Do you write the characters or let them write themselves?

[TotallyHuman]

Important characters I know so well I filled several document pages with their details.
Unimportant characters get at most several sentences

 

[Not_A_Symphony]

Do you have a specific written character sheet for each of your characters with every detail about them listed? or rather, do you decide on a character type and background but leave the rest up to how they act in certain situation and discussions in order to decide on their personality? I usually do the later as it allows more freedom and makes them less of a cardboard cutout of a personality. However, this is just my opinion. I've talked to a couple of writers that swear by the first way. what do you all think?

Well, I personally let the characters flow however, as the story goes forward I always have a Word document with important information, especially if you have lots of characters in the story. Usually, that document has physical information, some psychological information regarding personality and certain actions that the character did as the story went by. This is a great way to keep track of small mistakes (like stating on the first chapter that a secondary character has blue eyes and in the 20th you say she has green eyes, and so on)!

 

[MarekSusicky]

This is something that always bugged me, but I can't explain why I can't stick to the outline. So the idea of character sheet scares me!

My characters live in a parallel universe and only I have a window leading there in my head and I'm sort of god who can change anything but my characters. So I, as a writer, only describe what I see and sometimes I send disasters at my them and watch how they deal with it.

There is always a rich history behind any character, even the side ones - I can't help it and it sadly slows me down.

Important characters I know so well I filled several document pages with their details.

Wut? But you won't actually do that, right? It sounds so scary to write anything else than the story!

 

[UnfetteredCloud]

I just usually write the story first then keep the analysis of the character to keep it consistent. I kept an analysis log of the plot and character. Well, I start as the latter I guess.

 

[Wintertime]

I usually have an idea about the motivations and tone of my character, but don't really focus too much on character sheets. The story builds itself as you kind of put yourselves into their shoes, so I try to imagine two scenarios with them that accentuate their character, and then I build my dialogue with those in mind (sort of as a backdrop or prologue to them).

 

[gaylolis]

i make the main character like a self-insert while the rest just did whatever they want.

or i write the main character like i'm playing them in a game. in a way, i never like to plan things in detail since it bores me a lot. the least i can do is to know the general direction so i can keep having fun.

 

[TotallyHuman]

Wut? But you won't actually do that, right? It sounds so scary to write anything else than the story!

I don't like to just shelf stories (though I seem to do it a lot or have the story update at the speed of a snail who was driven over by a truck), so I generally let the concept ferment in my mind for a while (the longest was 2 years), and occasionally write settings down.

 

[morhamza]

I fall in the latter camp. I come up with plots and everything, but I just let the characters do their thing. I didn't even know I had gay characters in my story until I wrote the last chapter I put up.
It can be quite annoying, cause sometimes I get boxed into spaces I would rather not be in, and sometimes their actions screw up my plot and then I have to change the plot to match. It can be tedious. I'll probably plan the next story better.