Comments on: Conversations With Your Characters: On Building The Character Bible

By: Conversations With Your Characters: On Building The Character Bible « Behind the Teacher's Desk

Tue, 28 Feb 2012 18:50:30 +0000

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By: Gloria Oliver

Gloria Oliver — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 17:29:30 +0000

Great post!

And agree with other sentiments. You can get as detailed as you want with the bible, but most of that should never end up in the story. It’s to biuld our building. Most of the info won’t have a place in the story itself.

By: John the Great

John the Great — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 16:14:28 +0000

I think Dan’s mind has been taken over by this character. The only way to escape is to transfer her over to Chuck so she can torment him!

As for the advice: Thanks guys. For my current novel I have every character with their own 1-2 page drafts that read like dating profiles because somehow it helps bring the characters to life. I have their likes, dislikes, and what they want to do (as well as personnel files and psych evaluations.)

By: Chuck

Chuck — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 13:32:58 +0000

Dan –

She is the god of your bible.

Thou shalt please her is thine only commandment.

– c.

By: Dan O'Shea

Dan O'Shea — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 03:23:27 +0000

I got this sociopath character who won’t let me kill her. I mean I’ve draft-offed her three times. Everytime, I go to sleep, she visits me in my dreams, and negotiates some new, irresistable plot angle that keeps her alive — usually via the death of some other character. She’s scaring me a little. Got some kind of character bible exorcisim thing maybe?

By: Chuck

Chuck — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 02:53:25 +0000

What Rick said — the shotgun spray of details in the bible isn’t necessarily meant to comprise 100% directly useful information. It’s meant instead to allow you to get inside the character’s skin so when the time comes in the story to have that character say or do something, that choice will feel natural to you — you’re simply having a conversation with an old friend rather than try to predict what an unknown person might say.

– c.

By: Scionical

Scionical — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 02:13:38 +0000

You probably aren’t, to be perfectly honest. The idea is to make the character more real to you, so that when you right about them, you have all those past experiences and all their likes/dislikes and what not firmly in mind when you try to portray them through your work.

Also, as your writing this stuff out, more often than not your characters will talk you into new plots that you didn’t even see yet.

By: John the Great

John the Great — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 00:09:39 +0000

My question is how do you know if you’re going to use the small details you jot down? As in, “This character has an absolute hatred of dolls because his sister used to torment him with them when they grew up.” If it is only mentioned in passing in the story, would it need to be elaborated in the character bible?

By: Will Hindmarch

Will Hindmarch — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 21:22:02 +0000

I need to do this for my current novel, right away. I cannot crack the main character, for some reason.

By: Chuck

Chuck — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 15:43:30 +0000

Paul:

You make a beautiful Mary Beth.

– c.