How I Build A Character When My Brain Never Remembers What It Needs To! (Or: The Wheel Of Wow Method)

How I Build a Character When My Brain Never Remembers What it Needs To! (Or: the Wheel of Wow Method)

I have no idea how to explain this without visuals so let's do a quick intro and then dive in.

I gravitate toward the same sort of characters. But as I brainstorm, it can be hard for me to come up with enough details or components to make characters feel complex.

So I basically made a spreadsheet of all of these things with a list of examples to choose from! I either use it as a reference or literally have a random number chooser tell me what that one is.

Let's go!

Character Wheel of Wow

The category rows are for character elements, details, relationships, and backstory. Here is a little sample (but I will go more in-depth below!)

Then, beneath each one are examples of these elements that I would actually enjoy writing about. I put a set number for all of them so using a random number chooser is easier.

Again, I will go into more depth with more examples below.

Every important character gets one of these. For others, I pull only what is needed or as I outline/write.

The Categories

Major Trait (the driving descriptor of their personality)

Trauma + Baggage (before the story begins, the thing that changed their life and future forever)

Major Daily Complicator (how does the trauma manifest in daily life?)

Key Personal Fact or Quirk

Job

Job Complicator (what's making the job challenging?)

Hometown (and/or Family's Home Country)

Wildcard (a random element to include, will make more sense with the examples below)

Vice (the thing they indulge in maybe too much)

Key Personal Dynamic (the defining relationship of their personal life, can be one that begins in the story)

Personal Complicator (what is making the relationship different and less straightforward/traditional?)

Key Family Dynamic (the defining relationship/family member of their family life)

Family Complicator (what is making the relationship different and less straightforward/traditional?)

Their Secret

Examples of the Choices

Major Trait: serious, blunt, rough around the edges, playful, emotional, somber, cold/distant, selfish, confident, ambitious, optimist, romantic, charming, easy-going, misguided, quiet, academic, creative, kind....

Trauma + Baggage: widowed, survivor of childhood abuse, survivor of violent crime, bullied as a child, massive public or private failure, orphan, work-related trauma, turned away from dreams, religious trauma, victim of natural disaster, death of friend...

Major Daily Complicator: nightmares, trust issues, abandonment fears, depression, hyper-vigilance, phobia related to trauma, anxiety and panic, guilt, insecurity...

Key Personal Fact or Quirk: divorced, young parent, estranged from spouse, criminal history, weird tv/movie/book preference, type A, extremely messy...

Job: depends on your world but here are some real-world examples... journalist, religious leader, artist, professor/teacher, law enforcement agent, lawyer, construction worker, business owner, nurse/doctor...

Job Complicator: disgraced, forced to retire or quit, issues with superiors, they are a workaholic, suspended or put on leave, rival coworker, multiple issues with their behavior/actions at work, recently hired/promoted/reassigned, change in superiors...

Hometown: depends on your world

Wildcard: incredible liar, high school star athlete, major recent injury, important or interesting tattoo, is in the public eye, a sentimental item of theirs, dog person, cat person, has a nickname, cuts their own hair...

Vice: gambling, fast food, adopting too many animals, impulsive spending, caffeine, sweets, competition, luxury purchases, picking fights, White Knight Complex...

Key Personal Dynamic: coworker, boss, someone they are the boss of, professor/teacher, student, friends, ex-spouse, someone they are forced to work with for the story's goal, neighbor, former romantic partner, parent of their child, person somehow involved in their trauma/baggage...

Personal Complicator: having an affair/undefined sexual relationship, secretly in love, early stages of romantic relationship, palpable attraction/tension, falling in love, unrequited feelings, estranged, issues with power dynamic, failed romance in past, past betrayal...

Key Family Dynamic: parent, parent surrogate (anyone family or otherwise who raised them), sibling, cousin, aunt/uncle, grandparent, child, half-sibling, step parent or sibling, parent-in-law...

