Who Wants To Be Called Minor?

I don’t know about you, but I’d be seriously displeased if someone called me a minor character. I mean they’re people too ya know, with thoughts, goals, and lives, that are in their own way, just as interesting as those of the main characters. When I plot my minor characters I try to put time and effort into them also, exploring their strengths and weaknesses, feelings and thoughts. That way, when I sit down to write their part in the story I know them well enough to ask myself the question, “would so and so really say or do that”? I’ve also found that in deepening my minor characters, I’ve discovered things about my main characters as well. Talk about killing two birds (or characters as the case may be) with one stone. One of my favorite ways to do this is to fill out a character sheet for several of my minor characters-- those with more than one or two scenes in the story. I’ve developed this character sheet using various sources and although it isn’t quite as detailed as the sheet I use for my main characters, it does hit the highlights.

Here is it below. Enjoy!

MINOR CHARACTER PROFILE SHEET

Book’s Title –

Facts

Name –

Nickname-   

Address-

Age-

Height-

Weight-

Hair color-

Eye color-  

Scent –

Favorite phrases-  

Quirks –

Clothing –

Jewelry/Accessories –

Favorite Food-

Personality

Greatest desire –

Talents/Strengths -

Interests/Hobbies-

Strengths-

Weaknesses-  

Secrets-

Personality type (serious, fun loving, shy, etc.)-

Background and Current Circumstances

One paragraph description of character’s upbringing and family –

Parents names and relationship with them -  

Siblings names and relationship with them-

Hometown –

Schooling-

Best Friend-

Love Life –

Enemies –

What role does this character play in the story? –

As Always, Happy Writing!

Amanda

P. S. The t-shirt above says "Minor Character" on the front and "But Still Important" on the back. Pretty cute huh??? I came across these on the web from Zazzle (dot) com.

Your Turn – Do you fill out character sheets for your minor characters? Have you ever written a minor character that surprised you in some way?