Writing Forum

I just wanted to post a question I had come across the other day concerning character creation and development. For everyone reading this, how do you create your characters? Do you use a certain method or technique? Where do you find your inspiration for those characters? When it comes to fantasy writing (High Fantasy - thanks Zen!), I usually use some AD&D computer software for the various people that populate my stories. It is a long process but I feel using those programs really keep my thoughts and creative desires on track and organizes all of it into one simple interface. I am curious how other people would handle something like this.