Do they have any secrets?:
181. What is their worldview?:
182. Who is their personal hero?:
183. What internal conflicts do they have?:
184. What external conflicts do they have?:
185. What do others think of them?:
186. What do they think of themselves?:
187. What do they wish they could change?:
188. What do they wish they could have?:
189. What gets them fired up?:
190. What do they cherish most?:
191. Things they take for granted?:
192. What inspires them?:
193. What do they have doubts about?:
194. What makes them feel alive?:
195. What makes them want to do better?:
196. What do they want to be remembered for?:
197. How will other people’s perceptions of them change?:
198. How will the character change?:
199. What will your character be doing by the end of the book?:
200. How will your character feel at the end of the book?:
Now that you’ve quickly read through each section of the character template, your brainstorming wheels should be turning as you start to hone in on certain questions about your character that you hadn’t thought of before.
Once you’re ready to start, you can use the blank template below to fill out for each one of your main characters. Remember – keep a copy of your character template sheets nearby for reference as you begin writing!
- Static vs Dynamic Characters
- What Are Stock Characters?
- What Is A Round Character?
Make the most of your character bio template
So there you have it – your very own comprehensive character bio template. Remember, it doesn’t matter what genre you are writing about. Every book should have well-developed characters that come alive through using writing strategies, techniques, and literary elements .
At the heart of every well-written story is a believable character that readers are engaged with and connected to. To create that character, you want to make them as realistic as possible, and you can do that with the help of a character bio template.
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Character Bio Template for Creating the Perfect Characters
by Holly Riddle
The best books offer characters that feel like real people, characters that are so fleshed out and thorough that you feel as if you really know them. But creating those types of characters is easier said than done!
Once you sit down to start drafting a new short story or novel, you may find that your characters are feeling lackluster at best, or entirely dull at worst. How can you fix this? No matter what stage of the writing process you may be in, creating a character biography using a character bio template can be a great help.
What is a character biography?
A character biography is a reference sheet that tells you everything you might need to know about your character, for any scene that you write. A character bio includes information on your character’s background, personality, day-to-day life, appearance, and more. While not all this information will make it into your story, it’s still useful for plotting your character’s arcs.
Why is having a character biography important?
If you consider yourself more of a pantser than a plotter (i.e., the type of writer who goes into drafting flying by the seat of their pants versus the type of writer who plots and outlines their work ahead of time), then you may wonder if you really need a character biography—especially when you look at character bio templates that ask you for far more information than you might think you need (do you really need to know your main character’s childhood pet’s nickname?).
However, no matter your drafting style, a character biography can be an invaluable resource. The more information you have at the ready, the more well-rounded your characters will be. You might even find that having a character bio template as you write will help you unravel other writing issues that go beyond flat characters, like plot holes or character or story arcs that don’t quite arc .
Things to keep in mind before you write your character biography
Before you write your character biography (using our handy template below), there’s one big thing you need to think about: each character’s purpose within the story .
Often, writers will begin building a character first, thinking about things like personality and appearance and motives—and then wait until they’ve developed this character before actually giving the character a purpose within the story.
This can be problematic for a few reasons, but primarily because you may end up trying to force characters into roles where they don’t belong.
Before creating any character bio or filling out any character template, consider why you need this character in the first place. How are they going to pull their weight?
Think beyond the very baseline role that they might play, as, for example, a main character, love interest, antagonist, or the comedic relief. Think about what they need to be and what they need to offer the plot and your other characters. What makes them so essential to the plot that they absolutely cannot be cut from the story or book?
Once you nail down why this particular character must exist in your fictional universe and exactly what they offer the plot and main character that makes it so, you can begin filling in the more extraneous details that might not matter quite as much, such as basic info and appearance. On the contrary, once you decide on your character’s purpose, you may just find that those details aren’t so extraneous and are, in fact, all the more meaningful.
How to write a character bio (using a template)
When you download your character bio template and begin filling it out, whether you print it and write out all the details by hand or type everything into the Word doc, you’ll notice there are a few details that you need to include.
This is likely all information that you have stored away in your brain somewhere, so getting it down on the page should be no problem.
Think all the information that anyone might be able to find out about your character if they either knew them as a brief acquaintance or looked them up online and discovered a social media profile.
This might include things like:
Nationality
Religious beliefs
Home town and current place of residence
Marital status
Economic status
Core values
If there are any stand-out likes or dislikes, or pet peeves, you can also list those here. For example, does your character prefer to only communicate via snail mail, or does your character dislike chocolate with a passion? List it here!
Appearance and physical characteristics
Think not just of your character’s physical appearance, body type, and personal style, but also how their appearance impacts how they act and how they’re treated.
