Proust questionnaire

Marcel proust was a french writer who believed that people must know and understand
themselves before they could know or understand others. He developed a list of
subjective questions that he felt would help reveal to people their true selves and the
inner personalities of those around them.
Respond to the questions in any manner you choose, briefly or at length. The point is to
be honest with yourself. Some questions may require a few minutes of reflection, but
many are best answered by recording the first thought that enters your head.

What is your greatest fear?

What is your current state of mind?
What is your favorite occupation?(way of spending time)
What historical figure do you most identify with?
Which living person do you most admire?
Who is your favorite fictional hero?
Who are your real-life heroes?
What is your most treasured possession?
When and where were you happiest?
What is your most obvious characteristic?
What is the trait you most deplore (hate) in yourself?
What is the trait you most deplore in others?
What is your greatest extravagance?
What is your favorite journey?
What do you most dislike about your appearance?
What do you consider the most over-rated virtue?
On what occasion do you lie?
Which words or phrases do you most over-use?
If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be?
What do you consider your greatest achievement?
Where would you like to live?
What is the quality you most admire in a man?
What is the quality you most admire in a woman?
What is it you most dislike?
What do you value most in your friends?
How would you like to die?
If you were to die and come back as a person or an animal, what do you think it would
be?
If you could choose an object to come back as, what would you choose?
What is your motto (words you live by or that mean a lot to you)?
Who has been the greatest influence on you?
Developing Memorable Characters:

45 Questions to Create Backstories

Read more at Suite101: Developing Memorable Characters:: 45 Questions to Create

Backstories http://character-
development.suite101.com/article.cfm/developing_memorable_characters#ixzz0yeHck
yfQ

How much about your characters do you really know? Small details might seem
superfluous even irrelevant to the story you intend to write, but the smallest detail
informs the bigger picture. The more you know about your characters, the better you’ll
create believable characters who live and breathe on the page and in their own fictional
world.

Take time to answer each of these questions candidly and deeply. Expand your responses
to include other questions that may arise.

1. What do you know about this character now that s/he doesn’t yet know?
2. What is this character’s greatest flaw?
3. What do you know about this character that s/he would never admit?
4. What is this character’s greatest asset?
5. If this character could choose a different identity, who would s/he be?
6. What music does this character sing to when no one else is around?
7. In what or whom does this character have the greatest faith?
8. What is this character’s favorite movie?
9. Does this character have a favorite article of clothing? Favorite shoes?
10. Does this character have a vice? Name it.
11. Name this character’s favorite person (living or dead).
12. What is this character’s secret wish?
13. What is this character’s proudest achievement?
14. Describe this character’s most embarrassing moment.
15. What is this character’s deepest regret?
16. What is this character’s greatest fear?
17. Describe this character’s most devastating moment.
18. What is this character’s greatest achievement?
19. What is this character’s greatest hope?
20. Does this character have an obsession? Name it.
21. What is this character’s greatest disappointment?
22. What is this character’s worst nightmare?
23. Whom does this character most wish to please? Why?
 24. Describe this character’s mother.
25. Describe this character’s father.
26. If s/he had to choose, with whom would this character prefer to live?
27. Where does this character fall in birth order? What effect does this have?
28. Describe this character’s siblings or other close relatives.
29. Describe this character’s bedroom. Include three cherished items.
30. What is this character’s birth date? How does this character manifest traits of
his/her astrological sign?
31. If this character had to live in seclusion for six months, what six items would s/he
bring?
32. Why is this character angry?
33. What calms this character?
34. Describe a recurring dream or nightmare this character might have.
35. List the choices (not circumstances) that led this character to his/her current
predicament.
36. List the circumstances over which this character has no control.
37. What wakes this character in the middle of the night?
38. How would a stranger describe this character?
39. What does this character resolve to do differently every morning?
40. Who depends on this character? Why?
41. If this character knew s/he had exactly one month to live, what would s/he do?
42. How would a dear friend or relative describe this character?
43. What is this character’s most noticeable physical attribute?
44. What is this character hiding from him/herself?
45. Write one additional thing about your character.

THE ART OF CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT

As authors, it is our Duty

To create lovable, enticing Characters
And do horrible, evil things to Them.

This guide is designed to help people with writer's block, role-players of all levels, and
people who are just interested in psychology and philosophy as it applies to fiction. Here
you'll find tips, examples, suggestions, general information to aid in creating rounded
fictional characters for your stories and/or RPGs, and perhaps even information useful for
everyday life.
There are many aspects of character development, and your character could be nearly as
deep and complete as anyone you might know in real life. However, there are basic keys
to fleshing out a character that can help break through blocks and get you and your
creation on their way to a great story.

♦ Being informed is a vital part of all storytelling. Know your stuff so your character and
their world makes sense.

♦ Learn the importance of Point of View and Background. Seeing the world through the
eyes of others, no matter how different from you they are, makes for a great writer.

♦ Motivation and Alignment: "Good" VS "Evil", what drives your character.

♦ Flaws, Merits and Details: All the little (and major) quirks that make your character
more interesting.

♦ Exercises and Inspiration: The tools, games, and tricks to help you find your voice.

♦ Beyond Powergaming: A guide and explanation of role-playing for new gamers.

♦ Recommended Reading: Useful books and Guides.

