NaNoWriMo: Character Biographies

When I prepare for National Novel Writing Month, one of the first things I do is to write character biographies.  It helps me develop the characters, get to know them, and have a foundation on which to create their actions.

There are lots of methods to create character biographies and to get to know your characters.  I won't recap my recent blog post on getting to know your characters, but it's important to find a method that works for you, and that can be utilized quickly for NaNo, particularly if you're not working ahead of time on your background information.  Some people prefer to do everything beginning on November 1st.

If you choose to create your characters this month, as I'm doing, don't worry too much about making them complete.  Yes, you have time to do that this month, but don't stress about it too much.

NaNoWriMo is about proving to yourself that you can write a novel in 30 days.  It doesn't have to win the Man Booker Prize for Fiction, after all.  It just has to be a 50,000-word novel that was written between November first and thirtieth.

What characters are you creating for NaNo this year?