Knowing Your Character's P.P.F

[Addison]

Just for clarification, the thread title ends in P.P.F, as in an acronym, not an attempted spelling of that annoying spittle-like sound your kid siblings make when they stick their tongue out at you and blow. I actually don't know how to spell that sound.

P.P.F stands for Past, Present and Future. I used this approach for all of my characters, from the side characters to the antagonist and the minions. It really helped.

Basically you're writing out a synopsis for the character's entire life. From their Past (everything BEFORE the story starts) the Present, which involves every book if you're writing a series, and their Future after the story ends. If the character dies then perhaps their afterlife existence or their rebirth. Writing it all down, figuring out where your character was, is, and is going, can help you iron out the wrinkles, fill in the details and help you discover layers of your character and the story.

Seriously, I'm not even done with my main characters and I've already found the full plot for the story sequel, found quirks to help others stand out and found footing for future sequels. So just open a .doc, or find fresh papers and a pen, put "(Character Name)'s P.P.F" at the top and below it type "Past", write, and continue through the Present and Future.

Happy Writing!

 

[spectre]

I've done similar outlining, but focusing on the present but I need some fuel so I'll give this a try.

 

[Queshire]

See, with something like that I'd be worried about a writer putting so much effort into it that it just ends up being procrastination. It'd be important to know for yourself how much thought you can put into something like that without it negatively affecting your efficiency. For me, my ideal that I would aim at would be one paragraph for each category. Basically I would aim to make guideposts rather than a map.

 

[Heliotrope]

I do this a little bit, but I don't get too worked up about it. I know some people have full character files with everything from where they were born to what they like in thier hot dog, but I find that bogs me down. I usually make it up as I go along and suprise myself along the way with stuff I would never have thought of if I had tried to sit down to do it. I also find I don't really know my characters until they start moving around on the page. I have to give them something to do first, then I can learn about who they are and where they came from and where they are going.

 

[DragonOfTheAerie]

Just for clarification, the thread title ends in P.P.F, as in an acronym, not an attempted spelling of that annoying spittle-like sound your kid siblings make when they stick their tongue out at you and blow. I actually don't know how to spell that sound.

P.P.F stands for Past, Present and Future. I used this approach for all of my characters, from the side characters to the antagonist and the minions. It really helped.

Basically you're writing out a synopsis for the character's entire life. From their Past (everything BEFORE the story starts) the Present, which involves every book if you're writing a series, and their Future after the story ends. If the character dies then perhaps their afterlife existence or their rebirth. Writing it all down, figuring out where your character was, is, and is going, can help you iron out the wrinkles, fill in the details and help you discover layers of your character and the story.

Seriously, I'm not even done with my main characters and I've already found the full plot for the story sequel, found quirks to help others stand out and found footing for future sequels. So just open a .doc, or find fresh papers and a pen, put "(Character Name)'s P.P.F" at the top and below it type "Past", write, and continue through the Present and Future.

Happy Writing!

Knowing your character's past is a good idea, but i find it's best to let the character reveal it to you instead of trying to figure everything out at once. I interview my characters and ask them questions. Usually i don't find out much, but i get little glimpses of the things that shaped them. Coming up with my characters' entire history often becomes an overwhelming amount of information I can't keep up with and struggle to reconcile with who my character is now, so I develop what speaks to me.

That said, I know some of the past and foundational experiences of almost all of my characters. What shaped them--in many cases, what scarred them, broke them. I write POV sections from many characters' POV's (not to go in the book, just to learn)

I wouldn't like knowing their future at all though. I can't really know how it all ends until it does. I have a good idea of where it's going sometimes, but i can't know for sure.

 

[Addison]

I actually got this idea by borrowing a similar aspect but for a series, yet both applications have the same purpose. Allow me to explain.

In the original premise, which I forget where I read it, the idea was to write the ending paragraph or page (or if you're really picky chapter) of the last book in the series. This also works if you're writing a stand-alone book. You're basically writing the final future snippet of the series. That way you can work backwards and see how the story goes, what happens to get the story to that final place and the characters to their fate. Ooh! I still forget where I read this article but it was written by the author of the Nicolas Flammel series (you know the YA series) where he used this same premise for his series.

When I started this for my story I realized I could do the same thing for my characters. For each character under the heading of "Past" I wrote their background up to just before the story starts. (If they're not introduced until just before the first plot point then just before that moment). Under "Present" I write about everything that happens to them externally and internally in THIS story. If there is a series then the "Present" only focuses on the story at hand. Under "Future" I look way beyond the final paragraph of the final book. If the series takes place over five years I look ten years ahead. When the character tells me that in ten years they are a SWAT Captain then I get glimpses of events that lead to that career choice and such.

I hope this helps. Happy Writing.

 

[R.H. Smith]

Here's my interpretation of the process. I take it as if I were creating a char for a D&D game. You give them attributes, aspects, a short bio/backstory, gear and powers/abilities. I think having this to start out with, you will be surprised how the chars gain a life of their own, but you must let them breathe Don't constrain yourself to prodding the story along, let it flow naturally and organically. If your MC for example has a choice to make, I would get in their heads, taking into account all those details of his past, and ask what they would do in that situation, and let the ideas come forth. Hope this helps.

 

[Michael K. Eidson]

I have character sheets for each character that has any lasting significance in the story. These character sheets are living documents that I update as I find out more about each character. I use these character sheets when I edit the story (as I'm doing now for my WIP), to make sure that I'm being consistent with the character throughout the tale.

Then I also have a timeline document that lists out the dates of significant events in the past. These are events involving the characters or otherwise impacting the characters and lead up to the beginning of the story. Their births, the deaths of loved ones, other events that are mentioned in the story in conversations, etc. I keep these all in the same document rather than putting them in the separate character sheets, so that I can refer to the one document to see which things happened before or after other things.

Events in the present go into the character sheets if I feel the need to note something important.

I don't yet want to know the future for my characters beyond the end of the series. I feel that will bias me in a way I don't want.

 

[ChasingSuns]

I have character sheets for each character that has any lasting significance in the story. These character sheets are living documents that I update as I find out more about each character. I use these character sheets when I edit the story (as I'm doing now for my WIP), to make sure that I'm being consistent with the character throughout the tale.

Then I also have a timeline document that lists out the dates of significant events in the past. These are events involving the characters or otherwise impacting the characters and lead up to the beginning of the story. Their births, the deaths of loved ones, other events that are mentioned in the story in conversations, etc. I keep these all in the same document rather than putting them in the separate character sheets, so that I can refer to the one document to see which things happened before or after other things.

Events in the present go into the character sheets if I feel the need to note something important.

I don't yet want to know the future for my characters beyond the end of the series. I feel that will bias me in a way I don't want.

This is basically what I do. I have them for some minor characters as well, but they're much less detailed. I just use them to keep track of everyone that needs to be kept track of. I'll include important pieces of a character's past if it is something that gives them motivation or has made them into a certain person. I don't get too detailed though, because if I do then I will go down a rabbit hole and not write anything. That being said, they do get fairly detailed for the more central characters, simply because those are the ones that have the most going on in terms of plot and whatnot.

 

[Chessie]

Scrivener has this option where you can brainstorm information on your characters and put up a picture. I tried it for the first time with my recent novel and found it to be quite stimulating. Every character gets their own notecard, I put up a picture, their S.M.A.R.T. goals, relationships with other characters, and a bit about their personalities and how they change through the story. It helped me gain a clearer idea of them and now I used the same feature for my WIP. If any of you have Scrivener, check it out. (it's also fun going on Pinterest and finding pics of art or people that look like your characters)