Character Worksheet – Chart

So a while back I talked about doing the thing I always poo-pooed: Work through a character worksheet. I only did it because doing the things that Cheryl Klein says (in terms of editing — probably in other areas of life too, but I don’t know her that way) make So. Much. Sense. Her talks are wonderful, and her book, Second Sight, has changed the way I approach and edit my writing. Buy it.

I’ve noodling around with a new book concept as I polish the current draft of my work-in-progress. And this time I’m going to start with character notes before I start drafting. So weird for me. But, I’m excited! Instead of paging through Cheryl’s book over and over, I created a small chart that I can tape in front of my writing notes. Or, it can also be pulled up as a word document.

Here it is if you’d like to use it in chart form. Now, if you haven’t read her book, don’t be dumb and try to use this chart without doing so. This is a mere skeleton to use when applying her ideas to your writing. And, each one of these boxes may take up to a few pages in your writing notebook. Click the image to open it in a separate window. Anyway, hope it helps!