ArwenNightstar

Characterization Spread

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Aspiration~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Major Weakness~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Major Strength
Fear~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Hopes
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Quirk~~~~~~~~~~~~
Career~~~~~~~~~~~~Family~~~~~~~~~~~Drives
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Adult Defining Moment~~~~~~~~~
Grade School~~~~~~~~High School~~~~~~~~College
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Child Defining Moment~~~~~~~~~~~~
Mother~~~~~~~~~~~~Childhood~~~~~~~~~Father

Positions
Mother - relationship with mother
Father - relationship with father
Childhood - What was the character like as a child?
Defining Moment - What memory still haunts the character? Or thrills?
Grade School - What influences did Grade School leave on them?
High School - What influences did High School leave on them?
College or First Job - What influences did college or their first job leave on them?
Defining Moment - What memory still haunts the character? Or thrills?
Career - What path have they chosen?
Family - what is the prevailing family dynamic for the character?
Drives - What drives the character to do what they do?
Quirk - What is a main quirk everyone notices about the character?
Fears - What is something that they fear
Major Strengths - Where is the character the strongest?
Major Weakeness - Where is the character the weakest?
Hopes/Aspirations/Dreams/Goals - What is the character yearning for?

NOTE: This spread is very tweakable. I would love to hear feedback from those of you who try this out in your writing.

__________________
Blessings
Arwen Nightstar
President, American Tarot Association

Suriel

Hi, ArwenNightstar

It's a nice spread, indeed. Though,well, I'm wondering..what if I want to narrate a character who is only, let's say, 7 or 8 years old? By then, what cards would have come out at the High School, College at First Job..?

Love,
Suriel

__________________
What if you slept?
And what if, in your sleep, you dreamed?
And what if, in your dream, you went to heaven and there plucked a strange and beautiful flower?
And what if, when you awoke, you had the flower in your hand?
Ah, what then?
--Samuel Taylor Coleridge

Alissa

This seems like overemphasis on childhood for myself, as a writer. But most of my characters are adults, or nearly. A child such Suriel mentions would probably need this much background.

I would probably shorten it to Mother/Father/Defining Childhood Moment.
College/First Job suggests early adulthood, as well as a shift of focus from family to career. I like that.

Next is a second defining moment, one meant for the late adolescent to experience, but for myself, I question if we need it.

Career is good, but Family? My assumption is this would be the family a character builds on their own (wife, kids) but it could be an unneccessary rehashing of all the childhood stuff. Myself, I would drop this question. It seems repetitive to me, given the positions coming up next. I really like this! This allows us to see the character through another character's eyes. Opens it up from first person mentality, to third person.
Here is the interior map of the character, which is good. But the one thing I couldn't help but notice was missing was anything related to emotions, romance, sex, and partners. A position for this character's "love potential" (I hate that term, don't use that... I'm just trying to think of the right words here)?

Nice spread! I think it could be slightly tightened up and shortened, but it's neat!

ArwenNightstar

Alissa, thank you! I used this in my Tarot for Writer's workshop that I just completed for my RWA chapter.

For me, knowing things about my character's childhood gives them a more 3-D personality. I like complicated characters. :-)

I love the time that you took to really look at this spread. I agree that it needs tweaking and tightening up. I am going to look at your suggestions and see which ones work for me. I think that most of them will. :-)

__________________
Blessings
Arwen Nightstar
President, American Tarot Association

Alissa

It's a very workable spread for characters - depending on what information the writer needs, you can tailor the spread for your own writing project. Cool!