3.1.5 How to Create Characters for the Script - Guide to Writing Character Bios

Key Points for Writing Character Bios

In our daily operations, clients or platforms may require us to write character bios. Let’s standardize the format here. When writing a character bio, focus on these five aspects. Many students, when writing bios, often only write the character’s backstory. What this character experienced before. They write things like: parents died young, raised by so-and-so, stubborn and unyielding, struggled to make their own way. Actually, this isn’t very useful. Why? Because often, the backstory isn’t revisited or filmed.

Core Elements of a Character Bio

When writing a character bio, students, pay attention, it must be written so the client can understand it immediately. Furthermore, the character bio has two purposes: one is for the client to understand, and another important role is to guide your subsequent creation! You set all this up initially precisely to help with the later creation, right? Focus on these five aspects:

Identity: Of course, write what this person’s identity is, what they do.

Appearance: You should generally describe the person’s identity and looks.

Flaw/Defect:

Circumstance/Situation:

Goal/Action:

You can’t just describe their height, how handsome/beautiful they are, whose child they are, what social class—those can be written. But don’t forget, after writing their identity, write their Flaw, their Circumstance, their Goal, their Action. This way, your character bio can help the client or platform quickly grasp what kind of person they are and what role they play in the story.

Specificity of Flaws in Microdramas

Flaws are very important. It doesn’t necessarily mean physical flaws, students, pay special attention, especially in microdramas, our protagonist often doesn’t have major intrinsic flaws. Traditional stories do; the protagonist’s flaws in traditional stories are relatively significant. But in microdramas, our protagonist’s flaws are often external. For example, not being liked, not being respected, being misunderstood, or being divorced. These are external flaws, emotional flaws. Then there’s their circumstance, their goal, their action: what major event they encountered, what they decided to do about it, and the actions they took to achieve it. These are what you need to describe in the character bio.

Scope of Character Bios

Generally, in traditional film/TV, only the first four role types are assigned character bios. It’s the same for microdramas. Don’t write bios for others; these are the main roles of the story. We’re talking about Protagonist, Antagonist/Opponent, Companion/Partner, and Love Interest.