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How Detailed Should Character Profiles Be?

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In this thread, I'm exploring the different details that go into creating well-rounded characters. I'm asking the community about how much detail to include in character profiles, such as birthdays, family background, personality traits, fears, and past experiences.
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    • jamesalery

    Your first time is always over so quickly, isn't it?
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    Mar 22, 2025
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    Hey everyone!

    I'm new to writing and working on developing my characters. I've read a lot of advice about, including things like birthdays, family background, hobbies, personality traits (like introvert vs extrovert), and even quirks or habits. But I'm not sure how much of this stuff is truly necessary to make a character feel real and well-rounded.

    Is it important to include things like favorite foods, fears, or experiences? Or should I focus on the more basic aspects like goals, motivations, and conflicts? Also, I've heard some people use random generators for things like birthdays, age, or names.for example this birthday generator for characters, Is that a useful approach or unnecessary?

    I'm really just trying to find a good balance. Do these extra details really strengthen a character, or can they be overdone? What's your approach when developing characters?

    Looking forward to hearing your thoughts and tips!

    Thanks!
     
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    • Look at a D&D Character Sheet, or the character sheet for other table top role playing games. That is the kind of information you need. What can they do? Why do they do it? What is preventing them from doing it? Things like Birthdays and Favorite Foods are extra information that is useful for making smalltalk or timeline stuff, but not for the character itself.

    You do, however, need to have some backstory for a character. It isn't great to have someone just plopped down into the world, unless the story you are writing is explicitly "This guy came into existence and was plopped down into the world". What kind of upbringing did they have? Were they rich or poor? Did they have a good connection with their parents or were they raised by nannies/droids/neighbors/the local priest? Did whatever powers they may or may not have impact how they were viewed by their family, or by their community? Are they highly educated, or do they just know what was taught to them by their parents?

    The big thing, IMO, is that you start with the broad strokes and can expand it later, but for everything you expand you HAVE TO WRITE IT DOWN. The only thing worse than not having a bit of information when it becomes relevant, is giving contradictory information.
     
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    Jordisk said:
    Look at a D&D Character Sheet, or the character sheet for other table top role playing games. That is the kind of information you need. What can they do? Why do they do it? What is preventing them from doing it? Things like Birthdays and Favorite Foods are extra information that is useful for making smalltalk or timeline stuff, but not for the character itself.

    You do, however, need to have some backstory for a character. It isn't great to have someone just plopped down into the world, unless the story you are writing is explicitly "This guy came into existence and was plopped down into the world". What kind of upbringing did they have? Were they rich or poor? Did they have a good connection with their parents or were they raised by nannies/droids/neighbors/the local priest? Did whatever powers they may or may not have impact how they were viewed by their family, or by their community? Are they highly educated, or do they just know what was taught to them by their parents?

    The big thing, IMO, is that you start with the broad strokes and can expand it later, but for everything you expand you HAVE TO WRITE IT DOWN. The only thing worse than not having a bit of information when it becomes relevant, is giving contradictory information.
    Click to expand...
    Click to shrink...
    Thank you so much for this great reply, it was really helpful.
     
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