The characters come before the story. Once you figure them out and set them loose, the
story unfolds on its own.

I can't emphasize enough the importance of being realistic, even/especially in fiction. A

writer can never be too informed. Remember, Knowledge is Power.

You've probably also heard the saying "write what you know". Now, to the science
fiction or fantasy writer this phrase may seem worthless. Write what I know? How can I
possibly learn all about or experience things that don't exist? Even fantasy can be built
upon a realistic foundation, and there are endless resources to build that foundation with.

Reading what other people have written to get a feel for a genre is always helpful, and
discussing things with friends never hurts either. Is your character a master of disguise?
Pick up a book, learn how it works. Are they a thief? What are some tricks thieves use?
How does one pick a lock? What's involved? Are they a knight in shining armor? Just
how easy is it to move around in a suit of armor? How about lifting those huge swords?
Can they get on a horse without help? PBS has some great programs just full of
information, as does the Discovery Channel and Animal Planet. Your local library is
invaluable, and of course endless information is just a Google away.
Pay close attention to animal anatomy for more fantastic creatures. Naturally you have to
fudge things to some extent sometimes for creatures that really don't exist, but it's
educated fudging. This makes it more realistic, even though it isn't real. For example,
one of my RP characters was a winged centaur (or rather a relative being half elk instead
of horse). While he turned out to be an absolutely beautiful and amusing fellow, he was
also over 8' tall at his head and weighed over 500 lb. Pretty as those feathered wings
were, there was no way he was lifting himself off the ground, they weren't big enough.
He could leap and glide a short distance, but if the party had to climb a rope or cliff he
was utterly useless - which was great fun to play out. Limiting characters makes them
more of a challenge, the more they struggle the more they grow and the more fun they
are, but I'm getting ahead of myself here.

Physiology, psychology, weaponry, philosophy... The world is at your fingertips. All you
have to do is look and/or ask. Having easily accessible reference is important for any
writer and/or artist, and having books on hand is the most convenient method for any
creative person. It's much easier to have information on hand than to remember it. I
personally hate having to return Library books, because as soon as I do I need it again. I
have shelves of reference that I am eternally thankful for and keep returning to again and
again. Especially since, while the internet is a valueable tool when it works, a useful
website may be there one day and gone the next.

Ask questions and look into all the available sources to find the answers. Sometimes,
you'll find answers to things you hadn't even thought of, and often your research will end
up inspiring you! There's many writer's guides available, based on research other authors
have done to help folks out. The more you know, the more realistic your story and more
involved your audience will feel.

This works for Art as well. Pay attention to the world around you, notice how things
work and look. It's important for a character, picture, place, world, to feel somehow
natural regardless of the style. Create a "morgue" (yes, that's the actual term) by cutting
out magazine pictures that remind you of characters, landscapes, items, or have positions
you find difficult to draw and keep them in a handy binder.

Sometimes you won't be able to find the answer you're looking for. Make a decision
based off of what you do know. Go with your gut and what feels right to you. It is
*your* character, and in the end only you and they will know what's best.

Back to Index
One of the key elements of character development is the ability to see through your
character's eyes. Get a good look at how they see the world, what they perceive as good
or bad and WHY they perceive it as good or bad.

You need to think about where that person came from. What their childhood was like,
their parents, peers, interests... if your character is an evil wizard, why did he choose to
become an evil wizard? Did he choose it? What was he like as a child? What was life like
growing up? What kind of environment is he used to? Asking yourself questions like
these is imperative to the development of your character, even if the readers never see
that part of it. The important thing is that you know.

The "why" of things is very important. Motive is for more than just detective stories. It is
a vital part of ALL storytelling. There must be a motive, and it needs to makes sense. A
good character is one that feels as real as a personal friend or enemy. Realism, no matter
what genre you're writing, helps bring that person to life.

We want to make our creations leap off the page and into the third dimension. To do that,
we need to make clear WHY they do what they do and feel how they feel. To just say,
"Well, he's just nuts, that's why," is a cop out. He might be insane, sure, but how so? How
long has he been insane? Was he born that way? If your character has a mental illness do
research and define it. Be specific. Even if you don't reveal to the readers just what
exactly is wrong with them, the fact that you know will make it that much more
believable. Readers/fellow roleplayers can sense when there's something going on they
aren't privy to and it keeps them coming back for more.

Here are some ideas of basic questions to ask your character to get a feel for his/her/its
history.

What was your childhood like? Who were your parents? Did you know them?
How do you feel about them? How do your parents feel about you? If your
parents didn't raise you who did and why? Did you have a lot of friends growing
up? What memories stand out? What impact did your childhood have on who you
are now? Do you have siblings? How big is your family? How close are they? Do
they keep in touch?

Where are you from? What culture did you grow up with? What culture do you
feel closest to? What traditions do you believe in? What weather are you used
to? How are you used to interacting with people? Are you used to people who
are different from yourself? What kinds of foods are you used to? What are you
willing to try? Do you believe in gender roles or certain types of moral behavior?
How do you feel about Politics? Religion? What do you base this on? How many
places have you lived? How has this impacted you? Is there somewhere that
stands out as home?
How do you earn a living? Is this the career you always wanted? Did you
dream of something else when you were young? Did you do something else
before? How long have you had this job/career/trade? What do you like about it?
What do you hate about it? What exactly does it involve? Ideally, what do you
want? Is money or the job more important? Have you had to sacrifice money for
job satisfaction or vice versa? Did you have to work hard to get to your skill level,
or did you go with her natural strengths or both?

