Creating characters is one of the best parts about writing a novel or writing a short story. You can create any person you want along with their habits, background, quirks, hobbies, and families. You can give them that name that you always wanted instead of the one your parents gave you.
Before you start writing a novel, novella, or short story, you may want to make character notes or fill out a questionnaire or chart about your main characters when you are creating characters.
Many novelists start with a character. Lucky writers have a complete character born in their brains in the middle of the night, in the shower, or in the subway. The rest of us have some inkling of an idea and have to build on that to create a character whom readers will love and who will carry our story (and possibly the three-book deal).
One way some writers go about creating characters is by starting with character notes. Some writers will fill out a five to ten page questionnaire about their main character. You can find these questionnaires in books about writing a novel or on-line. Others will just start a notebook about this character; in these notes, they will include photos or pictures from magazines that look like the character, so they have an actual image when they are writing about him or her.
These notes and/or questions usually focus on traits about your main characters: name, age, family, hobbies, schooling/career, friends, fears, likes, dislikes, favorites (as in color, food, etc.), pets, vacations, habits, collections, relationships, adjectives to describe personality, and physical appearance.
Here is an excerpt from my character notes for my next young adult novel (a work-in-progress):
Name: Julianna Nigelson, senior in high school, 17 years old
Lives in Chicago suburbs with her aunt, uncle, and 4-year-old cousin Stevie; her parents died in a car accident when she was two years old. She was with them and the only survivor. She has a maternal grandmother who is alive and living in Chicago, but she doesn't know this at the beginning of the book.
Habits: Twists hair when nervous, sits on hands, avoids bright lights
Hobbies: Loves anything Katharine Hepburn--so did her mom
When creating a character, you are basically making a list about this person. These character notes are for you to use when writing your novel. All the information in your character notes will not be included in your novel, but they help you know your character as well as you know yourself before you start writing. Then when your character is in certain situations throughout the novel, he/she will react genuinely because you have created a three-dimensional person.