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- Jan 31, 2016
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Masterlist of Advice and Resources for Character Development
Alright, so this is going to be a sort of master post of what I've learned from the years I've been writing. This is not going to be specific to Star Wars.
Let's start with the basics
Name
Behind The Name (Name dictionary, features a name generator)
Name berry (Another name dictionary, also lists names based on certain themes)
Springhole name generators (Features several different name generators)
Age
Based on your character's situation, what is realistic? For instance, one of my characters, Eris, is very young. It wouldn't make sense for me to have her in, say, the exchange, or the senate. Your character's age is also somewhat relevant in determining their personality. A younger child might be more naive, while an older one might lean more on the side of sagacity. There are exceptions, of course.
Appearance
So let's break this down. This will be based around the character being human.
build: Body Visualizer (Put in your character's height, weight, and maybe other measurements; and get a profile of their approximate build)
BMI Calculator (Good for realisticness. There's no way a character with a bmi of 40 is going to be all muscle. let's be honest here)
Height Comparison (Good for seeing height differences)
facial features: face claim directory (Filter by age, gender, skin color, eye color, hair color, and miscellaneous features)
Face Claim Heaven
Google images is good. If you find a face you like, reverse image search can help find who it is.
Personality
I personally like to make playlists of songs that I think fit my characters. I understand music well, so this works well for me. If you relate to this, you can use the songs/lyrics/tone as inspiration for the personality section. Below I will link other resources for personality creation, because sometimes, it can be a bit finicky to make sense of.
Myer Briggs test
Reference for Writers Mind and Personality tag
Writer's Yoga Character Tag
Springhole Character Page
Remember, if you use terms with positive connotations to describe your character, you need to balance it out with negative traits. Objective traits are good, too.
Backstory
First off, go easy on the traumatic past. Trauma is okay, but if you slather it on to no end, you probably need to go easy on it. Yes, some people have absolutely hell lives, but they need to affect your character. A lot. It's better to balance out the bad with the good. For instance, if they have abusive parents, maybe they have really good friends away from home. Or, if they are bullied, maybe they are supported at home. Balance is key, friends.
Springhole Backstory and Origin Generators
Reference for Writers Culture Tag
Writer's Yoga Relationships Tag
General
Springhole Mary Sue Test
More Springhole Generators
Alright, now that we've got all this sorted out, go make yourself a character.