Who was your first love? Did you even have a first love? What is your
perception of romance? Is that what you want? Why did or didn't it work out?
What happened? Have you fallen in love since? Have you tried to avoid it? Are
you searching for a soul mate? Do you care? Why? Do you have children? That
you know of?

If you have a culture in mind already that has a basis in reality or an established fantasy
world, look into those cultures, read as much as you can about them and see what strikes
you as true to that character or different about that character from the norm. The same
goes for worlds and cultures of your own creation. Figure out as much as you can about
the world, then how your character fits (or doesn't fit) in.

Challenge yourself. Work with creations that are very different from yourself. They need
to be their own person. A story full of characters that are just like you loses it's
credibility. Each character should be their own unique person with personalities all their
own.

Especially with characters you strongly disagree with or have a very different perception
of reality than, you need to be able to argue their side of it to be able to write for them in
a believable way. When you can understand how they feel and what they think, they will
become more realistic when they interact with other characters. This doesn't mean you
have to change your mind and agree with them. All it means is that you are able to see
where they are coming from and how this influences their behavior.

Learning these skills can even be useful in your real everyday life. The practice of using a
combination of imagination and knowledge to better understand the "why" of what
people do is a huge step towards compassion. When you understand things from the point
of view of someone you don't even like, never mind agree with, it makes it harder to
foster hate. Putting oneself in the shoes of someone they've long thought to hate, and
seeing them as another rounded human being, can do wonders for the spirit and for a
person's happiness.

Back to Index
People are simply too complicated to really be classified as "good" or "evil". Intent is
everything, and a person can do bad things for the right reasons, or the right things for the
wrong reasons, etc. ... There are unlimited possibilities for you to play with.

Particularly when role-playing, however, one may need to choose what alignment they
are. Evil? Good? Neutral? The last is the norm, and people will lean toward good or bad
depending on the situation, their beliefs, and past experiences. Since this plays back and
forth throughout their life, chances are, most characters will view themselves as good
regardless of their actual leanings. But if you must have a clear definition to separate the
good from the bad ... selfishness is the most accurate I can think of.

A "villain" will generally be greedy, or mainly concerned with selfish goals. Their own
survival and success comes above everything else. Look out for number one. The "hero"
on the other hand will be concerned with the welfare of others over themselves. Others
come first.

Sometimes, however, one might have a villain who means well, but simply has the wrong
idea or makes things worse through ineptitude. On the flip side is the hero who seems
good, but does everything "helpful" for selfish reasons or is driven by recognition. Keep
in mind that whether the fruits of their labor is good or bad is not automatically
determined by their alignment.

Basically... People are complicated and each have their own unique perception of good
and evil.

Then of course there is the ever lovable "Anti-Hero". Not evil and certainly no Dudley
Doright either. These sorts of characters have a special place in this writer's heart. The
sort of person who does what they feel like they must, gripes about it, glowers and
scowls, and you can't help but grow really fond of despite it all.

There are endless ways to handle the forces of "good" and "evil" but here are some
guidelines to help you round out interesting and enticing goodies and badies.

A "good guy" does what is right. Overcomes, or tries to overcome, the conflicts for the
betterment of mankind. They respect life and one thing must always remain true, no
matter what kind of "hero" you are working with .... they must grow.

A "good" character must grow and learn and develop over time. Be it in a book, movie,
or tv sitcom, Stagnation is never good, and the audience comes away feeling like "what
was the point of that?" By this I don't mean to just jump in and change your character
completely. A 180 degree change in personality just doesn't happen without some kind of
science-fiction element involved. Small things, gradually, or one big thing that has an
influence on your character's life in a natural timeframe. Something must develop to keep
readers interested. They can't just stay exactly the same. Baby-steps toward becoming a
better or wiser person can do wonders for a character, just like it can for the rest of us.

Generally, a "good" person will not kill unless in self defense, and even then they feel
bad about it. They'll want to do the right thing, even if they're not at all sure what the
right thing is. They mean well, but they are not flawless. No one is flawless. Even
Superman needed kryptonite. No one is perfect nor should fictional characters be.
Invincibility is boring and it negates the possibility of conflict and growth. From pet-
peeves to deep seeded phobias, a "hero" should be a complete person, with hopes, fears,
weaknesses, and convictions.

Good is in the eye of the beholder; they can be the sort who follows the letter of the law,
the sort who just does what they feel is right regardless of laws (or sometimes despite of),
or one who hesitates in between. But no matter which, these characters desire to do what
is right and that is what drives them in the long run. That is what they strive for and that
is what makes a Hero.

These characters can act as either protagonist or antagonist, and often both at once being
the source (or one of) of their own problems. These are some of my favorites. Sometimes
they feel compelled to do the right thing, sometimes they prefer to do the selfish thing.
They're hard to pin down and sometimes you won't even be able to tell whose side they
are on. Often, they don't know themselves.

