Generating Characters

          Creating dynamic, multi-layered and believable characters in not easy. But oh so important. Blake Snyder, author of Save the Cat, says a story is, at some level always “a story about a guy who”. The plot is important, but at its core the story is about a character, a person experiencing the events of the story and being changed by them.

          All of us develop characters in different ways. Sometimes it’s easy, other times more difficult. For those times when my muse seems overwhelmed and not able to suggest ideas to me, I like to visit some of the many online generators. I don’t need much time playing with these random selections of names, personality traits, occupations and more. Within just a few minutes, the random results start sparking ideas, like an electrical current running through my mind.

          In the belief that you’d benefit from some of the generators I’ve discovered, I offer you these pages.

          Seventh Sanctum

          Seventh Sanctum is a treasure trove of random generators. I’ve only explored a tiny percentage of them. There are generators for characters and places and magic and equipment and much, much more. (It’s actually overwhelming at times.)

          There are many different ways to to generate characters on this site.

          Here I can define a few simple parameters and generate a simple generic character description, such as “The cunning, cruel farmer with a heart of gold.” Or I can choose a page that will randomly combine traits in new ways (The hooker with a heart of gold who needs a mentor to avoid misusing their talents and who solves crimes.) Or combine known historical figures with unusual interests, like “Pocahontas – Jazz Musician, or Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart – Rock and Roll Sensation or Mark Twain – Space Marine. Or I can generate specific types of characters, such as super-villains or magical knights.

          Serendipity

          Another gold mine of character generator, this generates names, profiles, places and more. There is also a short list of links to even more generators.

          I can generate names by group or genre, such as Japanese girl names or villain names . I can generate a short profile of a character. I can also generate ideas for cities or interesting sites .

          These are just two sites, but every time I visit them, I come away with more ideas than I can possibly write. I hope you enjoy them as much as I do. Disclaimer: I am not responsible for any loss of time you may experience as a result of the addictive quality of these sites.