Is it really necessary to know your characters' birthdates? Their favorite kind of ice-cream? Whether they made A's or C's in math?

Sometimes I think we spend too much time worrying about the character's details, and not enough about the personality behind the cutout.

What's your opinion?

There are MANY who believe such things are important.

I don't.

For example: I know that my main character (Ben) has a brother... I couldn't tell you the dudes name... I won't even bother trying to think of one until it becomes relevant to the story.

I'm very much against excessive world-building and back-story elements... they get in the way of what matters... writing a novel.

I respect the opinions of those who will argue otherwise... but you'll never convince me that it does an ounce of good.

I have always objected to character surveys of the "favorite ice cream flavor" variety. 99% of my characters have never tasted ice cream.

Some initial information is necessary because without it, you don't have a character to develop. But once you get to the tiny details like favorite foods and birthdates, chances are they either don't matter or can be extrapolated based on your existing knowledge of the character. If you need to know what grades he got in school, think about his personality for a second--was he studious? Naturally smart? Better with rhetoric or logic? You should know this sort of thing as it's fundamental to the way a character interacts with others. Even foods: the decision to become vegetarian is a definite character choice, as is allowing the character to like ice cream vs. thinking it's sinfully decadent or fattening or something. But when you get down to something like the flavor, flip a coin. Nobody cares.

I think the only reason you should know is if it pertains in some way to the plot.

While I agree that utterly exhaustive lists are bad, I do think some trivial details help. For instance, I have a scene that occurs while the characters have breakfast, so I had to think about who has what, which in turn led me to develop a running gag about Frankenberry cereal.

Hey Mornara, long time no see.

I think those lists are advised for people who are new to writing and who are trying to get a sense of characterization or believability in the characters, bringing their actions to life, etc. I don't think you need to know your character's favourite movie or colour in order to understand intimately who he/she is, even on a soul level. For me that that kind of understanding occurs on more of an intuitive level than an intellectual one.

I once saw a character sheet that even detailed the, *ahem*, LENGTH of said character's "Johnson"; 10 inches, apparently. Wishful thinking on somebody's part...

Geez, besides being annoying and over-detailed, that would be downright painful. Wishful thinking isn't usually very smart.

One thing I think is often lacking in character's build-up is the quirks and weaknesses. Usually you will get "afraid of spiders" or "gets angry easily", but where are things like "obsessively reads labels on food-packages" or "wonders about the length of other people's...(fill in THAT blank yourself!). There are so few unique tweaks you see on characters anymore.

I agree
Quirks, weaknesses and general character traits are more important than every single detail.
Question though. Do you think these things can be added at a late point? Like, realizing that your character is missing.. something, and then going back over the story during revisions to insert comments or actions displaying some freeky trait or another. Or will that seem forced?

I've done that... I don't *think* it seems forced.

Elanor wrote:

I agree Quirks, weaknesses and general character traits are more important than every single detail. Question though. Do you think these things can be added at a late point? Like, realizing that your character is missing.. something, and then going back over the story during revisions to insert comments or actions displaying some freeky trait or another. Or will that seem forced?

Not forced at all. That's what editing is all about - adding depth where it's lacking, fleshing out things that you may have skimped on in first draft.

I loathe those tell-me-everything lists. Beside the fact that writing them is deadly dull and boring, there's no scope for discovery. I'd rather wait until the question came up in the story, and then ask my character what flavour ice cream they like.

And I never, ever describe my character's appearance. Unless you write romance or chick lit, you can often get away from it altogether. If there's a pertinent aspect, like a limp perhaps, you would need to advise the reader, but the colour of their hair makes no difference whatsoever to the plot.

For the epitome of characterisation, the Zelazny Amber novels are king. His descriptions are so spare and yet evocative, and they paint the characters beautifully without every mentioning "long golden locks" etc.

2+

Got to agree, what is important is the basics of a character. Me, I write down the parts of a character's background that's relevant, among others because it helps me see how they would play out in situations as well as a very basic physical description.

It seems to be pretty smart to give a reader the very basic physical facts, at least for me it helps when I picture characters in book. The trick is to write in stuff like hair and eye color, scars, damages and so on without doing it in a info dumb. Just sneaking in the details work better.

I always find that rather than doing those detail surveys, its better to do character interviews. You ask the character questions, like "Are you a virgin?" and then keep going depending on their answer. In this way you develop their voice, and invariably create an interesting and useful background story for them.

Yup... what he said.