[@Shoryu Magami]  Actually I got my start in writing too, but I find that the way I develop characters -- at least, in terms of the things that make them have depth -- I need to give them the chance to talk to me.  A character sheet I can do, and I have.  But if I want to know what the char thinks about dogs, or what they're afraid of, or if they're a hugger, or how they display anger, or their favorite ice cream, I can only do this through using them.  It can be solo, but it comes a little easier (as apparently does all my writing) when I have another person.  Additionally, I've had people that were terrible about metagaming, and would have their chars know all sorts of things that were stated OOC but completely unknown IC, and that's made me less than fond of char sheets in general.  *shrug*  I think a lot of people want far more detail than is really needed because that's the only way to see if the character fits well -- and to see how thorough the player is.  Rps fall apart enough already without risking time and effort on someone that's going to make a half-baked char.