What is a Character Sketch?

My mother (thanks Mom!) pointed out that perhaps not everyone knows what a character sketch is. Sorry for the jargon, I didn't even think about it.

A character sketch is a quick outline of what a character you're creating is. It's a set of ideas - often not even complete sentences - giving you a general idea of who the person is. That can include a physical description, mental description, family members, or anything else that's important to who the person is.

This isn't a formal write-up. No one else ever has to see these. It's just enough information to give you an idea of who the person is. And it can be fleshed out later as required, too - you're not required to keep the original one.

What's important is that you write enough to get a good idea of who the person is. And writing as much or as little as you need for that.