Looking Deeper:  Who Is Your Main Character?

                                                                                                            Barbara Daniels

 

  1. The basics: What is the character’s gender? name? nickname? age? ethnic group? job? social class? political party? mode of transportation? favorite music? favorite food? vice?
  2. What’s your character’s family situation? What does or did his or her mother or father always warn him about?  Which family member is most like him or her?
  3. Who are his or her closest friends?  enemies?
  4. What was the most important event in the character’s life before the action of your story started? 
  5. What does the character most want now?  What stands in his or her way?
  6. What was the character’s favorite subject in school?  least favorite?
  7. If you snooped in his or her room for an hour, what hidden things would you find?
  8. What’s your character’s deepest secret?
  9. What’s your character’s pet preference?  dogs?  ferrets? goldfish?
  10. How does your character respond to an event in the news?
  11. What do your character’s friends secretly dislike about him or her?
  12. What recurring dream or daydream does your character have?
  13. What three objects would the character grab if the house were on fire?
  14. What recent email or letter did the character send or receive?
  15. If your character could have three wishes granted, what would they be?
  16. What’s your character’s favorite item of clothing?
  17. What is your character’s most profound regret?
  18. What does your character secretly collect?
  19. What’s one thing that happened when the character was a child  that he or she rarely tells anyone about?
  20. Complete the following statement five times, using specific, interesting details.

___ is the sort of person who___________      

  1. What’s a plan your character has but hasn’t mentioned to anyone else yet?
  2. What does your character often say?  often think but not say aloud?
  3. What part of your character’s body is he or she most uneasy about?
  4. What aspect of your character’s past haunts him or her the most?
  5. Your character has done something recently but doesn’t know why.  What was it?
  6. Your character has told or has been tempted to tell a lie recently.  What was it?
  7. What does your character believe in so strongly that it affects his or her actions?
  8. What does the character do that’s typical of people his or her age?  that’s not typical?
  9. What past job did the character lose or leave? 
  10. In what ways is the character not what he or she seems to be?
  11. What is your character’s sexual history? 
  12. What superstition or urban myth does the character sometimes suspect might be true?
  13. What has the character read recently that he or she finds hard to forget?
  14. What talent or ability does the character have that he or she tends to underrate?
  15. What animal does your character remind you of?
  16. In which of the character’s habitual settings does he or she feel least at home?
  17. What’s the character’s earliest memory?
  18. What mistake has the character made recently?  Whose trust has he or she betrayed?
  19. What has the character stolen?  given away?
  20. What does he or she own that’s surprising?
  21. What section of the newspaper does the character read first?
  22. What will the character’s situation be in five years?