Introduction
When it comes to crafting powerful stories, few elements are as crucial as the characters that drive them. Whether you’re drafting a novel, screenplay or play, your characters are the lifeblood of the narrative.
The question is, how do you make sure they’re relatable, believable and memorable?
The answer is character profiles! Depth of character is extremely important in any story, and not just for the audience. In filmmaking, actors are keen to know everything about their character so they can portray them in the most authentic way possible.
I consider it my responsibility to explore every part of a character I play—the darkest, most vulnerable places, and all the cover-ups that make them who they appear to be to the rest of the world—isn’t that what we all do anyway? Including the parts and questions the characters themselves have no answers to yet.
– Romina D’Ugo
Read actress Romina’s full interview with Pop Culturalist here.
Meanwhile, in today’s article, we’ll explore what a character profile is and its importance in creating not simply good, but great characters. Later, we’ll also dive into how you can use profiles in your scriptwriting process and how we at Celtx can help along the way.
What is a Character Profile?
Character profiles are more than just a simple character sketch, but a detailed description of a character including basic information and deeper insights into their personality, history, goals and motivations.
By exploring both our characters’ internal and external traits, we can guide ourselves through their decisions, actions and growth within the story.
The purpose – to provide us with a clear, structured outline of our characters’ attributes to help us stay consistent with how we portray them at different points in the story.
Character profiles have a wealth of benefits for us as writers. They allow us to create well-rounded characters with depth and authenticity, keep consistency in how they come across, help us to understand how their past influences their present, and explore their motivations and conflicts to drive their character arcs.
But the principal point of a character profile is its ability to delve beyond a character’s surface. We’re encouraged to consider not only what characters do but why they do it. Possessing a deeper understanding leads to character who feel more relatable.
Your characters deserve depth. Start writing with Celtx today.
For example, one of our characters may have a goal to forge a successful career but their backstory reveals childhood trauma that influences their behavior and decisions along the way. By having a clear idea of a character’s past, we can constantly refer to it as we write, ensuring that their decisions and actions are informed by it.
Once we have a comprehensive view of who our characters are through their profile, we can also avoid creating clichéd characters who the audience cannot connect with. An audience must be able to relate to your characters, especially the protagonist.
Key Elements of a Character Profile
The detail included in a character profile can vary from writer to writer, but there are a few key elements that you should always include. This is to ensure you build a believable, consistent and well-developed character.
Basic Stats
First, we need to set up the basics. These details are the starting point for deeper exploration into our character.
Our character’s name will of course be top of our list. It isn’t just an identifier but reflects important aspects of their personality or cultural background.
Next, we need to consider their age as this will influence how they perceive and react to the world and situations around them. Someone who’s more mature in years will react very differently to a young child.
Now, appearance is an interesting factor as it can play a significant role in how our character is perceived by others and how they see themselves in the world. Note any distinctive features. Remember, when it comes to writing your screenplay, don’t just list off a character’s physical appearance when you first introduce them. Focus on who they are!
We also need to think about our character’s occupation and what their job reveals about their skills, interests and social status. Speaking of which, we also need to know where our character comes from and details on their upbringing!
Personality Traits, Quirks, and Backstory
Now we’ve covered the basics, it’s time to go deeper into our character’s personality. Don’t be afraid to go into specifics here, as we want to create a nuanced and interesting character!
Here are some great questions to consider when we start to build our character’s personality traits:
- Are they optimistic or cynical?
- Are they outgoing or introverted?
- Are they impulsive or methodical?
Personalities aren’t always this black and white and can be anywhere along a scale so feel free to experiment with these ideas. By understanding these traits and how our character presents them, we have more of a guide as to how they will react in various scenarios.
Next, we need to think about our character’s small behaviors or eccentricities that make them unique:
- Do they tap their fingers when they’re nervous?
- Do they laugh at inappropriate moments?
- Do they put their hands on their hips in a tense situation?
Whatever the quirk is it can help bring a character to life even more.
As audiences, we only see a small chunk of a character’s story; there’s always a wealth of information before and after we meet them. A character’s history/backstory shapes who they are when we join them on usually a short part of their journey, so as writers, we need to have context to understand why they act the way they do.
- What key events from their past shaped their worldview?
- Are there any formative experiences that influence their present choices?
- Is there anything from their past that they’re trying to reconcile on their journey?
Goals, Motivations, and Conflicts
Finally, let’s consider the main thread of the story and our character’s goals, motivations and conflicts. These are what drive their decisions and actions, the key to a character-driven story.
In short, when we think about a character’s goals, we’re looking at what they want. Their goal could be external (wealth, success, love) or internal (self-acceptance, forgiveness, overcome a fear).
Once we’ve established a character’s goal, we must understand why they want it. What drives them to achieve that goal? Whatever it is, the motivation could stem from deep desire, fears, or unmet needs (here is where their backstory is crucial!)
Of course, as they strive for their goal, our character will come across obstacles along the way. What conflicts will try and prevent them from succeeding? These could be internal (emotional struggles, moral dilemmas) or external (antagonists, circumstances).
For help and top tips on creating meaningful conflict in your next screenplay, check out our blog all about internal and external conflict!
