Most of us develop characters to fit into existing storylines. This time, I decided to flip that process by building character profiles first, then letting storylines grow organically from them. I started with a basic character profile. From there, I expanded the genealogy to establish connections between characters and uncover potential conflicts or themes.
Here’s an example:
Janice Sicort: Female (Widow, Dean Sicort)
Age: 53
Career: Public School Cafeteria Worker
Children: 5 - Rebecca(30), Susan(27), Debbie(22), Russell(22), Stephen(18)
Grandchildren: 8
Likes: Quiet, thoughtful children, cold applesauce, hot coffee, and cool swimming pools
Dislikes: Chaotic, argumentative children, talking politics, kombucha
Goal: Retire with enough money and health to see the 48 connected states
Issue: Not enough saving to retire, a heart murmur, and Stephen is not speaking to her.
From here, I expand the genealogy so that I know where everyone fits into Janice’s storyline.
It would look something like this:
Janice Sicort -M- Dean Sicort (Deceased)
Rebecca Sicort = Rebecca Nolan -M- Andrew Nolan
Children: Nicole Sicort (15), Jeffery Nolan (10), Sylvia Nolan (4)
Susan Sicort = Susan Denham -M- Michael Denham
Children: Jackson Denham (9), Ian Denham (7), Joshua Denham (5), Brayden Denham (2)
Debbie Sicort:
Children: Christof Sicort (4 months)
Russel Sicort:
Children: None
Stephen Sicort:
Children: None
I continued the exercise by developing profiles for each of Janice’s children and grandchildren. For example, here’s just Rebecca’s side of the family:
Rebecca Sicort: Female
Age: 30
Career: Tax Accountant
Children: 3 - Nicole(15), Jeffery(10), Sylvia(4)
Grandchildren: None
Likes: Raspberry poptarts, reading epic fantasy novels before bed, and fishing
Dislikes: Rude people, long waiting room times, and traffic
Goal: Get Sylvia set up in a long-term facility that will see to her needs after Andrew and she passes away (Sylvia is a non-verbal autistic).
Issue: Most of her time is consumed or built around Sylvia’s needs. Andrew and she argue, quite a bit lately, over this issue. Nicole has decided to become sexually active.
Nicole Nolan: Female
Age: 15
Career: McDonalds, PT
Children: none
Grandchildren: none
Likes: David (16), hanging out at malls, roller skating, the beach
Dislikes: Being mothered, chocolate pie, pink colored clothes
Goal: Her current goal is to attend prom with David, whom she intends to sleep with very soon.
Issue: Mother hates David, she is about to flunk chemistry, and Sylvia gets all the attention.
Jeffery Nolan: Male
Age: 10
Career: Grade 5
Children: none
Grandchildren: none
Likes: Call of Duty, Fortnite, Dirt bikes, reading epic fantasy novels
Dislikes: Among Us, Math class, The Walking Dead, Jimmy Delaney (11, bully)
Goal: Win a Fortnite competition to win $1,000 to buy a better Xbox and controller with VR capabilities
Issue: Dad says he plays too many games and forces him outside for 2 hours every day of the week and 4 hours on Saturday and Sunday. Also, Dad forces him to play catch and go for walks during this time. Flunked math class, will have to tell Dad about summer school soon.
Sylvia Nolan: Female
Age: 4
Career: none
Children: none
Grandchildren: none
Likes: Stickers, quiet spaces, humming hymnals from church
Dislikes: Noise, being touched, long walks, stairs
Goal: unknown
Issue: Non-verbal autism, where to spend the rest of her life once mom and dad are gone.
This small sample of a character profile with genealogy exercise immediately generates several story ideas. Just Rebecca’s side of the family alone offers at least three storylines at a glance, and with a little thought, even more.
I cut off the profile at people who were not listed in Janice’s original profile. Without a limit, technically, the genealogy could go on forever. Continuing with the entire family of children and grandchildren offers other characters you could flesh out or ignore at your whim. This also allows you to see each family member’s unique issues and interactions with other family members.
For me, it allowed me to consider how any given character might react in a situation. Knowing that Rebecca has an autistic daughter that takes up a majority of her thoughts, a teen daughter who terrifies her because they’re so alike, and a ten-year-old who is addicted to video games can help me understand how she would react when in a situation with her younger sister Debbie while she complains about being a single mother of a perfectly “normal” child. (Yes, I am aware that calling one child “normal” over another is not correct, nor polite. However, as a creator, I have to acknowledge that, whether we admit it or not, many of us have these thoughts and they do impact how we react in these situations.)
Hopefully, this method helps you get out of a rut or adds new dimensions to your storytelling. It’s a versatile approach that can be applied to any genre or style. Let your characters guide you, and see where they take your story.
-Gloria
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Hey Gloria Salazar character profiles are always a great exercise to help shape what you're working with. It's funny though, sometimes I know exactly who characters are in my stories going in. Other times I discover who they are as I'm writing them. Like in my latest script I had a character who I knew two things about - he was rich and a mogul. As I wrote, he morphed into a British investment banking mogul furtively on a fact-finding mission to work on a corporate takeover related to the plot. It's always a thrill ride to discover more about a character when you're in the midst of writing them!
That's a great method, Gloria Salazar! I've used it for scripts, especially when I come up with an interesting/exciting/unique character. I come up with a character's hobbies and daily routine, but I haven't done Likes and Dislikes before. Thanks for the idea!
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Another approach, which I haven't tried yet myself, is Rod Serling's. He'd start with theme then create characters whose views regarding that theme clashed. So theme, then characters, then plot.
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Eric Christopherson I never considered that approach. I'll have to give it a try, see how it works for me. Thanks.
-Gloria
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Pat Alexander I understand what you are talking about. Many of my characters have started as Ryan and ended as Rebecca. It sounds strange, but sometimes a story begins to transform, and the character does not fit the narrative any longer. I've also had dishwashers who ended up as managers because it fit their personality better, or vice versa.
Once, I wrote a short story about a young man named Eric. Eric discovered a hidden door in his school, and upon entering, he discovered a brand-new school. The door was an interplanetary transport portal. The portal was set up by aliens who believed the best way to introduce themselves to humanity was through their young. Those finding the portals would be offered a place in the intergalactic school. I started editing the story, and by the time I was finished, Eric had become a history teacher who had been recruited to hand-pick bright students from various schools to attend this new school. He was no longer the protagonist but the mentor character. When I started the story I had no idea Eric would change so much.
-Gloria