# Character development worksheet

From "Character development: how characters change, with a worked example"
by the Feldar team: https://feldar.com/guides/character-development

Free to use, copy and change. Fill in one worksheet per main character.
Leave a field blank if you do not know yet; the blanks tell you what the
draft still has to discover.


## 1. The basics

Name:
Age:
Role in the story (protagonist, love interest, antagonist, mentor, ally):
Where they live and what they do all day:
One concrete detail (a habit, an object, a way of speaking):


## 2. The arc

Arc type (positive change, flat, negative):
The want (what they chase, visible from outside, specific):
The need (what they must learn, accept or give up):
How the want and the need pull against each other:

The flaw (how it shows in behaviour, not just a label):
The lie they believe about themselves or the world:
Where the lie came from (an event, a person, a wound):
What the lie protects them from:

For a flat arc instead: the truth they already hold, and who in the
story is wrong about it:


## 3. Start and end

Opening state (who they are on page one, in one sentence):
Closing state (who they are on the last page, in one sentence):
The final choice that proves the change (or the fall):


## 4. Proof scenes

Change on the page is a run of scenes, not a statement. Note the chapter
for each one as you plan or draft.

1. The flaw in action (the lie looks like it works):
   Chapter:
2. The flaw costs them something:
   Chapter:
3. A glimpse of the need (someone or something shows another way):
   Chapter:
4. The reckoning (the lie breaks; they see it):
   Chapter:
5. The relapse or the test (old habit, new pressure):
   Chapter:
6. The proof (they act from the need, at a price):
   Chapter:


## 5. Pressure from other people

Who reflects the lie back at them (agrees with it, profits from it):
Who shows them the truth (a mirror, a foil, a love interest):
Who opposes them, and what that person wants:


## 6. Voice

How they talk when they are comfortable:
How they talk when they are cornered:
A word or phrase they would never use:


## 7. Check after drafting

Can a reader point to the chapter where the change starts?
Does the change cost them something they wanted?
Does the last choice only make sense because of the change?
Is the flaw still visible in the first chapter after revision?