I’m currently crafting some character biographies for a new series I’m writing and thought I would share a few things about how I go about creating characters.  I’ve gleaned this from several sources, from my days in college writing classes and from just figuring things out over time.

I use this format to write character biographies, and it helps me to create believable and vivid characters.

1. Purpose in Life – This could also be called their motive for living or their reason for living.  What is it that drives this character to do the things that they do?  What makes them get out of bed in the morning?  All real people have this whether they are disgustingly evil or inherently good.  Don’t think in terms of extremes like that, though.  Try to think about  where on the spectrum of “purpose in life” they fall and how motivated they are to achieve…

Why, you ask, would an editor give advice on how to save you money on her services? Won’t that make less money for her, you ask? In the short term, yes. But looking at the bigger picture, you’ll get a better editing job if I don’t have to worry as much about the small stuff. Therefore, I would love it if you’d read and take to heart this article on running spell check before submitting your work for editing. Thanks to libroediting.com for their wise words.

http://libroediting.com/2014/10/29/my-work-is-being-proofread-why-do-i-need-to-use-spell-check/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+Libroediting+%28LibroEditing+blog%29

Dear Hay House,

I’m writing in regards to your self-publishing branch known as ‘Balboa Press.’ It has come to my attention that you provide packages for authors to self-publish their work with a chance of being picked up by Hay House. What a deal! Your hook is, “Follow the Footsteps of Louise Hay.”

from lucian.uchicago.edu

“Work is about a search for daily meaning as well as daily bread, for recognition as well as cash, for astonishment rather than torpor; in short, for a sort of life rather than a Monday through Friday sort of dying.” 
― Studs Terkel

(Hear! Hear!)