Or, for even more screenwriter insight into the importance of character depth and how it informs narratives, check out this interview from Script Mag with screenwriter Diablo Cody, best known for Juno (2007) and her novel Candy Girl: A Year in the Life of an Unlikely Stripper (2005)
Consistency is key. Use Celtx to keep track of your character arcs and details.
Examples of Iconic Character Profiles
Let’s look at some character profiles in practice, with some of the most well-known characters from film, TV and fiction. Both these characters show how a character profile can make them more compelling and memorable.
Walter White – Breaking Bad
Basic Stats
Name Walter White
Age 50
Appearance Typical teacher/dad dress sense. Unassuming.
Personality Traits
Begins as a mild-mannered and sympathetic man who gradually becomes more ruthless, power-hungry and manipulative. He’s intelligent, calculating and self-righteous.
Back Story
After years as a mildly successful but dreary high school chemistry teacher, Walter’s journey begins with a terminal cancer diagnosis, forcing him to confront his inability to financially provide for his family. He’s driven to take drastic action.
Goals and Motivations
At the start of his story, Walter’s goal is to secure his family’s financial future after he dies. But his motivations shift as he becomes addicted to the power and wealth he’s amassed from his unexpectedly lucrative drug empire.
Conflicts
Walter’s internal conflict is deeply rooted in his moral deterioration throughout the seasons. On the outside, he faces opposition from law enforcement, rival drug dealers and his own family who have no idea about his illegal pursuits.
Elizabeth Bennet – Pride and Prejudice
Basic Stats
Name Elizabeth Bennet
Age 20
Appearance Modest.
Personality Traits
Elizabeth is witty, intelligent and headstrong and can be judgmental at times, especially earlier on in the novel.
Back Story
One of five sisters, Elizabeth grew up in a family where marriage prospects are at the forefront of everyone’s agenda. Her father is a little detached while her mother obsesses over successfully marrying each of her daughters off.
Goals and Motivations
While her mother is keen to marry her off, Elizabeth is keen to marry for love, and love only, rather than for convenience or wealth. Throughout the novel she strives for her own independence and values her intelligence above anything else.
Conflicts
When she meets Mr. Darcy, Elizabeth begins to struggle with her feelings towards him, initially finding him arrogant and prideful. She’s forced to confront her usually judgmental nature and reassess how she sees others.
Of course, these are just examples, and there’s scope to go into a lot more detail for each of these. Feel free to write as much as you need to for your own characters. It should be thorough enough to guide your character’s actions and decisions. Other than that, you’re free as a bird to do what you feel best to inform your work – they are your characters and it is your story, after all!
How to Create a Character Profile
Sometimes it can be tricky to know where to start but creating a character profile needn’t be as complicated as you may think.
Celtx’s comprehensive suite of tools allows you to create your characters easily and automatically integrate them into your script. Say goodbye to multiple documents saved all over your computer hard drive and hello to everything accessible and all in one place!
Here is our step-by-step guide on how to create characters using Celtx. We’re going to use our script ‘The Beach’ as an example:
First, select the project you wish to work on from the Celtx dashboard.
Once your chosen project is open, select Catalog from the left-hand menu.
This will open your catalog and all the elements in your script. To create a new character, click on the + symbol just under the main menu.
A New Item window will pop up. Write your character’s name in the top box and use the Category menu to select Character. For this example, we’ll call our character Eva.
Click the OK button.
And they’ll be added to our catalog of elements. You’ll see Eva is the third character we’ve added, alongside James and the shadowy figure.
Now we’ve added Eva to our character list, we can begin building her profile. To start, click on her name. A new window will appear for you to enter all the information you need.
Begin by writing a brief description or overview of who your character is.
Continue scrolling down to find the Physical Description where you’ll be able to fill in everything about your character’s appearance.
Think of the thousands of strangers you see on the street. Most of the time, we’ll get a first impression just from a split second of looking at them. Consider your character as one of these strangers. What would stand out?
Once you’ve done this, you can move onto the next section: Character Traits. List your character’s personality traits. Are they brave, or shy, or loyal? What kind of impression would they make if you met them for the very first time?
What is the one thing your character wants most in the world? Why do they want it? What will they sacrifice to achieve it?
Finally, in the Character Background section, consider your character’s history and what they were like as a child. What key events shaped them into who they are today? How does their past influence their present choices?In the Vices and Virtues box, consider what internal and external conflicts will drive your character’s development. How will these conflicts present themselves as challenges for your character and how will they influence their decisions and actions?
You’ll notice we’ve left this last section blank. This is where you come in! Celtx challenges you to complete Eva’s character and write your own take on her background and sources of conflict!
Share your ideas on social media and make sure to tag us!
So how does Celtx’s character profiles help with keeping your story cohesive? Well, with all your character details in Celtx before you start writing your script, you can easily reference them at any time, and at any point in your production process.
Conclusion
Character profiles are essential for creating well-rounded, consistent characters. They help us explore a character’s backstory, personality, motivations, and conflicts, ensuring authenticity and depth.
It can be easy to lose sight of the overall vision of your story, but with everything in one place, you can streamline your creativity and ensure your script is the best it can possibly be! Begin your Celtx journey here!
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