Though they may perceive themselves as one or the other, the actions of these characters
will usually prove otherwise. That is how it is for most alignments though; actions speak
louder than words. Nobody walks up to a stranger and introduces themself as good, evil
or otherwise. At least, not remotely mentally stable people.

A neutral character leaves things wide open and can range from eager adventurous folk,
who "want in", to solemn homebodies who just want the insanity to stop. A villain or
hero's sidekick may be neutral and play the devil's advocate. Maybe they're a lovable
anti-hero stuck in the middle of things and ready to have a meltdown at any moment.
There are endless possibilities here.

This is where the majority lies, both in fiction and reality. Somewhere between
selfishness and martyrdom, too complicated to classify. The main thing that generally
that makes the heroes heroes and the villains villains are circumstances and times when
they're really under pressure. Till actions speak otherwise, most everyone lies in
neutrality.
Villains are the vital element that make the story move. When people sit down to read a
book, see a movie, read RP message boards etc ... they want to be enthralled. They want
adventure! CONFLICT! The villain is the person or thing which provides these things.
Without conflict, there is no story!

Seeing as how a villain is so very important they must be well rounded, thought out, and
above all interesting. I've found myself adoring villains in some stories and movies far
more than I cared for the heroes. We should be able to love to hate them, or adore them
despite ourselves. When we can do that, then we know we've got a great stinker on our
hands or a truly admirable mastermind.

A villain must must have a motive. They need to have a reason behind their wicked
deeds. They must have a personality, something beyond just evil cackling and witty
come-backs. Like any other person, they have fears, desires, hopes, dreams ... and of
course weaknesses.

It is also important to remember that "Evil" is not always obvious, in fact is far more
effective when under the guise of something else. The key, as I said before, is selfishness.
A villain is the guy on a sinking ship who pushes the women and children out of the way
so that he can get out safely. He may know how wrong it is, but be acting out of an
overwhelming sense of self-preservation (cowardly or arrogant).

Often, the villain won't consider him or herself a villain at all. They might view
themselves in the right and even mean well. A villain doesn't always think of him or
herself as evil, nor want to. Point of view, as always, is key. A person may do the wrong
thing for the right reason just as easily as the right thing for the wrong reason. The hero,
through this sort of villain's eyes, is the one who is evil and trying to ruin everything.
They have reason for what they do and in their own minds are justified. Sometimes
another person or situation is their driving force, and it's "pressure from above" that's
driving them to desperate measures.

An antagonist will often be knowingly breaking the law, but that certainly isn't always
true. Sometimes they are the law, or they keep their wicked deeds within the law making
things that much more complicated for the poor protagonist. Villains aren't always
criminals.

Don't limit yourself. The best "bad guys" are complicated with as many flaws, quirks, and
just as interesting and compelling as the protagonist trying to stop them.

Back to Index
Notice I put flaws first here. Both in writing and roleplaying, a common mistake is
having the merits outweigh the flaws. Everyone has good things about them, talents and
skills, and this is an important part of any character, but what makes readers relate to
them are the flaws and weaknesses.

People can't relate to perfection. In fact, "perfect" characters tend to irritate most people.
So unless that's what you're going for, it's best to take balance into consideration. For
example, which X-Man is more popular? Cyclops "Mr. Perfect" or Wolverine with the
attitude problem? Most people are more fond of Wolverine because his temperment make
him more interesting and easier to relate to.

Skills, abilities, high statistics, can all be overdone. You can overdo it with flaws as well,
but instead of being more distant the character usually becomes comic relief instead.
Exaggerated flaws also move the character away from realism. Balance is the key and
though your story/character may be on the more fantastical side of things, *knowing* the
balance will help keep you on track for the direction you want to take your character in.

Take, for example, a vampire. Vampires come with a list of typical merits (strength,
immortality, shapeshifting, ect.) and flaws (fear of crosses, inability to stand sunlight, no
reflection, ect.) depending on what traditions you're going by. Personality flaws can
spice things up. Say the vampire is also scared of the dark, or gets ill at the sight of
blood. Maybe they're picky about the type of blood they consume, or they're not very
good at covering up the undead identity around mortals. Maybe they need glasses, or
have a pet peeve about vampire stereotypes. The more difficult things are for your
character one way or another, the more interested people will be.

I'll also use a couple of my own roleplaying characters as examples as well. I played a
young Zephyr (which is rather like a petite elf with wings) druidess in one of the first
online RPGs I got involved with. She was very cute and frail, also very shy and with a
massive distaste for violence, due to an abusive upbringing, with a stutter to her speech.
The distaste for violence was a huge flaw as just about every adventure involved battles
you need to level up. However, because she was a healer and used various non-violent
spells to defend herself, she functioned just fine as well as standing out as someone
unusual in the party. While she didn't level very fast, she was well-liked and looked after
as a little sister by many adventurers in the Inn.

Flaws give us challenges that force us to be creative and get around them in order to
progress.

Another character of mine is a Gorgon (aka Medusa, D&D style) that was a bit
controversial at first because a character who can turn people into stone by looking at
them is a little too powerful for a player character in a roleplaying game. To make her
playable, I gave Nyssa a past in which she accidentally turned her love to stone, and the
guilt drove her to wear a mask with no eyes and hide her identity whenever she goes
about people. She deliberately lives as if she's blind and searches for a way to rid herself
of the stone "curse". Another flaw is being cold-blooded, so when it gets very cold out or
if she's out of the sun too long she gets very lethargic.

