A Template for Creating Quirky Characters

As a student and teacher of writing and a writer of over six novels, I can say I have been through the gauntlet of character creation. It’s not easy creating believable characters who are quirky enough to keep a reader interested.

I’ve spent over 20 years in college, as a teaching professional, and as a writer studying characterization and after some thoughtful consideration I have decided to boil down all that experience into a working template that I use when creating characters for my current projects. I find this template easy to follow, a way to touch all the bases of character creation, and something that can be used for heroes, villains and everyone in between.

Some of you might see this template as something you’ve seen before, but it helps to put everything in one place.

Note: Before creating characters, you should probably work from the germ of a story. Your story should have a beginning, middle, and end. If you have this much, you can create characters with great motivation. If not, you can work with creating colorful and quirky characters that then inform the germ of the story based on their background and goals.

Step 1: Create a Skeleton, But Be Ready to Break Some Bones

1. Purpose: What is the general purpose of your character? Are they the hero, the villain…