The Ultimate Character Design Template

Character creation is the process of designing and developing a fictional persona by defining their appearance, background, personality, and motivations. For written characters, it involves building a backstory and an internal arc.

Character creation is one of my favorite parts in the novel planning process...okay...I admit it. I love every part of the process! This is the time where we get to meet our protagonist, the main character! What do they like or dislike? Do they have any special abilities or unique character traits? And we also get to meet our antagonist, our villain of the story. Are they evil or just misunderstood. Along with our protagonist and antagonist come our side characters. Are they friends, family, romantic interests, or mentors? There are so many ways to go.

With this, remember that your cast of characters must work together to tell this story. Will their personalities match or clash? Think about how you can create characters that bring out the best and worst of each other. Consider how their interactions with each other can grow, tear down, and ultimately lead to your character’s desired end.

The more I write, the more intimate this process becomes to me. These are the people you will be spending hours with as you write this book. You will get to know their thought processes. You have to become a sort of psychologist, always asking, what would they do in this situation? Does this decision I want them to make align with their current characterization? And eventually, as you write, you will take on this character. You will speak for them, decide for them, and tell the story through them. And ultimately, you will determine what ending they receive! Like world building, you may not have all the pieces right now, but that’s okay! You can always add and change your characters as you get to know them through writing.

This template has space for you to brainstorm your protagonist, antagonist, and side character’s physical and mental details, as well as outline their backstory and create an inspiration board for them.

Click the button below to download your character design template!