I have a blast with this character. Extremely powerful, but refuses to live up to that
potential as well as giving other players an opportunity to pay more attention to sound
descriptions. Challenging, unusual, and oddly likeable. I got to play the monster race I
wanted, but made her someone the others could associate with. In her eyes, her very
nature is a flaw.

Flaws provide much needed conflict, and along with merits are a natural part of what
makes your character special and unique. Don't be afraid to look for trouble. Trouble is
what keeps things interesting.

Knowing your character is key, and I don't just mean the facts that directly effect the
story line. The role-players especially should think about the little details. These give
your creation life and make it easier to react to any given situation without missing a
beat.

We're not talking about flaws this time, but rather your character's quirks. Everyone has
odd little habits, pet peeves, favorite foods, colors, music, perhaps phobias, things that
embarrass them, things they are proud of, style as far as clothing.... there is so many little
things to consider. I can't cover everything, but we can go over some basics to get you
started.

The idea is to develop a complete, rounded, complex and believable person. Think of it as
acting as their historian, observing them and recording what you see as no other historian
can. Unless you're deliberately writing a Mary Sue (self insertion) character, your
creation should be a distinctly separate unique personality.

Here are some questions to give you an idea of things which are helpful to consider:

What kinds of foods What does he do to

Does she have any hobbies?
does she like? unwind?

How does he Any religious or Optimist, pessimist or realist?

decorate his home? spiritual beliefs? If
 so, what?

Does she dress for What just irritates

What kind of art catches her attention?
style or comfort? the hell out of him?

Is he allergic to Easy or hard to Any habits for idle hands? Nail biting,
anything? embarrass? fidgeting, etc?

Like to dance, or
wild horses couldn't What kinds of things would they take
Any addictions?
drag em on the offense to?
dance floor?

Any phobias? Are

Who do they trust? What are they like when they get sick?
they sensitive to
Why? Tough? Whiny?
changes in weather?

What kinds of
What kind of music What makes them
movies/shows/books/entertainment do
do they love? hate? laugh? Ticklish?
they like?

Do they like What do they take What do they notice about the opposite
kids/animals? pride in? sex/same sex?

What's their sleep

What's their
schedule/habits Do they have a favorite color/item?
astrological sign?
like?

Anything you can think of will be helpful. Let the character speak to you. Let them
comment on anything that they may find interesting or distasteful that you come across in
research and everyday life. Anything that they can relate to. Every little bit helps, even if
it never actually comes up in the storyline. Even though it's important and helpful for you
to know all this, remember that the audience doesn't need to know all these details.
Trying to include everything could ruin the flow of the story, but the fact that you know
will make a difference.
100 Character Development Questions for Writers
February 12, 2007 02:57 AM EST (Updated: April 26, 2008 10:15 PM EDT)

views: 32824 | comments: 38

These 100 Character Development questions, written by my friend Rich Taylor, have
come in handy so many times for me as a writer! I put Michael through these questions
as I was working on his character development, way back when he was brand new to
me and we knew nothing about each other. I learned a ton of stuff about who he was,
and also I learned a lot about how I wanted to approach telling his story. 

 
My advice is to do the questions a bit a time so you don't burn out on them. Just when
you have some quiet time, sit down with your character (perhaps over a cup of tea) and
let them answer the questions naturally. Skip any that do not apply to your character or
world setting.

I think this is really how Michael 'came to life', through this character interview.  If you
are not in the habit of talking to your characters and find this whole process quite silly, 
suspend your disbelief. Even if you are not writing the story in first person, you will still
learn so many things about your character and how to write them. It's well worth the time
invested.

When I wrote my novel, I was pressed for time so I didn't complete all of the questions.
You can choose a few at random, even. You'll be surprised what you learn!

 If anyone is curious, I can post Michael's character interview as a separate post to show
you what it turned out like.

THE 100+ QUESTIONS

Welcome to over one hundred of the dumbest questions about your character. These are
things that, if someone were to ask you in real life, you could answer without giving it
any thought whatsoever. Most characters, however, can't answer this because authors
never think about it - it's unimportant. Well, these things are going to help you define you
character more.

Some tips: Answer these in character, but only in a situation where your character would
be 100% honest with themselves and with the person asking the question. Otherwise,
answer as an author, and still be 100% honest.
 

Mandatory Questions

1. What about you is heroic?

2. What about you is social? What do you like about people?
3. Of what benefit could you be to the current group?
4. Why would you choose to join the current group?
5. Invent an adventure/plot that your character would actively undertake (as opposed
to just tagging along)?

Personal Questions

1. What is your real, birth name? What name do you use?

2. Do you have a nickname? What is it, and where did you get it?
3. What do you look like? (Include height, weight, hair, eyes, skin, apparent age, and
distinguishing features)
4. How do you dress most of the time?
5. How do you "dress up?"
6. How do you "dress down?"
7. What do you wear when you go to sleep?
8. Do you wear any jewelry?
9. In your opinion, what is your best feature?
10. What's your real birth date?
11. Where do you live? Describe it: Is it messy, neat, avant-garde, sparse, etc.?
12. Do you own a car? Describe it.
13. What is your most prized mundane possession? Why do you value it so much?
14. What one word best describes you?

