Klinger: The Army’s ruining my hands, you know? My hands are my best feature. When I was born, my father took one look and said to my mother, “Thanks a lot for the eight pound baby nose.” But my mother said, “His hands, Amos, look at his hands! He’s a musician!” What do you think my old man did? Went right out, stole a violin, and stuck it in my crib. I was one week old, what I know from violins? I started sucking on the bridge.
I find that, when writing bios, it’s really helpful to look at a list or a chart like the one above. Picking two or three traits from each chart and building a character based around them will give you a really interesting bio, because they will serve as a reminder that characters need depth and dimension.
Independent and clever.
VS.
Independent, clever, pretentious, and stubborn.
The first combination doesn’t come with any flaws, whereas the second will provide a more dynamic character.
