The last few meetings, we have been working on character development. Some of us had never created a character from scratch, others have but not to their satisfaction. Some have created wonderful characters, but wanted to take them further, round them out fully. So we are playing "get to know your character," more or less. How do you get to know anyone? You ask them questions. Or in this case, you ask questions about them. There are oodles and noodles and tons of lists of questions on the internet if you search for them. Some of them very basic (Is your character a boy or a girl? How old is your character? Where are they?) and some of them are far deeper (Do they talk to themselves when they're alone? Do they like to take baths or shower? Do they have a tick? A pet peeve?) _If you're having trouble coming up with a character, or more generally a story (because you need a character first, right?) here are some questions you can start asking yourself, from the very basic to the "Ooooh, I hadn't thought about that before!" Once you have a general idea of your character, who they are, what makes them tick, you can take it a step further, and have somebody interview you about your character. Tell them your general information and let them ask you the questions they, as a potential reader, are wondering.
To start, here are two lists of questions that we found interesting, helpful, exciting even. A great place to start! They range from the mundane to mind-bending. 1) The 100 Most Important Things to Know About Your Character 2) 1,000 Character Development Questions We also spent some time thinking up questions of our own, and we developed a pretty great list! Here are some examples to get you started: 1. How would your character react if he or she witnessed a crime in progress? 2. Has your character ever cheated on a significant other? 3. Does your character prefer to live alone or with others? 4. If your character has to eat dinner out alone, what do they do at the restaurant? 5. Does your character keep a journal? What is it like? 6. What are his or her greatest fears? 7. How does he or she handle criticism? 8. Does he or she possess reflective capabilities? 9. Is there any history of drug or alcohol abuse? 10. Does he or she have a mental or physical disability of any kind? Or the inverse, special abilities? 11. Describe an incident that has troubled your character. 12. What is your character's darkest bit of self-knowledge? 13. How would he or she respond to a homosexual approach? 14. Do they tend to give advice or need it? 15. If they chose their own death, what would that look like? 16. Does he/she believe in an afterlife? Multiple universes? 17. What are his or her biggest insecurities? 18. What gives your character anxiety? 19. What gives your character hope? Makes them feel hopeless? 20. Does your character prefer stability or change? 21. Is he or she closer to mom or dad? 22. After a good or bad day, who would they talk to about it? 23. What type of books does he or she read? 24. What is his or her spirit animal? 25. Do they like to travel? Where?
2 Comments
Christine
1/14/2016 08:26:43 pm
A timely fiction prompt from the most recent Poets&Writers newsletter:
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Christine
1/22/2016 12:24:45 pm
Thanks to Mikey for finding this one! "!1 Ways to Write a Character-Focused Story that is Still Action Packed"
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