Familial Questions
 

1. What was your family like?

2. Who was your father, and what was he like?
3. Who was your mother, and what was she like?
4. What was your parents marriage like? Were they married? Did they remain married?
5. What were your siblings names? What were they like?
6. What's the worst thing one of your siblings ever did to you? What's the worst thing
you've done to one of your siblings?
7. When's the last time you saw any member of your family? Where are they now?
8. Did you ever meet any other family members? Who were they? What did you think of
them?

Childhood Questions

1. What is your first memory?

2. What was your favorite toy?
3. What was your favorite game?
4. Any non-family member adults stick out in your mind? Who were they, and how did
you know them? Why do they stick out?
5. Who was your best friend when you were growing up?
6. What is your fondest, childhood memory?
7. What is your worst childhood memory?

Adolescent Questions

1. How old were you when you went on your first date?
2. It is common for one's view of authority to develop in their adolescent years. What is
your view of authority, and what event most affected it?
3. What were you like in high school? What "clique" did you best fit in with?
4. What were your high school goals?
5. Who was your idol when you were growing up? Who did you first fantasize about in
your life?
6. What is your favorite memory from adolescence?
7. What is your worst memory from adolescence?

Occupational Questions

1. Do you have a job? What is it? Do you like it? If no job, where does your money come
from?
2. What is your boss or employer like? (Or publisher, or agent, or whatever.)
3. What are your co-workers like? Do you get along with them? Any in particular? Which
ones don't you get along with?
4. What is something you had to learn that you hated?
5. Do you tend to save or spend your money? Why?

Likes & Dislikes Questions

1. What hobbies do you have?

2. Who is your closest mundane friend? Describe them and how you relate to them.
3. Who is your worst mundane enemy? Describe them and why you don't get along.
4. What bands do you like? Do you even pay attention?
5. What tape or CD hasn't left your player since your purchased it? Why?
6. What song is "your song?" Why?
7. What's been your favorite movie of all time?
8. Read any good books? What were they?
9. What do you watch on the Television?
10. When it comes to mundane politics, do you care? If so, which way do you tend to
vote? If not, why don't you care?
11. What type of places do you hang out in with your mundane friends?
12. What type of places do you hang out in with your normal friends?
13. What annoys you more than anything else?
14. What would be the perfect gift for you?
15. What's the most beautiful thing you've ever seen?
16. What time of day is your favorite?
17. What kind of weather is your favorite?
18. What is your favorite food? What is your least favorite food?
19. What is your favorite drink? (Coffee, Coke, Juice, Beer, Wine, etc.)
20. What's your favorite animal? Why?
21. Do you have any pets? Do you want any pets? What kind?
22. What do you find most relaxing? (Not as in stress relief, but as something that
actually calms you down.)
23. What habit that others have annoys you most?
24. What kind of things embarrass you? Why?
25. What don't you like about yourself?
26. How would you like to look?

Sex & Intimacy Questions

1. Would you consider yourself straight, gay, bi, or something else? Why?
2. Who was the first person you had sex with? When did it happen? What was it like?
How well did it go?
3. Have you ever had a same-sex experience? Who with, what was it like, and how did it
go?
4. What is your deepest, most well-hidden sexual fantasy? Would you ever try it?
5. What was the wildest thing you've ever done, sexually? Who was it with and when
did it happen?
6. Is there any sexual activity that you enjoy and/or practice regularly that can be
considered non-standard? (Bondage, Fantasy Play, etc.) Why do you like it?
7. Is there any sexual activity that you will not, under any circumstances, do?
8. Do you currently have a lover? What is their name, and what is your relationship like?
What are they like? Why are you attracted to them?
9. What is the perfect romantic date?
10. Describe the perfect romantic partner for you.
11. Do you ever want to get married and have children? When do you see this
happening?
12. What is more important - sex or intimacy? Why?
13. What was your most recent relationship like? Who was it with? (Does not need to be
sexual, merely romantic.)
14. What's the worst thing you've done to someone you loved?

Drug & Alcohol Questions

1. How old were you when you first got drunk? What was the experience like?
Did anything good come out of it? Did anything bad come out of it?
2. Do you drink on any kind of regular basis?
3. What kind of alcohol do you prefer?
4. Have you ever tried any other kind of "mood altering" substance? Which one(s)?
What did you think of each?
5. What do you think of drugs and alcohol? Are there any people should not do? Why or
why not?

Morality Questions

1. What one act in your past are you most ashamed of? What one act in your past are
you most proud of?
2. Have you ever been in an argument before? Over what, with who, and who won?
3. Have you ever been in a physical fight before? Over what, with who, and who won?
4. What do you feel most strongly about?
5. What do you pretend to feel strongly about, just to impress people?
6. What trait do you find most admirable, and how often do you find it?
7. Is there anything you think should not be incorporated into the media or art (sex,
violence, greed, etc.,)? If so, what and why, and if not, why not?
8. Do you have any feelings in general that you are disturbed by? What are they? Why
do they disturb you?
9. What is your religious view of things? What religion, if any, do you call your own?
10. Do you think the future is hopeful? Why?
11. Is an ounce of prevention really worth a pound of cure? Which is more valuable?
Why do you feel this way?
12. What's the worst thing that can be done to another person? Why?
13. What's the worst thing you could actually do to someone you hated?
14. Are you a better leader or follower? Why do you think that? If you think the whole
leader-follower archetype is a crock of shit, say so, and explain why?
15. What is your responsibility to the world, if any? Why do you think that?
16. Do you think redemption is possible? If so, can anyone be redeemed, or are there
only certain circumstances that can be? If not, why do you think nothing can redeem
itself?
17. Is it okay for you to cry? When was the last time you cried?
18. What do you think is wrong with MOST people, overall?

