Character sketch is an essential step in creating a text. When writing the story, the author should introduce the characters in the way the reader could not only imagine them but also develop personal feelings, such as admiration, anger, or desire. That is why it is necessary to develop the character sketch, which focuses on description of the specific character. Our experts from myeasypaper.com have developed specific instructions on how to complete this part of writing and prepared several character sketch outlines for you.

 

Major Parts of Character Sketch Outline

Of course, you can develop your own way of introducing the character; however, to create the full picture, several things should be taken into consideration. The reader should visualize, understand, and communicate with the character, so these parts are essential when describing them. That is why you can have three major parts in your character sketch:

  1. Visualization: make sure to include appearance and basic features, such as name or age.
  2. Comprehension: here you should explain the personal traits of your character, and, probably, provide the hints on the reasons for such a behavior.
  3. Communication: the reader should understand how the character behaves with other people, which presupposes both social behavior (gestures, tone of voice) and the manner of speech (favorite words, types of sentences the character uses).

    Keeping in mind these parts of the character’s essence you can already start working on the character description in your text. You can do that in several ways: for instance, you may describe the person through the optics of their peer (or even enemy), or just start with the basic description. The manner you choose will also depend on the text length: if you have a short 10-page essay, it would be a good idea to describe the character straight from the beginning. At the same time, if you are working on the book, you can describe the personality in parts, adding each trait in the new situation.

    Sometimes, working on this part of writing may be difficult — and even exhausting — that is why we have prepared several types of character sketch outlines, which can be useful. You may check them below. Also, if you wish to receive help from our experts, you can place the order to get consultation or draft that you can further use in your work.

 

Basic Character Sketch Outline

This outline will include only the most common things that introduce the personality in the text. You may expand some parts of it, if you wish, or even omit something. However, excluding these parts may result in poor description of the character, so we suggest doing so only if it is reasoned by the specific nature of your text.

I. Appearance

  1. Basic information: age, gender, name
  2. The way the person looks: height and weight, hair color and hairstyle, face and body description, clothes style

II. Personality

  1. Personal traits: positive and negative ones
  2. Personality analysis: reasons why these traits have appeared or developed

III. Behavior

  1. Communication: the actual and hidden meaning of the words said to others, manner of peaking
  2. Actions: specific actions that describe the character essence.

 

In case such an outline may seem too theoretical for you, we have developed an example of how these points can be used in the actual text. Let’s take John and see who is he in our story.

 

I. Appearance

  1. Basic information: John is 21, he is a typical European young guy. John is looking for a job.
  2. John is rather high and thin, having a typical European appearance. His skin is pale, and it’s easy to see big pores and signs of teenage acne on it. His hair is a bit messy. He usually wears an oversize T-shirt and jeans with sneakers.

II. Personality

  1. Personal traits: John may look hostile and reserved to others as he doesn’t show much of his character in public. He can talk to anyone, while keeping his personal life closed from others’ lives. He is a bit lazy and dreamy. John is also both perfectionist and procrastinator. He is not very responsible. His sense of humor is rather strange, and sometimes he can so deep in his mind that he ignores people around him.
  2. Personality analysis: John has a mother with anxiety disorder, who limited his freedom and independence. Because of this, he did not learn how to be responsible: his mother always woke him up, always fed him, controlled the time he returns home, and knew all his friends. Even now, when John is 21, she keeps controlling him by phone, asking humiliating questions about his personal life. At the same time, his father seems arrogant, being always emotionally cold with his family but friendly with others. Having negative feelings to his father, John decided to behave in an opposite way: he was cold with peers, while being caring with his girlfriends. His perfectionism is the reason of his young, while ability to dream is the result of the books he read while being a teenager.

III. Behavior

  1. Communication: John carefully hides his personal life from others, trying not to discuss it with anyone. He doesn’t like to talk much and prefers to discuss specific details only. He speaks in a slow manner, making huge pauses between the sentences. Sometimes it takes time for him to answer even the basic questions. However, when feeling safe, he becomes more vivid and active.
  2. Actions
  • John is being kicked out from his job because of his argument with the boss.
  • John ignores meeting with HR from another company.
  • John leaves his home, trying to become more independent.
  • He shouts on his mother when she tries to find a job for him.
  • He is making fun of his colleagues on the party.
  • He buys a ring for his girlfriend.

 

Profound Character Sketch Outline

An example above demonstrates the very basic things that can be used while writing. At the same time, you can choose another structure, that may help you to include more details and use each of it separately. Interested? Then check out an outline below:

 

I. The role of the person in the story

II. Physical appearance

  1. Age, weight, height, hair
  2. Face and body description
  3. Clothes (style and specific items)
  4. Manner of behavior (specific gestures or problems)
  5. Voice
  6. The most distinguishing part of his appearance

III. The way other people see him

  1. The first thing the people notice when see the person
  2. The second thing
  3. The first thing people notice when communicating
  4. The second thing

IV. Background

  1. Family and friends
  2. Education
  3. Working experience
  4. Traumas and complicated events in life
  5. Origin and residence

V. Personal traits

  1. The strongest trait
  2. Other significant traits
  3. Hidden traits
  4. Personal philosophy (if any) and ethical values
  5. Political views and ideology
  6. Interests

VI. Stereotypes

  1. The stereotype people connect with the character
  2. The way the character follows this stereotype
  3. The way the person refutes this stereotype

VII. Core values

  1. Strong moral beliefs
  2. The character’s belief about his major purpose in life
  3. Ambitions (both personal and professional)
  4. Needs and fears
  5. What prevents the person from achieving his goals

VIII. Relationships

  1. Family and relatives
  2. Friends
  3. Romantic relationships (past and future)
  4. Colleagues and other professional peers
  5. What people might like in the character
  6. What people might dislike

IX. Development through the story

  1. How we see the character first
  2. How the character changes through the story
  3. How the character is described in the end
  4. Timeline of the person’s story

X. Personal thoughts

  1. How the character would describe himself with his words

 

So far, you now have the most complete outline for character sketch. If you wish to receive further assistance, make sure to place the order on myeasypaper and use an outstanding help of our experts. They will not only consult you regarding the characters but also help you to create a perfect text that fascinates from the very beginning.