Using character bios to create characters that connect with your readers

August 1st, the opening day of Chinese Writing Contest 2025, is drawing closer. 

In this series of posts aiming to help you improve your writing skills, it is time to focus on character building, i.e. how to make your characters alive and convincing. 

There are many ways to do this. But it all comes down to one thing, a character’s bio.

In a previous post about 4C, we talked about using actions to portray your characters. However, one thing we did not make explicit is that your character’s action can not be random. 

It means that, even you, the creator of that character, can not ask him or her to behave in a way that is not in-line with his or her personality traits, social background, economic strength, personal experiences, and so on. 

In fact, everything about your character must make sense in a big picture. Otherwise your readers won’t be able to connect with them. They’d say this character is too good to be true, that character too out of place, or this one too thin, and so on.

It is something all story tellers must grasp. Even the most skilled ones are not immune to it. For example, Tolstoy was famously known for his struggles to create convincing characters.

After reading the above, you may ask: How can I create a character with whom my readers can connect as they read my story?

The answer is: To create a character bio.

Bio is short for biography, i.e., an account of someone’s life.

It usually includes the following:

• Name
• Age
• Education
• Job
• Income and life style
• Character’s appearance
• Character’s health
• Family members
• Family life
• Friends
• Neighbours
• Pets
• Character’s main relationships
• Character’s important life milestones, successes and failures
• Preferences
• Hopes or regrets
• Trips
• Major influences
• Opinions on social events

This list is not exhaustive. The purpose is to get you thinking about your characters. The more you think about them, the better you answer the next question: “Why is this character important in my story?”

To have better results, write down all the details about your characters.

Write as much as possible. Describe your characters as much as you can. Give them each a story of their own.

These character bios are not for your readers to read. They are for you to think hard about your characters’ journey in your story. Why does he run? Why does she refuse this job? Why does he hope to be more confident? Why doesn’t she go to school? Why isn’t he happy?

Although your readers won’t read these pages and pages of character bios, they’ll read your story. And in your story, everything makes sense. 

When everything makes sense, your readers will understand. 

When they understand, they’re on your side. 

They connect.

It is all because you’ve done your homework and had a thorough preparation before presenting your character to your readers. 

The takeaway is that working on your character bio is an effective method to make sure that your character is convincing and your story is coherent.

If you have not done so already, it is time to start.

Also on the topic of bio, but separately, an author’s short bio, a maximum of 70 English words, is required for all participants in the coming Chinese Writing Contest. 

Different from your character’s bio which nobody reads except you, your short bio will be used as your introduction in the new Easy-to-Read Chinese Short Stories book, provided that your entry is selected to be included in it. 

Have fun crafting a detailed bio for each of your character and a concise one for yourself!