Building a character is a complicated process. I don't know about other writers but I like using character sheets. My character sheets are an amalgamation of several others I've looked up on the internet. They have the usual information, like physical traits and personality, but it also has a lot of back history. Family connections, dreams, goals, disappointments, personal quirks and pet-peeves. Some things I write down never end up in my writing, but they can explain how my character will react in certain situations.
For example, Soran Folkern in my novel, The Beast of the Ruin.
Soran was a Prince of an old Kingdom, Folkerth. In his youth, he was darkly handsome, charming, but a dutiful son. The court loved him and especially the women there. Soran loved them in return, but he wasn't a playboy and the hearts he left behind were never broken, but sometimes a little too clingy. He was cursed by Zula Milberga, Odde's most dangerous Sorceress. The smell of pinroses, Zula's favorite perfume, still made Soran ill centuries after first seeing the Sorceress flaunt her beauty in his father's court.
The curse he'd born for over a century was taking it's toll on his humanity. His forced seclusion was both for his sanity and the safety of the women around him. A feminine presence was enough to stir the hunger of the curse, and so he avoided them like the plague and yet he couldn't live without them.
Zula had cursed him that night, under the full moon with the music of the summer dance drifting through the lit gardens, "Since you seem to love the paltry affections and infatuations these frivolous woman have for you, from this moment forward you will live off their love at the cost of their lives. A monster who consumes the very blood of their affectionate hearts. Any woman who looks on you will surely love you, and as soon as they admit that love, they will die in your arms." He remembered as she paused a moment for affect, "Since, my love was not enough, this seems a fitting punishment. But I'm not heartless, this curse will be broken when a woman can withstand your looks for a year and a day. I doubt there is a woman born in this world that wouldn't fall in love with you on sight." She laughed cruelly and left in a flash of red lightning. Soran often wondered if she knew what the magic she unleashed had done to him as the memory still haunted his dreams.
None of these facts appeared in the story, but hints are here and there about Soran's past.
I am always looking for ways to improve my characters and process. What attributes or other facts would you add to your character sheets?
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