I’m not 100% sure that all of my characters need a major emotional wound, but, at least in the case of my guide character, his wound is what drives him to help my hero and it is the defining part of his character. I think most of my other main characters in the cast around the protagonist will have one, as well, though it remains to be seen whether I will resolve all of them by the end of the series.
I have had the guide’s wound in my head for a while – a tragedy that threw his life off course and also connected him to my hero years before the story starts. Today, I got it on paper and also started working out his minor flaws and habits based on that wound.
In doing so, I realized that the character profile template I have been using is probably best used out of order. That wound and the internal conflict that will come from it, should have come first, before his physical description and even before his name. Perhaps only after the point of defining his role int he story. Of course, in this case, I had it all in mind first, but in the future, I am going to deliberately rearrange the character creation process to start with wound/internal conflict first. Maybe that will help with the slowness of naming and descriptions, as well.