Post by account_disabled on Dec 10, 2023 6:27:16 GMT
We read in many places about the importance of creating a profile for each character before writing a novel. So far, writing only short stories and many short ones, I haven't had this need. But in the usual fantasy novel that I am planning – planning and not writing is the correct verb – I felt the need to create these cards. When and why create character sheets? My novel includes a certain number of characters, not yet all defined even in number - not counting the extras - and it would be impossible to write a story like that without knowing the actors to be brought into play. The writer as theatrical impresario So here is the right, magical word: actors.
And the writer is none other than a theater manager with the task of hiring the various actors who will star in the comedy. How will he cast them if he doesn't know them? The character Phone Number Data sheet is therefore useful for the writer to know his characters. The form is a narrative CV, not a vitae. There is no need to enter data that will have no use in the story. Does it matter to write where a character lives? Depends. If it's Sherlock Holmes, yes, since almost every adventure of his begins at 221B Baker Street. But we don't know where Inspector Lestrade lives. Physical characteristics I almost never describe my characters in the stories I write. Yet many years ago each of my characters entered the scene declaiming their physical appearance. But luckily those times are gone. Age, however, is a characteristic to be clarified that cannot be left to chance.
The writer must decide the age of his characters, so as not to disorientate the reader and to avoid creating incompatibilities or conflicts in the story. I'm also a bit skeptical about physical elements, unless they have a certain relevance in the story, such as ethnicity - in my novel there are at least three ethnicities compared - or particular physical characteristics. I believe that a character can be described by the author in a discreet way, without dedicating entire periods to the color of eyes and hair, sturdiness, height, etc. Perhaps inserting a feature from time to time, evaluating its usefulness in the context. It must be said that a novel works even if the reader doesn't know what the characters look like. I don't remember reading physical descriptions of characters in Cormac McCarthy's novels, except in one or two cases. Yet I had no difficulty imagining them.
And the writer is none other than a theater manager with the task of hiring the various actors who will star in the comedy. How will he cast them if he doesn't know them? The character Phone Number Data sheet is therefore useful for the writer to know his characters. The form is a narrative CV, not a vitae. There is no need to enter data that will have no use in the story. Does it matter to write where a character lives? Depends. If it's Sherlock Holmes, yes, since almost every adventure of his begins at 221B Baker Street. But we don't know where Inspector Lestrade lives. Physical characteristics I almost never describe my characters in the stories I write. Yet many years ago each of my characters entered the scene declaiming their physical appearance. But luckily those times are gone. Age, however, is a characteristic to be clarified that cannot be left to chance.
The writer must decide the age of his characters, so as not to disorientate the reader and to avoid creating incompatibilities or conflicts in the story. I'm also a bit skeptical about physical elements, unless they have a certain relevance in the story, such as ethnicity - in my novel there are at least three ethnicities compared - or particular physical characteristics. I believe that a character can be described by the author in a discreet way, without dedicating entire periods to the color of eyes and hair, sturdiness, height, etc. Perhaps inserting a feature from time to time, evaluating its usefulness in the context. It must be said that a novel works even if the reader doesn't know what the characters look like. I don't remember reading physical descriptions of characters in Cormac McCarthy's novels, except in one or two cases. Yet I had no difficulty imagining them.