This week’s writing prompt is, How I work up Character/Setting Profiles.
Honestly, I’m not sure what this question is asking. I’ve never done this. I mean, I do put a lot of thought into characters, but they really get fleshed out as I’m writing. I don’t do in-depth character or profile settings. If anyone knows what that is, let me know.
The nearest comparison I can think of is the outlining method in Take Off Your Pants by Libbie Hawker. I’ve always been a “pantser” – an author who just sits at the computer and types “by the seat of her pants.” But after a friend asked me to help her write a novel based on an outline she wrote, I was shocked at how fast I was able to complete the book. So I started experimenting with outlining and trying different systems. I recently was able to outline a book in an hour and then write it in 10 days thanks to Hawker’s Take Off Your Pants method. Part of her method does involve figuring out your character’s goals and motivations, but it still isn’t so detailed I would call it a “profile.”
If you are interested in moving from “pantsing” to “plotting,” definitely check out Hawker’s book.
What about you? Do you create detailed character profiles? Let me know in the comments.
This post is part of the 2018 MFRW Weekly Blog Post Challenge. You can read all my posts in the challenge for 2018 here.