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CHARACTER DATA AND BACKGROUND SHEET
Full name:
Goes by:
Age:
Occupation/Employer:
Salary:
Social class / Community status:
Marital status:
Address:
Type of home: (apartment, house, mansion, other)
Type of home WANTS (& why if not same)?
Brief description of home:
Other occupants of home:
Type of neighborhood? (e.g. rural, urban)
Type of neighborhood WANTS (& why if not same)?
Phone: (e.g., land-line, cell, pager?)
Computer: (e.g., desktop/laptop, Mac/PC, old/new)
Car: (make, model, color, condition)
Citizenship:
Religion:
Degree of religious practice:
Pets:
Pet WANTS (& why if not same)?
Pet background, importance, etc.
PHYSICAL TRAITS
Race/Ethnic Origin:
Height:
Weight:
Type of body/ build:
Health/Physical condition:
Any exercise? How often & what kind?
Chronic conditions:
Current conditions:
Allergies?
Does character take precautions against disease?
Any medications?
Hair color & style:
Eye color:
Glasses or contacts?
Looks like:
Distinguishing marks/features:
Is character attractive? Does he/she think so?
Comfortable w/ body?
Any part of character's physicality that he/she is ashamed of or would like to change?
Any part of character's physicality to be proud of and perhaps flaunt?
General physical description?
Attributes of character that turn on opposite sex:
BACKGROUND
Birthdate:
Birthplace/hometown:
Birth order/siblings
Was char adopted?
Social class raised in:
Growing up, did family relocate or stay in one spot?
Illnesses as child:
Deaths, significant illnesses, or accidents in family?
Education/years of schooling:
Grades in school:
Most & least favorite subjects:
Kind of elementary & high school:
Any extracurricular activities in school?
Popular in high school or college?
Which college?
Major/minor in college:
Advanced degrees: Which ones? Where received?
Special occupational training:
Significant past jobs:
Military experience:
Ever been arrested? For what?
SOCIAL NETWORK
Mother's name:
Mother's occupation:
Mother alive or dead?
Relationship w/ mother (now & growing up):
Father's name:
Father alive or dead?
Father's occupation:
Relationship w/ father (now & growing up):
Parents' ages when char was born:
Parents' relationship to each other:
Other family members:
Relationship w/ family members:
Spouse/Lover:
Name by which character calls spouse/lover:
Name by which spouse/lover calls character:
Children (name & age):
Relationship w/ children:
Friends' names/jobs:
Organizations of which he/she is a member:
Does char have emotional support system? Who?
Who does char hate? Why?
Relationship w/ opposite sex (in general):
Relationship w/ children (in general):
Relationship w/ grandparents:
Relationship w/ grandchildren:
Relationship w/ neighbors:
Relationship w/ people more successful:
Relationship w/ people less successful:
Relationship w/ boss:
Relationship w/ underlings at work:
Relationship w/ competitors at work:
Relationship w/ colleagues at work:
Relationship w/ local police:
Other relationships?:
EXTERNALS
Dress: (e.g., expensive, trendy, conservative, wacky, provocative, dress-for-comfort)
Grooming: (e.g., every-hair-perfect, average, clean-but-sloppy, dirty-&-a-slob)
Speaking style (e.g., soft-spoken, loud, formal, casual, fast, slow, articulate, rambles, pithy)
Accent/dialect:
Voice: (e.g., shrill, average, deep, authoritative, unusually musical)
Favorite pet sayings, phrases, words:
Usual curse words, if any:
Graceful or awkward?
General mannerisms: (e.g., projects calm image, fidgety, volatile [moody w/ changing body language])
Posture: (e.g., stiff, straight but not rigid, average, slumped/defeated, flexible/graceful, usually relaxed, slouchy/careless)
Gestures: (lots vs. little; controlled or wild; any specifics?)
Favorite gesture:
When does he/she use that gesture?
PERSONALITY
General personality type/ temperament:
IQ/Intelligence:
Sense of humor (none, dry, understated, witty slapstick, dirty, weird, mean):
Sexual orientation:
Introvert/Extrovert:
Optimist/pessimist:
How self-confident?
Ruled by emotion or logic (or what combo?)
Does char think before speaking?
In problem solving, does char consider alternatives?
Generally polite or rude?
Does he/she listen well?
Is he/she sarcastic? Silly? Playful?
Focused or easily distracted?
Think in concrete terms or abstract?
Prone to fanciful thought/language?
Decisive or indecisive?
Does he/she trust others?
Does he/she find starting a conversation easy?
Who does he/she find easiest to converse with? Who hardest with?
Assigns blame to self or externally?
Assigns credit to self or externally?
Does he/she need to be in spotlight; constantly receive affirming responses?
How big is personal space; body boundaries?
Fears/anxieties/hang-ups:
Quirks/eccentricities:
How comfortable expressing feelings?
What emotions most comfortable with?
What emotions make him/her uncomfortable?
What does character do in uncomfortable situations?
Method of handling anger/rage (e.g. repress, throw things, cry)
Reactions under stress:
How does character respond to criticism?
