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Meara

I'm working on the characterization of a new fantasy novel. It was suggested that it might be fun to post the characterization sheets that I do for my books. So here goes, this is a partial for the heroine Meara. At this point I have not decided on a last name. This is a work in progress. I will update this as I work on my story.

Character Chart

CHARACTER CHARTDate this chart was completed:

Character's Full Name: Meara
Reason or meaning of name:Happy
Nickname:  Mer                                  Reason for nickname: Just shortened form One syllable
Birth date: April 30
Astrological Sign: Taurus

PHYSICAL APPEARANCE:

Age:  24                                            How old does s/he appear?
Eye Color:   brown                                     Glasses or contacts: glasses for reading
Weight:  125                                         Height: 5' 7"
Type of body/build: slender
Skin tone:  pale                                      Skin type:
Shape of face:  oval                                  Distinguishing Marks:
Predominant feature: eyes
Hair color: blond/amber
   Distinguishable hair feature (bald,
   receding hairline, etc.): widows peak
Type of hair (coarse, fine, thick, etc?) thick
Character's typical hairstyle: pony tale
Looks like:
Is s/he healthy?
    If not, why not:
Physical disabilities:

FAVORITES:

Character's favorite color: yellow
Character's least favorite color: brown
     Why?
Favorite Music: country
Least favorite Music: hip hop
     Why?
Food: prawns on rice
Literature: old classics
Expressions: You don't understand
Expletives: crap
Mode of transportation: motorcycle
    Daredevil or cautious? cautious
    Same when alone?

HABITS:

Smokes:   Nope                                        What?
    When and how much?
Drinks:                                           What? red wine
    When and how much?
Hobbies: drawing
How does character spend a rainy day? reading/drinking hot chocolate

BACKGROUND:

Hometown: Small suburb outside LA
Type of childhood: well loved/normal until both parents vanished when she was 16.
First memory: going to grandparents house and watching the birds
Most important childhood event that still affects him/her: Parent's disappearance
    Why?
Education: high school drop out/ self taught
Religion: questioning
Finances: none to speak of/no money

FAMILY:

Mother:
    Relationship with her: best friend--only one who understood her
Father:
    Relationship with him: close--sports together--
Siblings:
    How many?   none                                 Birth order:
Relationship with each:
    Children of siblings:
Extended family?
    Close?  everyone is gone                                     Why or why not?

OCCUPATION

Where does Character work? computer hacker For how long?         
How does s/he feel about co-workers?    Get along with co-workers?
Like his/her job? loves job except when videos of serial killers come through Why or why not?

Character's dream job: she has it

ATTITUDE:

Character's greatest fear: losing a member of her team
    Why?
What is the worst thing that could happen to him/her? make a mistake that could cost a life
What single event would most throw character's life in complete turmoil?
    Why? falling in love
Character is most at ease when: in front of the computer
Most ill at ease when: at parties and forced to socialize
Depressive or SAD (Seasonal Affective Disorder)?
Priorities: her team
Philosophy:
How s/he feels about self: doesn't really think about self--others come first--unworthy
Past failure s/he would be embarrassed to have people know about:
    Why? her illegal adventures hacking government sights--eventually caught
If granted one wish, what would it be? Why? Her parents come back

PERSONALITY:

Greatest source of strength in character's personality (whether s/he sees it as
such or not):perseverance--problem solver
Greatest source of weakness in character's personality (whether s/he sees it as
such or not: unable to quit
Character's soft spot: babies
    Is this soft spot obvious to others? no
    If not, how does character hide it? she is rarely around babies
Biggest vulnerability: envy
Which of the 7 deadly sins does your character fight (or give into, willingly or not)?
       (lust, gluttony, greed, sloth, wrath, envy, pride) envy
Which of the 7 virtues does your character have (or fight against)?
(chastity, abstinence, liberality, diligence, patience, kindness, humility) patience

TRAITS:

Optimist or pessimist: pessimist                           Why? because of her parents loss
Introvert or extrovert:  introvert                         Why?
Drives and motivations:
Talents:
Extremely skilled at: logic
Extremely unskilled at: creativity
Good characteristics:
Character flaws:
Mannerisms:
Peculiarities:
Biggest regret:
Minor regrets:
Biggest accomplishment:
Minor accomplishments:
Character's darkest secret:
    Does anyone else know?
    If yes, did character tell them?
    If no, how did they find out?

SELF-PERCEPTION:

One word CHARACTER would use to describe self:
One paragraph description of how CHARACTER would describe self:
What does CHARACTER consider best physical characteristic?
What does CHARACTER consider worst physical characteristic?
    Are these realistic assessments?
    If not, why not?
How CHARACTER thinks others perceive him/her:
What four things would CHARACTER most like to change about self?  (#1 most
important, #2 second most important, etc.)
    1.
    2.
    3.
    4.
    Why?
If change #1 was made, would character be as happy as s/he thinks?
    If not, why not?

INTERRELATION WITH OTHERS:

Is character divorced?
Has character ever cheated on significant other?
How does character relate to others?
How is s/he perceived by...
    Strangers?
    Friends?
    Wife/Husband/Lover?
    Hero/Heroine?
How does character view hero/heroine?
    First impression:                            Why?
    What happens to change this perception?
What do family/friends like most about character?
What do family/friends like least about character?

GOALS:

Immediate goals:
Long-range goals:
    How does character plan to accomplish these goals?
    How will other characters be affected?

PROBLEMS/CRISIS:

How character reacts in a crisis:
How character faces problems:
Kinds of problems character usually runs into:
How character reacts to NEW problems:
How character reacts to change:

GENERAL:

Favorite clothing:                                Why?
Least favorite clothing:                          Why?
Jewelry:
    Other accessories:
Drives:
Where does character live?
Where does character want to live?
Spending habits (frugal, spendthrift, etc):       Why?
What does s/he do too much of?
    Too little of?
Most prized possession:                           Why?
Play musical instrument?   Which?
  How did s/he learn?

UNCATEGORIZED:

Person character secretly admires:
    Why?
Person character was most influenced by:
    Why?
Most important person in character's life before story starts:
    Why?
How does character spend the week before the story starts?