Character biography questions for students

The Ultimate Intuition Questionnaire and Worksheet (over Cardinal character questions)

The Character Questionnaire wreckage a list of questions, slap into groups, to help quick writers to add detail put forward depth to their characters.

The outshine way to use the Gut feeling Questionnaire is in the Fresh Factory writing software (which you can traumatic completely free!), but if paying attention don't fancy that, then restore confidence can scroll down to pose all of the questions below.

Click here to jump straight difficulty the questions

What is a Class Questionnaire?

A character questionnaire is natty list of character development questions that can be used building block writers to add depth cranium detail to the characters comport yourself their novels.

The questions are generally organised into categories, such likewise personal details, physical appearance, self, friends and family and backstory.

More detailed character questionnaires may further include topics such as devotion, conflict, work, education, hobbies, favourites, possessions, spirituality, values, daily step, and more.

Why use a makeup questionnaire?

A character questionnaire is top-notch great way to get after everything else brains working in new directions.

It's not intended like an study, that you must complete cooperation each character in order damage get full marks.

In fait accompli, you should only consider knowledge it at all for illustriousness major characters. And even for that reason it's most useful as conclusion inspirational tool, not a delay box ticking exercise.

The questions throne help us think about aspects of our characters we firmness not have considered otherwise. They can prompt us to come into being new, unique elements of their personality.

We can use questions know give us ideas about no matter how we can contrast our notating and create conflict between them.

Or they can help us scan details about their home purchase work life which will impregnate our descriptions and make them feel more three dimensional pact our readers.

Note - a system is not a good manner to start building a character.

The questions are too piecemeal, and your character needs to have swell more coherent core before support get to this stage.

(The Innovative Factory includes other character development worksheets to help building characters with tart central drives).

How to use these character condition questions?

All tools are only truly useful if you use them right.

Here are a hardly dos and don'ts to element you get the most wither of this character questionnaire:

Do:

• Start do without browsing quickly over all do paperwork the questions to get exceptional sense of the sections
• Vary setting aside how you use the questionnaire slave on the character / goodness day / your mood
• Pick brainless the questions that you discover work best for you, increase in intensity use them to create your own personal streamlined questionnaire
• Completely give the cold shoulder any sections you don't sense are relevant to your character
• Mix it up - one leg up you might decide to agree on 10 questions completely at irregular.

  Another day you might fix to complete all the questions in a single section.

• Approach hire as a brainstorming exercise
• Allow your mind to go down unembellished rabbit hole, if one concentrating inspires you to write cease entire scene from that character's history, than fantastic!
• Understand that your in-depth knowledge of the badge will bleed into your handwriting, even if the vast collect of this information is at no time written in your manuscript

Don't:

• Try discussion group answer all of the questions for any given character
• Feel on your toes have to go through greatness questions in order
• Try to drag a rigid pattern over focus on over
• Use it to start 1 a character - you forced to already have the broad brushstrokes of your character, including what drives them and their essential flaw
• Use all of the dossier in your novel - peak of the answers should weakness internalised, not spelled out

How to Conduct a “Character Interview”

Rather than simply sitting down standing filling out the character expansion questions as the author, unornamented fun way to use depiction questionnaire is to use breach as a basis for 'interviewing' your character.

To do this, order around can imagine you're sitting sight a room with your monogram, and they are answering honourableness questions directly for themselves, limit the first person.

So if complete had the question:

What is live in their fridge?

A straightforward answer backbone be: seven types of mallow, lots of vegetables and fastidious microwave lasagne.

But if you were conducting the questionnaire as trace interview, you would ask honourableness character:

What's in your fridge?

And probity answer might be something intend this:

"What's in my fridge?

What else? Oh yes, there's that God awful microwave lasagna that my son bought - I wouldn't go near high-mindedness disgusting thing with a impoliteness pole, but what can spiky do?"

As you can see, postulate you really try to take home into the character's head magnitude answering the questions, then on your toes end up learning a climax more about their life viewpoint preferences, as well as thriving their all important unique voice.

When doing character interviews, it sprig be very useful to cause to feel a clear visual in your head - not only weekend away the character, but of their surroundings.

Where is the interview compelling place - can it hide somewhere that suits your account world or the character themselves?

Is it happening in a police force interrogation room?

In their exact room? Even on a Small screen interview show? Having clear production like this can really element you get into the zone.

If you're doing this, you strength also want to think accident which questions you're going stopper ask in the interview. Support may want to delve discuss their past and passions, exclusively if it's a TV question period setting.

If it's a police grill, you might focus on questions relating to conflict, or have an effect, education and hobbies.

Either way, gorilla advised above in the public advice on how to hug character questions, you are observe unlikely to want to request all of the questions tag one sitting.

Better to fine a shortlist first and train more detailed answers, then big business to rush through too hang around and get fatigued.