Sep 03 2009
Character Development
I found a list of questions that my former creative writing teacher had given us to help us flesh out our characters while we were trying to develop our stories. I thought I would share them in case they could help others with their characters. Some of them are more necessary or helpful than others and I find that not all of them are applicable to every character but they can help a lot.
Basic:
What is their name?
How old are they?
Are they male or female?
Do they have siblings?
What is their parents status? (living? dead? divorced? never married? together?)
Do they have pets? Would they like pets?
Then things get a bit more in depth:
Are they in school? Did they like school? Did they finish school? Go to college? Serve in the Armed Forces? Were they a good student?
Do they have religion? what type? are they a holidays/special occasions worshipper or more devout?
What sort of social activities would they engage in?
If they were given a million dollars/pounds how would they spend it?
What is their living situation like? dorm? apartment? house? rent? own? with parents?
What was the best thing that happened to them in childhood? the worst? how did that affect their outlook?
What is their favorite food? music? movie? book? tv show?
Are they in love? have they ever been in love?
What’s their preference for a relationship?
What would they do with an afternoon off?
What’s their ideal job?
