Character Development Questions: 50 Questions to Know Your Character

Character Development Questions: 50 Questions to Know Your Character

You can't write a character you don't know. The fastest way to get to know one is to interview them. These 50 character development questions cover the past, the present, what goes on inside them and what the story will ask of them.

We answered a set of them for Nell Carrow, the harbourmaster from our mystery novel Low Water, in a note in Skrib. Here is what that looks like:

Don't answer all 50 at once. Pick the ten that make you uncomfortable. Those are usually the ones the story needs.

Past

1. What is their earliest memory?
2. Who raised them, and how?
3. What did they want to be as a child?
4. What is the worst thing that ever happened to them?
5. What do they regret most?
6. Who was the first person to let them down?
7. What did their family never talk about?
8. What were they good at, too young?
9. Where did they grow up, and do they miss it?
10. What secret do they still carry?

Present

1. What do they do all day?
2. Where do they live, and who with?
3. What do they want right now?
4. What are they afraid of?
5. What do they do when they can't sleep?
6. What is in their pockets?
7. What do they spend too much money on?
8. Who do they call in a crisis?
9. What would they grab in a fire?
10. What small thing makes them happy?

Do it in Skrib: create a note on your story board, paste in the questions you want, and answer them under each one. The note sits beside your plot, not in a forgotten file.

Inside

1. What lie do they believe about themselves?
2. What would they never say out loud?
3. How do they act under pressure?
4. What makes them angry fast?
5. What do they pretend not to care about?
6. What are they proud of?
7. What are they ashamed of?
8. How do they talk? What words do they overuse?
9. What do they notice first in a room?
10. What would make them cry in public?

Relationships

1. Who do they love most?
2. Who do they trust least?
3. Who do they owe?
4. Who owes them?
5. Who do they envy?
6. How do they act around someone they fancy?
7. Who knows the real them?
8. Who would they lie for?
9. Who have they lost touch with, and why?
10. What does their enemy get right about them?

In the story

1. What do they want in this story?
2. What do they actually need?
3. What stands in their way?
4. What will they lose if they fail?
5. What choice will scare them most?
6. What line won't they cross, and when will they cross it?
7. How are they different at the end?
8. What do they learn too late?
9. What would they say to themselves on page one?
10. Why is this their story, and nobody else's?

Turn the answers into a profile

The answers are raw material. The useful bits go into a short character profile: want, need, wound, flaw, arc and voice.

Do it in Skrib: pick the Character starting template for a note and the profile sections are ready. See the full walkthrough in how to create a character.

FAQ

How many character questions should I answer? Ten to fifteen per main character is plenty. Answer more only when you are stuck.

Should minor characters get questions too? Three is enough: what they want, what they fear, and how they talk.

Get to know your character in Skrib

Open a board, add a note for your character and answer ten questions tonight. Your profile, your plot and your draft all live in one tab.

Answer your character questions in Skrib