CHARACTER PROFILES
I'm writing a new fantasy novel titled Cave of Dreams. In sequence, it comes after Beatrice, but it is being written so that you can read it without having read the first book. They have many of the same characters with some new ones added in Cave of Dreams.
It seems the more I write, the more I attempt to give each of my characters their own very unique personality and characteristics. In order to accomplish that in a more organized fashion, I've recently taken to listing each of their attributes before I begin writing about them in the novel. I can remember them better that way, and I can also make sure that each of them is truly an individual. It's a technique that I'm finding quite helpful, as I seem to refer back to each character's profile often and even add to it as I write.
To give you an example, I'm going to show you one of the profiles that I created for a new character in Cave of Dreams. I've taken the list of attributes for him directly from my working notes for the book and listed them below. The list does not contain all of his characteristics because some of them would tell you too much about the novel. There are enough, though, for you to get a sense of what I'm doing.
One other technique that I found useful in developing this particular character was that I did an image search on the internet for a person that would fit his general description. And in so doing, he actually ended up being a compilation of my imagination as well as several of the pictures that I viewed during the search.
In relation to his name, it is completely fictitious, derived from a Scottish name search that I did.
Dr. Willam Hamilton Brodie or Wellyn (his Druid name)
- Professor of Celtic and Scottish Studies at Edinburgh University
- Avocation is as a Druid healer mostly during the summer months
- In that capacity, his name is Wellyn
- 59 years old
- 5' 10"
- White shoulder length hair parted in the middle of his head
- Ruddy, outdoors complexion
- Gray eyes
- Summer clothes
- T-shirt and blue jeans
- Leather loafers
- Dress as Druid healer
- Brown, hooded ankle-length robe
- Tattoos on arms and one shoulder
- Fit but slight paunch - likes Scottish ale
- Strong arms like his ancestor, Erin
- Serious student of
- Celtic and Druid history
- Sacred Druid sites in Scotland
- Druid healing techniques and customs
- Knows of the Baumans and the new Center on their estate
- Direct descendant of famous Druid Prophet, Erin
- Drives a white and brown 2-door Cooper
