Marc Blake recommends that among other things you should write Character CV's for your characters before writing for them. I used to do this, but don't anymore as it didn't help me too much.
What exercises do you put your characters through before writing? Do you do it all in your head, or do you write down your character exercises i.e. writing down how your character reacts in certain situations?
One of my favourites is from the same Marc Blake book, where you lock them in a room or soomink? Most of my sitcoms are that anyway 
I never found this very useful either.
I do profile them and write a back story. Recently got some good advice from Simon & Dec's 'How To Get In The Yes Pile' course where you have a long list of questions that are very probing and made me think about one of my characters in particular. That was very useful.
I've never tried the 'lock them in a room freestyling' thing but have heard of it. I reckon it can only help, tbh.
Dan
Quote: Jacob Loves Comedy @ July 9 2009, 10:08 AM BSTI never found this very useful either.
Oh, I don't know if it's useful but I enjoyed writing them.
I can't imagine going into a sitcom and not knowing my characters. Even when they've been very rough ideas of people, and with no direction on top of that. I still would be able to tell you how they'd reacted, otherwise they are not characters, just names or I don't even know what?!
I have never written a cv for a character ever. 
Quote: Marc P @ July 9 2009, 10:19 AM BSTI have never written a cv for a character ever.
\o/ I find it hard enough to write my own personal bloody C.V.
"Oh, shit! I have to finish this script tonight and I can't find the page with Karl's favourite crisp flavour on. What?! I can't just make it up. That crisp flavour resulted in his first girlfriend and she helped him decide which Uni he went to, which lead on to his career..." And you get the idea with that.
Quote: Leevil @ July 9 2009, 10:29 AM BST
"Oh, shit! I have to finish this script tonight and I can't find the page with Karl's favourite crisp flavour on. What?! I can't just make it up. That crisp flavour resulted in his first girlfriend and she helped him decide which Uni he went to, which lead on to his career..." And you get the idea with that.
Simply change the crips to Dorritos.
Quote: Marc P @ July 9 2009, 10:30 AM BSTSimply change the crips to Dorritos.
No. The correct answer is Pringle. Say it with me, Pringle.
I personally think this indepth character cv thing is bollocks. I don't need to know exactly where my character was born or what jobs they've had or how many times they've been married. It's not bloody important. All I need to know is who she / he is right now, where he / she fits in the world I'm creating, and how that's going to create the Funny. I create characters in my head...before I put pen to paper I already know how they'd react in a certain situation. I already know how they speak and what would excite / annoy them. I don't need a written breakdown of their exam results as a child to know the character's a bit thick.
I just read a suggested example of a character bio and it's just ridiculous. I like "Shape Of Face" the best..
Basic Statistics
Name:
Age:
Nationality:
Socioeconomic Level as a child:
Socioeconomic Level as an adult:
Hometown:
Current Residence:
Occupation:
Income:
Talents/Skills:
Salary:
Birth order:
Siblings (describe relationship):
Spouse (describe relationship):
Children (describe relationship):
Grandparents (describe relationship):
Grandchildren (describe relationship):
Significant Others (describe relationship):
Relationship skills:
Physical Characteristics:
Height:
Weight:
Race:
Eye Color:
Hair Color:
Glasses or contact lenses?
Skin colour:
Shape of Face:
Distinguishing features:
How does he/she dress?
Mannerisms:
Habits: (smoking, drinking etc.)
Health:
Hobbies:
Favorite Sayings:
Speech patterns:
Disabilities:
Style (Elegant, shabby etc.):
Greatest flaw:
Best quality:
Intellectual/Mental/Personality Attributes and Attitudes
Educational Background:
Intelligence Level:
Any Mental Illnesses?
Learning Experiences:
Character's short-term goals in life:
Character's long-term goals in life:
How does Character see himself/herself?
How does Character believe he/she is perceived by others?
How self-confident is the character?
Does the character seem ruled by emotion or logic or some combination thereof?
What would most embarass this character?
Emotional Characteristics
Strengths/Weaknesses:
Introvert or Extrovert?
How does the character deal with anger?
With sadness?
With conflict?
With change?
With loss?
What does the character want out of life?
What would the character like to change in his/her life?
What motivates this character?
What frightens this character?
What makes this character happy?
Is the character judgmental of others?
Is the character generous or stingy?
Is the character generally polite or rude?
Spiritual Characteristics
Does the character believe in God?
What are the character's spiritual beliefs?
Is religion or spirituality a part of this character's life?
If so, what role does it play?
How the Character is Involved in the Story
Character's role in the novel (main character? hero? heroine? Romantic interest? etc.):
Scene where character first appears:
Relationships with other characters:
1. Character's Name: -- (Describe relationship with this character and changes to relationship over the course of the novel).
2. Character's Name: -- (Describe relationship with this character and changes to relationship over the course of the novel).
3. Character's Name: -- (Describe relationship with this character and changes to relationship over the course of the novel).
4. Character's Name: -- (Describe relationship with this character and changes to relationship over the course of the n
Quote: Jacob Loves Comedy @ July 9 2009, 10:03 AM BSTMarc Blake recommends that among other things you should write Character CV's for your characters before writing for them. I used to do this, but don't anymore as it didn't help me too much.
What exercises do you put your characters through before writing? Do you do it all in your head, or do you write down your character exercises i.e. writing down how your character reacts in certain situations?
In the head is good but if you write stuff it's better. You really have to get to know your characters. Otherwise it's so easy to slip into cliche or just not being funny. And any script over 5 minutes needs character more than gag humour.
Basically coures and books have to fill up space with what is quite simple really - so they make up lots of stuff to either fill the time or the pages.
How to make writing more of a chore ^
Quote: Leevil @ July 9 2009, 10:07 AM BSTOne of my favourites is from the same Marc Blake book, where you lock them in a room or soomink? Most of my sitcoms are that anyway
That's a really, really good one. If it isn't working you don't know your characters well enough.