Writing a Character Sketch
A character sketch is a paragraph that describes a person’s character or personality. It
identifies different personality traits or characteristics that a person possesses, and gives
examples or proof of the person showing each particular trait. A character sketch can describe
a real person, a person in literature, or an imagined person. Remember: a good character sketch
provides support detail for each identified trait.
A character trait can be expressed as an adjective (clever, discreet, idealistic, practical) or as a
noun (cleverness, discretion, idealism, practicality). In many cases, both the adjective (word
used to describe a noun or pronoun) and the noun (word that names a person, place, thing, or
idea) are used to describe the person. For example:
“Steve is a very dedicated basketball player. He shows his dedication by shooting twenty extra
free throws after every practice.”
A quality character sketch must include the following:
 A strong and simple topic sentence
 Several character traits with a description providing proof for each one
 Transition or signal words to organize thoughts
 A summarizing concluding sentence
Using a Topic Sentence in Your Character Sketch
A topic sentence is the first sentence of the paragraph that tells the reader what the
paragraph is about. To practice developing topic sentences, pretend you are writing character
sketches about three different people that you are close to. For example you might pick your
mother, grandpa, and best friend and develop the following topic sentences. Remember, the
paragraph that follows your topic sentence should expand on that first sentence by providing
evidence.
Mother: My mom is the most sincere person I know.
Grandpa: My grandpa has worked hard his entire life.
Best friend: My best friend Jo always has a way of brightening my day.
Practice developing three of your own topic sentences:
____________ : __________________________________________________________
____________ : __________________________________________________________
____________ : __________________________________________________________
Using Character Traits in Your Character Sketch
In the space below, please list as many character traits as you can think of:
(Remember, character/personality traits are not physical traits).
It is very important to provide proof for your character traits within your character sketch.
This means that for each trait or characteristic you choose to include in your character sketch,
you need to provide at least one example that serves as proof of the character trait. For
example, if you were to say, “Jo is extremely creative,” the proof might consist of the following
sentences, “Jo’s creativity is evident in everything she does. She writes feature articles for
the Winnipeg Sun, she painted her house so that every room was a different bright colour with
matching accessories in each room, and she makes really beautiful jewelry.”
Pretend that you know “Jo” and develop sentences that provide evidence for the each
following descriptions of her character traits:
Jo has always been very independent: ___________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
Jo is totally adventurous: ____________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
I’ve always admired Jo’s fun-loving nature: _______________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
Using Transition Words in Your Character Sketch
Using transition words in a character sketch will help the description “flow.” Transition words
or phrases help bring ideas together. Transition words are often known as
“connectors/connectives” because they are used to link ideas, sentences, and paragraphs. They
will make your writing easier to follow and will therefore help to make a more cohesive piece of
writing. Some examples of transitions words/phrases include: and, firstly, secondly, finally,
next, also, therefore, for example, on the other hand, yet, to summarize, etc.
Can you think of any other transition words?
To practice using transition words, insert the best alternative from the list provided for
each sentence:
1. It was announced that nurses’ working hours would be increased by 25%. ______________,
fewer trainee nurses are expected to join the profession.
In contrast
As a result
Thirdly
2. Jamie is the kindest person I know. He volunteers ten hours a week at an animal shelter.
_____________, he often spends Christmas Day serving dinner to the homeless.
On the contrary
With reference to
Similarly
3. Audrey is a really hard-worker but she struggles in her math course. _________________,
when it comes to Drama class, she always gets the lead roles.
However
And
Secondly
4. Essays must be handed in by the deadline, _________________ they will not be marked.
Obviously
Otherwise
As a result
5. In order to try to reduce bullying in schools, presentations about the effects of bullying are
being made in elementary schools and ________________, schools are distributing information
packets to parents.
for instance
in the same way
however
Example Character Sketch
Please read the following example character sketch and complete the following:
- Underline the topic sentence
- Underline all character/personality traits you can find
- Circle any transition words you can find
My friend Liz is a true best friend. She always supports me in everything I want to do. When I
wanted to try out for Rainbow Stage, she said she thought it would be a great experience
whether I made it or not. She really made me feel confident about my audition and
consequently, I got one of the supporting roles. Similarly, she always comes to watch every one
of my performances in the school plays. I always get pumped for the show when I see her in the
audience. Liz is not only a great supporter. She is also very trusting. She trusts me to give her
my honest opinion and to say what I feel. When she was upset with her sister one time, she
asked what I thought about it and I said she should wait and then she would find out the real
reason why her sister was mad at her, and it ended up happening that way. She knew she could
trust me. Also, Liz is totally fun-loving. She can really be a barrel of fun when she is in the
mood. I really like when she does silly things. One night, we rented three movies and watched all
three while we ate popcorn, cheese and crackers, and a whole box of chocolates. After the
movie we talked and talked for hours. Consequently, we were up until about 3 in the morning. I
feel so lucky to have Liz as my closest friend. She moved to Montreal this summer and as a
result, I’ve felt quite sad throughout the past two months. However, I know that we will stay in
touch and visit each other when we can. After all, she has done so much for me that the least I
can do is hop on a plane and visit her!
Assignment
Write a character sketch about yourself FROM THE VIEWPOINT OF SOMEONE WHO
KNOWS YOU. (this means – pretending that you are your friend and writing about YOU in
his/her “voice”). Your character sketch should be in the form of one paragraph and should
include the following:
- a topic sentence that tells the reader something significant about you
- descriptions of at least 3 character traits (with supporting evidence/examples)
- transition words to help connect your ideas
- a concluding sentence that makes a final statement about what kind of person you are
Your character sketch should be at least half a page (hand-written). Please write legibly. If
your writing tends to look “chicken scratch”-like, then please type assignments whenever
possible.
DUE DATE: _______________________