Do others approach them differently than they might another character, all because of appearance? Does your character like their appearance? Why or why not? How does this impact how they interact with others?
For many characters, health—or the lack thereof—plays a major role in their decision-making and motives. Think about your character’s health and the areas where they might be struggling.
Does your character drink regularly or have any addictions? Bad habits? Does your character smoke? Were they in any sort of traumatic accidents that have made their health a challenge?
Think about your character’s life up until the point were your story begins. What was it like?
Did they have a good or bad childhood? How were their teenage years? Are there any major changes between the way they grew up and the way they live now (i.e., changes in religion, place of residence, best friends, or social or economic status)? How does that influence their behavior and beliefs now?
In real life, background heavily influences the way a person acts and the choices they make, so the same should apply to your characters.
Relationships
What is your character’s relationship with the other people within the story? How do they feel about the other characters? This includes romantic relationships but also those with friends, family, and work colleagues.
Explore how these relationships and all the emotions that go with them impact how your character behaves.
Personality, mental characteristics, and emotional characteristics
What is your character’s personality? Are they shy? Hot-headed? Temperamental? Stubborn? Does your character prefer being around people just like them, or do they love variety?
When building your character profile, think of both your character’s emotional strengths, as well as your character’s emotional flaws.
Your character’s personality will directly play into their thorn, which leads us to…
Character thorns
A character thorn is something that’s stuck in your character’s side. It’s always there, paining them, nagging at them, making their life a little bit worse.
This thorn will eventually propel them to some sort of action and they’ll eventually learn to either live with, or remove, their thorn, but it needs to be there at the start of their fictional journey.
A character thorn could be a bad relationship with parents, a spouse that always outshines them, or a belief that they’ll never be quite good enough. Whatever it is, though, it’s something they can’t ignore.
Every character needs a desire. What do they want? Or, better yet, what do they want so badly that they’re going to end up going after it over the course of your story or novel?
This desire should make sense according to the other information that you’ve already inputted into your character bio template, such as background, thorn, personality, etc.
For example, a character who grew up in an impoverished household with an emotionally neglectful parent, who doted on their other siblings first and foremost, might desire a high-paying career that will allow them to outshine their sibling while also buying their impoverished parents a new house, thus winning their favor and proving themself better than the sibling.
Character development
Your character’s desire and thorn should play into your character’s arc and development. How will they change over the course of your story?
Consider writing up a brief description about your character’s existence at the start of the story—what their life looks like, both externally and internally—and then another brief description about where you’d like them to end up at the end of the story.
Mistakes to avoid when building character bios
As you consider the above details, make sure you avoid some of the most common mistakes that writers are likely to commit when building out, and then using, a character profile.
Using every single detail in a character bio template
This is the big one.
Yes, you’ll have a lot of valuable information in your character bio template. However, you don’t want to merely dump all of that information into your story as soon as you introduce a new character.
The reader doesn’t need—or want—to know all that information at once. They want to gradually learn that information as they get to know your character, over the course of the story.
Don’t dump everything about your characters’ appearances onto the page at once, either. Doing so can make a passage feel stilted and awkward.
After all, when you meet a person for the first time, you don’t automatically think about every color they’re wearing, every brand of clothing they have on, their hair color, eye color, weight, and face shape, all at once. Instead, you maybe notice a few stand-out features until something gives you reason to notice another detail of their appearance.
Do the same when you begin writing a character’s physical description.
Adding details that don’t make sense
Every part of your character’s life should make sense. Their personality, their decisions, their lifestyle—it’s all a result of things that have happened throughout their life.
Don’t pick personality traits or background information at random. With every character detail, ask yourself, why? Truly think about why your character is the way that they are, and ensure every detail is believable.
Does every character need a character bio?
You’ll find that many characters within your story don’t need a full character bio. Minor characters that only play a small role within your story don’t need to be fleshed out to this degree.
However, it’s advisable to create character bios for all of your main characters, and also your secondary characters , including love interests, villains and other characters whose actions heavily influence your main character and/or the plot of the story.
Remember—every character in a story, no matter how large or small their role, has a background, motives and goals. Sometimes, knowing all this and more can help you make the writing decisions that result in believable characters and plot lines.
The Scribophile character bio template
Need more help?
Download our character bio template for an easy, fill-in-the-blanks approach to character template building.
You’ll still need to thoroughly consider every aspect of your characters’ personalities, lives, backgrounds, motives, and more, but, with our character bio template and comprehensive list of questions, you’ll be that much closer to uncovering all the need-to-know details to bring your characters to life.
Download the Character Bio Template (docx)
Download the Character Bio Template (pdf)
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