Family Complicator: estranged but one wants to reconnect, estranged but one needs something from the other, unspoken issues, abuse or toxicity, disowned by, family member has passed, the power dynamics are unhealthy, one financially dependent on the other, major lifestyle differences....

Their Secret: living a double life, has an obsession, has an artistic or scientific side (whatever would be unexpected), developing an addiction...

As you go and build the character, you will have to adjust choosing some of the categories so that they actually make a cohesive entity.

And then I highlight the chosen options and compile them in the character profile. I hope this made any sense whatsoever!!!!

As always, take what you want and leave the rest. Happy writing!

[call it good] writing

Hey there Lee! I’m so happy to see that you’re taking gif prompts! 😄

What can you do with this one?

The Baking Lesson

"C'mere gorgeous," John said turning your chin toward him. "It can't be that bad. Just tell me," he coaxed with an encouraging smile.

You sniffed back tears, embarrassed to admit you'd been dismissed after only two days at the bakery. John's bright blue eyes shone back at you, full of love and understanding. In that moment, you knew he would make you feel better if you could just form the words. "I've been sacked," you finally admitted, a little sob escaping with it.

"Why, love? What happened?" he asked, pulling his handkerchief from his pocket and offering it to you as he leaned forward on his knees to listen.

Twisting the soft cotton between your fingers, it all came spilling out. First your dough hadn't risen properly. Then you bungled two signature recipes, resulting in an untold amount of waste. After those fiascos, you'd been so flustered you managed to burn not one, but two batches of bread. You pleaded with your boss to take pity on you, promising you would improve with time. However, your mistakes must have been more than he was willing to overlook.

"Mr. Thompson told me I was too stupid and hopeless to teach. He made me leave without paying me. I was so humiliated," you cried into your hands.

John's fists began to tighten at the mention of your mistreatment and you placed your hands over them to calm him. "Please don't do anything. It was my fault!" you begged. You ran a hand along his jawline and he unclenched it at your touch. "I'm alright, really. I'll find another job," you said quietly.

However, John couldn't ignore the defeated look in your eye after this blow to your confidence. He pulled you into his chest for a warm embrace, rubbing his hand along your back soothingly as he promised, "I want you to do whatever makes you happy, but someone ought to speak to Mr. Thompson about his business," John said cryptically.

You pulled back to study his face. "What do you mean?"

Standing and straightening his cap, John gave you a rakish smile. "Not to worry, love. I've some experience working with bakers." You had no idea what that meant, but had to laugh when you received a delivery the next day. It was a handwritten apology from Mr. Thompson, along with enough bread to feed a small village.

"John, what did you do?" you asked suspiciously.

John gave you the charming smile you loved so much accompanied by a small shrug of his shoulders. "Gave him a baking lesson," he said with a wink. "He was the one who needed it, not you, love."

dealing with the worst case scenario

your condom breaks

you feel a lump on your breast

your friends are ignoring you

you’re stranded on an island 

you got rejected by a crush

you get into a car accident

you got stung by a bee/wasp

you got fired from your job

you’re in an earthquake

your tattoo gets infected

your house is on fire

you’re lost in the woods

you get arrested abroad

you get robbed

your partner cheated on you

you’re on a ship that’s sinking

you fall into ice

you’re stuck in an elevator

you hit a deer with your car

you have food poisoning

your pet passed away

you fall off of a horse

you or your friend has alcohol poisoning

you have toxic shock syndrome

your house has a gas leak

Red Right Hand

Chapter 1: In the Depths of Hell      

Chapter 2: The Guns

Chapter 3: Razor Blades

Chapter 4: Already Broken

Chapter 5: The Races

Chapter 6: Black Coat (COMING SOON)

Chapter 7: The Sixth Chime (COMING SOON)

Chapter 8: Blinded (COMING SOON)

Chapter 9: Black Star (COMING SOON)

Chapter 10: Away It Goes (COMING SOON)

In This Together -Masterlist two-

90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100 101 102 103 104 105 106 107 108 109 110 111