How does character deal with sadness?
How does character deal with conflict?
How does character deal with change?
How does character deal with loss?
Is character judgmental of others?
Is he/she self-critical?
Admirable traits, strengths:
Negative traits, flaws, vulnerabilities
How does character believe others perceive him?
Phobias:
Manias, loves, obsessions:
Response to folks who challenge him/her:
Response to folks who angers him/her:
Response to folks who helps him/her:
Response to folks who ask for help:
BEHAVIORS/HABITS
Driving style (fast, slow, obeys laws or not)
Bad Habits/Vices:
Drinks alcohol? (How much? Formerly?)
Smoker? (How much? Formerly?)
Drugs? (What? How much? Formerly?)
How handles money (e.g., thrifty, average, spendthrift, deep in debt)
Hobbies (Now? As child?)
Plays sports?
Favorite pastime
Computer habits? (e.g. Level of expertise? How often on computer? Doing what?)
How well can he/she cook?
Skills/abilities/talents:
Areas of expertise:
How often does char have sex?
Does he/she find sex satisfying? Why?
TASTES
Type of diet:
Favorite meal:
Favorite restaurant/ Ethnic food:
Is good food important to him/her?
Taste in drink (favorite drink?):
Taste in art:
Taste in décor:
Taste in clothing/ likes to wear:
Favorite possessions:
Enjoys sports? (How much? Which?)
Enjoys music? (How much? What kinds?)
Enjoys dance? (How much? What kinds?)
Enjoys reading? (How much? What kinds?)
Enjoys theater? (How much? What kinds?)
Enjoys movies? (How much? What kinds?)
Enjoys the outdoors? (How much? Doing what?)
Enjoys going out? (How much? Where?)
Hangouts:
Enjoys shopping? (How much? For what? Where?)
A DAY IN THE LIFE
Who else sleeps in same bed?
What time does he/she get up?
What wakes him/her? (alarm, dog, spouse)
Mood in morning:
What for breakfast (if anything)?
What does he/she do during breakfast? (e.g. read, talk, fight, watch TV, feed kids)
Dressing: time consuming, etc??
How does he/she get to work?
Does he/she anticipate, dread, resent, work ahead?
Does he/she give job genuine attention & effort?
Does he/she enjoy work? Why?
Is he/she good at job?
Would he she rather be doing something else? (What?)
Does any other part of the character's life suffer due to devotion to the job (What?)
Lunch? (Stop? Where? What? With whom?)
What time leaves from work?
Who makes dinner? What?
Who does he/she eat dinner with?
Does he/she enjoy meal? Why?
What does he/she do during dinner? (See options)
Who cleans up dinner?
Typical evening activity? (What? Where? With whom?)
How much does he/she enjoy it?
What would he/she prefer to be doing instead?
Why isn't he/she doing that?
Typical evening atmosphere? (e.g. pleasant, calm, tense, fun, productive, wary)
Is there consistent bedtime? (When? With who?)
When does bedtime occur at different time?
Does he/she usually fall asleep right away?
If not, what activity before sleep? (e.g. read, TV, sex, toss & turn)
Dreams? (Frequency? Type? Recurring?)
Sleep peacefully, restlessly, badly?
BELIEFS/VALUES
Political beliefs/affiliations: (party; liberal, conservative, middle, radical)
Sexual experience/values:
Belief about God?
Belief about purpose of life?
Belief about afterlife?
Attitude toward life:
Attitude toward death:
Does char believe in destiny?
Philosophy of Life: (phrase?)
Prejudices:
Pet Peeves & Gripes:
Favorite physical attributes about opposite sex:
Turn-ons:
Turn-offs:
Things that make uncomfortable or embarrass:
Political/social issues important to him/her:
Opinion on abortion:
Opinion on environmental issues:
Opinion on homosexuality:
Opinion on military/ military intervention:
Opinion on progress:
Opinion on crime & gun control:
Opinions peculiar to character:
Interests:
Favorite TV shows:
Favorite movies:
Favorite travel destination:
INNER LIFE
First memory:
Important childhood event that affects him/her:
Most painful setback/disappointment:
Most instructive/meaningful experience:
Short-term goals:
Long-term goals:
Short-term needs:
Most painful things in current life:
If suddenly much richer, what would he/she do with money?
What is his/her stated dream in life?
What does he/she really long for, underneath?
What event is he/she most afraid might happen?
Does char think he/she has lived up to parents' expectations?
Who does he/she (in deepest soul) really love best in whole world?
What would he/she be willing to die for, if anything?
Who is character's hero? Why?
What does he/she actively work to gain or keep or protect -- not merely SAY is important, but actually invest time & emotion in? (e.g. money, fame, family, love, country, revenge)
How would he/she describe himself/herself, if totally honest?
In one word, how would the author sum up character's attitude toward world (e.g., interested, optimistic, defeated, exploitive, compassionate, dissatisfied, power-mad, happy, afraid)
Would character agree? (Why?)
WANTS
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