Post-Supernatural Awareness Questions

1. When did you go through whatever made you supernatural? What was it like (in your
opinion)?
2. What do you think now of being supernatural? Is it cool, or have you been screwed?
3. Do you have a mentor? Who are they? How did you become their student?
4. Do you have any magical items? Where did you get them?
5. What do you think of the other denizens of the World of Darkness? Why for each? (If
you haven't met something, do you think it exists, and if it does, is that bad or good?)
6. Think of a major event that happened during your training/initiation. What was it?
7. What is something you had to learn during your training that you hated? Why did you
hate it?

Miscellaneous Questions
 

1. What is the thing that has frightened you most? Do you think there is anything out
there that's scarier than that? What do you think that would be?
2. Has anyone or anything you've ever cared about died? How did you feel about it?
What happened?
3. What was the worst injury you've ever received? How did it happen?
4. How ticklish are you? Where are you ticklish?
5. What is your current long term goal?
6. What is your current short term goal?
7. Do you have any bad habits? If so, what are they, and do you plan to get rid of them?
8. If you were a mundane person, what would you do with your life? What occupation
would you want, and how would you spend all your time?
9. What time period do you wish you had lived in? Why? (Looking at this as an attempt
to change history doesn't count.) What appeals to you about this era?
10. How private of a person are you? Why?
11. If you were to gain an obscenely large sum of money (via an inhertiance, a lawsuit, a
lottery, or anything else) what would you do with it?
12. What would you wish for if you found a genie?
13. What do you do when you are bored?
14. What is the most frightening potential handicap or disfigurement you can conceive
of? What makes it so frightening?
 

This 100 Character Devolpment Questions essay test was developed by my friend Rich
Taylor. He

HOLLY LISLE
How to Create a Character
No matter what sort of fiction you're writing, you're going to have to populate your
story with characters, and a lot of them, if not all of them, you're going to have to
create from scratch. Unfortunately – or maybe fortunately – there is no Betty Crocker
Instant Character-In-A-Can that you can mix with water and pop into the oven for
twenty minutes. There aren't any quick and easy recipes, and I don't have one either,
but I do have some things that have worked for me when creating my characters, and
some things that haven't. You may find my experiences useful. For what they're
worth, here are my Do's and Don'ts.
Character Creation Do's and Don'ts

Don’t start your character off with a name or a physical description.

I know this doesn't seem logical at first glance – after all, you name a baby before you
get to know him very well. Why wouldn't you give your character a name and blue
eyes before you find out anything else about him?
There are a couple of reasons. The first is that you have a lot of preconceived ideas
about names and body types. Perhaps every Charlie you ever knew was a great guy,
while every Barry you knew was an idiot. So when you decide to name your
protagonist Charlie before you really get to meet him, he is automatically going to
carry along a lot of baggage that you probably aren't even going to be aware of – but
that baggage will subtly influence the direction of your story, and perhaps its
outcome. And that influence won't necessarily be a benefit to your story. In the same
way, maybe your heart has been broken twice by redheads, or the gorgeous surfer you
dated briefly stole your credit card, did drugs in the back seat of your car and got your
twin sister pregnant before dumping you and vanishing from your life forever. So you
might be carrying a grudge against redheads or good-looking men, and you might
have a tendency to make every redhead in your books a bitch, or every hunk a creep
in disguise.
Second, if you have a name and a physical description right away – Jane Meslie, 37,
blonde with bright blue eyes and great legs and a habit of flipping her hair out of her
face when she's frustrated – you're going to be tempted to look no deeper that her
appearance. When she gets into trouble, you're going to fall back on that hair-flipping
thing, and she's going to do it so often she'll be bald by the end of the book.

Do start developing your character by giving him a problem, a dramatic

need, a compulsion.

Even if you don't have the foggiest idea what your story is going to be about yet, you
don't know where it's going to take place, and you haven't found anything compelling
that you'd like to say to an audience of more than one, you can do this. Say “My main
character wants _____ more than anything else in the world.”
What does the character want? Love, respect, courage, revenge, a kidney for his kid
sister, to find the son she gave up for adoption when she was sixteen? Throw
something down on the paper. It won't be written in stone and you can always go
back later and change it. Or you can, when you create the character, bank him for a
later book if he doesn't fit your needs once you get rolling. In writing as in life,
nothing you do is ever wasted. So go ahead and jump in. Your character wants
something. If he's like most people, he wants several somethings, and about the time
you allow yourself to start discovering them, you'll begin to find out where your story
is going, and what it will be about.
He also wants to avoid something – and these things the character wants to avoid can
be more compelling by far that the things he hopes to gain. What scares him to death?
Humiliation, disfigurement, pain, terminal illness, poverty? What will he do anything
to avoid? What has he already done to avoid his greatest fears? Give him something
that will wake him up in a cold sweat in the middle of the night, hands clutching his
covers, body rigid with terror. If you want to really make your character come to life,
choose something that terrifies you – you'll find that when you write something that
makes you shake, you'll make your reader shake, too.

