Writing Tips: 23 Questions For Character Building

Character building is more than just appearances. Here are a list of 23 questions to ask for every character you’re writing — for any genre. As well as some examples to help get your thought process flowing.

1. What Is Their Earliest Memory?

• with family
• with friends
• with pets
• with favorite toys

2. What Are Their Greatest Fears?

• dying
• failure
• losing loved ones
• spiders
• helicopters

3. What Nervous Ticks Do They Have?

• runs hand through hair
• picks skin around nails
• stutters
• blinks too much

4. What Was Their Homelife Like?

• divorced parents
• no parents
• parents were good
• lived with someone else
• lived with friends
• good homelife or bad homelife

5. What Do They Smell Like?

• perfume/cologne
• outdoors
• stinky
• baked goods
• campfire
• spices

6. What Do They Keep In Their Pocket/Bags And Why?

• family heirlooms
• trinket
• trash
• receipts
• writing utensil
• small pet

7. What Kind Of Clothes Do They Wear?

• latest fashion
• rugged, torn, worn
• second hand from family member
• hipster
• minimalist
• color palette (earth tones, black, rainbow)
• Patterns (stripes, plain, plaid, polka dots)

8. What Was Their Childhood Like?

• good/bad in school
• friends/friendless
• explorer/homebody
• deaths in family
• always getting into trouble

9. What Sleeping Habits Do They Have?

• never sleeps
• sleeps in every day
• has to sleep in a nice bed
• can’t sleep with pillows
• snores

10. What Biases Do They Hold Against People/Animals/Government?

• traumatic experiences
• prejudices
• racial thoughts
• painful memories
• hateful feelings

11. What Is Their Myers Briggs Acronym?

• Pretend you’re the character and take the test at this site
• introvert/extrovert (focusing attention)
• sensing/intuition (taking in information)
• thinking/feeling (making decisions)
• judging/perceiving (dealing with the world)

12. How Do They Feel About Money?

• giver
• saver
• spender
• stingy

13. What Is Their Biggest Flaw?

• racist
• hurtful
• aggressive
• aloof
• forgetful
• bitter

14. What Are Their Greatest Strengths?

• courageous
• helpful
• dependable
• special skills (SEE NUMBER 22)

15. What Does Their Body Look Like?

• hair color, length, texture
• face shape
• eye shape, color
• skin color, texture, ailments
• height
• weight
• build (athletic, scrawny, chubby)

16. What Makes Them Angry?

• injustice
• cruelty
• money
• love

17. What Makes Them Sad?

• past relationships
• death
• life
• family
• weather

18. What Do They Eat?

• only meat
• vegetarian
• omnivore
• vegan
• only things from nature
• only one food group

19. What Are They Worried About?

• the future
• the past
• the present
• their family
• their lover
• their money

20. What Is Their Spirit Animal?

• birds (hawks, owls, eagles, flamingos, hummingbirds)
• reptiles (geckos, snakes, turtles, alligators, chameleons)
• fish (clownfish, bass, catfish, stingrays)
• mammals (wolves, horses, cows, pigs, dolphins, cats, dogs, platypuses)
• insects (ladybugs, bees, butterflies, ants)

21. How Do They Feel About Love?

• distrustful
• slow to develop feelings
• quick to fall in love
• love everyone they see
• unable to love
• burned by love

22. What Special Skills Do They Have?

• painting
• singing
• dancing
• photography
• skiing
• running
• writing poetry
• playing an instrument
• gymnastics
• superpowers

23. What Is Their Greatest Failure?

• financial
• family
• friends
• work
• hobbies
• flunking out of school
• giving up on someone/something

What are some questions you use to develop characters in your writing? Comment below!

Bonus: If You Liked This Article Check Out…

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