When creating a character I...
Depending on how I died, I'll take either a day or jump right into character creation. Sometimes I'll jump into character creation and realize just how much I was affected by the recent ending and stop to pick it up again later.
After grieving appropriately, I've been thinking about what I want to play during my now dead character and in my time of grieving as insensitive as that sounds. Sometimes I'll have the entire character put on paper. Sometimes I'll nix everything I threw down and do something else on a whim. Like ranger/archer? Eff, yeah. I'm so glad I finally did that.
If I don't have everything planned out, I usually begin with guild / subguild. ... like everyone, I guess, but that usually sets the mood. After I make a decision, sometimes at random, I'll come up with how he learned those skills offered by the guilds and subguilds. Stat priority is an OOC thing for me, I won't lie. The most difficult part is the description. I'm so bad at this, but manage somehow. After I come up with the description, I sometimes think of why they look like they do and I'll have to add more bio. I'll edit that, then usually I'll have to edit the description again and I usually go back and forth until it makes sense. And then I submit and play the waiting game.
(which is paragon or some other ps4 game)
*while in game, I start doing what this character might do on any regular day and I try and see things as they would and I try and I think things that they would. Not oocly, but I'll use the think command. Slowly, but surely I'll begin building this character's personality. The more I do it, the easier to imagine past events that I hadn't thought up previously. I'll usually add these in a new bio, and be sure to mention that it wasn't recent, but a memory. I'll make up stories about parents, friends, fun, work, favorite foods, favorite pass times, adventures, etc... and make them his story.