A rule of good storytelling is that the protagonist will confront the thing he fears the
most and overcome it in order to win the thing he desires the most. This isn't a hardand-
fast rule, and for every book where the writer followed it, you'll find at least one
where the writer ignored it completely. But overall, the most satisfying stories will at
least approach this rule.

Don’t rely on crutches.

I've read a number of otherwise-decent writing books that have you start out creating
your character by giving him a hook – some little device that characterizes the
person. Nervous whistling, jangling car keys kept in the right front pocket, a complete
wardrobe of blue shirts, the anxious stroking of a rabbit's foot in moments of deep
stress.
It doesn't hurt to do this, but I recommend that you do it later rather than sooner –
perhaps at about the same time that you name your character. Maybe even later – say
when you're in the middle of chapter three and you need your character to do
something while talking to the bank teller that will make her wary.
And don't mistake a few nervous tics and a jaunty saunter for characterization. Your
own character is what's inside of you – what you're made of when things get ugly and
hard; whether you'll take something that doesn't belong to you if no one is looking,
whether you'll tell the truth even if lying is easier, whether you'll be faithful to you
wife when presented with the perfect opportunity for a no-strings-attached onenighter.
Your character has nothing to do with whether you wipe your bangs out of
your eyes with the back of your hand or always wear something yellow, and the same
is true of the people you'll be creating and writing.

Do empathize with your character.

This is sometimes easy. When you're writing your protagonist, and he's in deep soup,
and you're pouring your soul into his struggles and his angst and spending plenty of
words and sweat making making people see that he's a great guy in a tough spot, the
empathy will be there. You'll know who he is and you'll care because you'll see
yourself as him in the same spot. In the dreams you've had since you were a little kid,
you've been the hero. You know how the routine is supposed to go.
Sometimes empathy comes a lot harder, though, and I think it's most important when
it's hard. Recently I had to write the toughest scene in my life, a scene where a
woman that I've gone to a great deal of trouble to make sympathetic over the course
of a book and a half does something so utterly reprehensible, so unforgivable, that if
I've done it right the readers will be praying for her death from that moment on.
Given the choice between doing something right and doing something evil, she
chooses the path of evil, and in the moment of her choosing lies the fate of her world
and the rest of the story.
But her choice couldn't come out of the blue. I had to build toward it. I had to make
what she did understandable, and in order to do that, I had to be able to understand it
myself. It was a truly terrible act, one of the most horrible things I am capable of
imagining, and when I wrote the scene, tears ran down my face and I got queasy and I
got cold and when I was through I went to bed and cried. I had to put myself in the
place where that character was, and she was in hell, and she did a hellish thing – but
she did it with my hands, and my mind, and my eyes.

When you write, you can only write those things you know (or the things you know
will be the only things you write well, anyway.) So when you write the villain, you
have to be the villain. You have to understand why the villain acts as he does, you
have to know that if you were him in that situation, you would do as he does –
because if you can't do this, no one who reads what you have written will believe in
the characters you have created. Empathy in those moments is an agony. You have to
look into the darkest part of your soul and find the part of yourself that could be a
monster, and you have to put that on the page for people to see. There's no easy way
past this, because your hero can only be as great as the evil he overcomes. If you can't
face the evil in yourself, you hero will only overcome straw villains, and your work
will lie flat and lifeless on the page.

Don’t sympathize with your character.

Empathy and sympathy are two sides of one coin – empathy is understanding, while
sympathy is an affinity you share with your character that creates change, allowing
the character to affect you. You must feel empathy for the characters you create, both
the heroes and the villains, but you can never feel sympathy. In other words, you have
to understand why your characters do what they do, but you can't let that
understanding tempt you to ease their suffering, or let them take the easy way out of
situations, or experience sudden miracles that remove their obstacles.

Finally, do write from your own life.

This is no picnic, either, but it's the single technique that has brought my best
characters to life. I've found that when I take my worst moments, the painful,
humiliating, disastrous, or simply dreadful ones that still make me cringe inside, and I
change them enough to keep from getting sued, they make good fiction. And my
responses, translated to the character, seem to live.
You can only write what you know, but you can take the fears and hopes and feelings
you've experienced in a relatively mundane existence and translate them to a broader
canvas with imagination and persistence. The fear you felt the moment your car
almost slid over a guard rail or the elation you felt when you won first place on your
4-H project at the county fair translate very well into the fear your character feels on
finding himself at the edge of a cliff with a sword-wielding army at his back, or the
elation she feels on discovering the secret code that gives her access to the hidden
passageway.
All paintings are done from the same basic set of colors, and all characters are built
from the same basic set of responses and emotions. How you use these elements –
how you mix them and apply them – determines whether you'll end up with a
masterpiece or something not even your grandma would hang on her wall.
I hope this list helps you get started and stay headed in the right direction while you're
developing your characters. If you'd like to do more with this, do the Character
Workshop in the WRITING AND SELLING section of this book. You'll have a new
character when you're done.