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200+ Character Development Questions: The Ultimate Questionnaire to Build a Character

Table of contents.

What is a character interview?
Why are character interviews important?
How to Use a Character Questionnaire
Basic Questions
Physical Attributes
Personality
Relationships
Values and Desires
Lifestyle and Habits
Emotions and Spirituality
1. What Do They Want Most?
2. What Is Their Greatest Fear?
3. What is Their Greatest Flaw?
4. What Is Their Character Type?

A lot can happen from the first time you think of a character, to when you begin writing them in your novel. One way to make things easier is to ask them a list of character development questions.

That’s right, I said ask them , i.e. your characters.

This is a discovery writing process that can be invaluable when beginning your story. Because the more you know your characters, the better your book will be.

What a character interview is
Why character interviews are important
How to conduct a character interview
A HUGE list of over 200 potential questions
Some of the most important questions to get right/li>

By far the best way to get to know your character is with a character interview. The character questionnaire allows you to think of things you might not otherwise have done, and help you discover your character.

But first, let’s cover some basics.

The character interview is a time-honored method of discovering your character, learning what makes them tick.

Think of the process like outlining, but instead of a plot, you’re outlining a character.

Character interviews are one of the best ways to develop your characters and make them feel like real people .

If you want to follow the same path that I took, get this template today!

It’s more than just building a character profile, although it can be that too. It’s a way to not only learn the outward characteristics, but dig deep into their soul.

You want to build a real person, and what better way to do it than to interview that person.

For the pantser , this may seem tedious, and unnecessary. You may prefer to discover the character as they write the novel.

But think of it this way.

By taking the time to get to know your character, you engage in the discovery process ahead of time. Once you have a solid character, they will begin to take on a live of their own in the plot.

To conduct your character questionnaire, simply imagine that you are sitting in a room with your main character. You are allowed to be as nosy as you want, and they will understand everything you say. You simply ask them questions and see how they respond.

Repeat this process for any other important characters in your story.

Whatever you do, don’t use every question on this list .

Your character is unique, and you should tailor the questions you ask to that person, just as a real-life journalist would do in a real interview.

Pro Tip: There are more ways to flesh out a character backstory, but actually writing out their answers as if you were interviewing them is how we recommend building your character arc. It allows for the best immersion, and gives you practice writing in their voice.

Make sure you already have the broad strokes of your character in mind already. You should not start from scratch.

However, if you are starting from scratch, you can browse through these questions to brainstorm ideas. And you can start with the basic questions to build the character, then flesh out from there.

List of Questions

Without further ado, here is our full list of questions to ask your character.

Once again, you don’t have to use all of them, and you don’t have to go in order. Simply choose what works for you, and run with that.

What is your Full name?
How do you feel about your name?
Does your name have any particular meaning/history?
Do you have any nickname?
When were you born?
What is your age?
Sexual orientation?
What is your height?
What is your weight?
How are you built? (Skinny, fat, stocky, well muscled, etc.)
What is your face shape?
What is your hair color?
How do you style your hair?
What is your eye color?
What is your eye shape?
Do you wear glasses or contact lenses? If glasses, what style?
Do you have any distinguishing facial features?
What is your most prominent facial feature?
What is your most prominent bodily feature?
What is your skin tone?
What is your race/ethnicity?
Do you wear makeup?
Do you have any scars, birthmarks, or tattoos?
Do you have any physical handicaps or disabilities?
What type of clothes do you typically wear? (at home, at work, out on the town, in bed)
Do you wear any kind of jewelry or accessories?
What type of shoes do you wear?
Do you have any mannerisms?
Would you say you are in good health?
Are there any words or phrases that you overuse?
What about a catchphrase?
Are you a glass-half-full or a glass-half-empty type of person?
Are you more introverted or extroverted?
What makes you laugh?
What is your love language? How do you show affection?
Do you have any mental disabilities?
What do you want others to think about you?
How do you see yourself?
What is your strongest aspect?
What is your weakest aspect?
How competitive are you?
Do you act on impulse or carefully think through decisions?
What happens if someone praises your work?
What happens if someone criticizes your work?
What is your greatest fear?
What is your biggest secret that you’ve never told anyone?
What is the purpose of life?
When did you last cry?
What haunts you?
What are your political views?
What will you stand for?
Who do you quote most often?
Do you prefer the indoors or the outdoors?
What is your guilty pleasure?
What personal trait do you rely on the most?
What do you value most in a friend?
If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be?
What are you obsessed with?
What are your pet peeves?
What is your greatest regret?

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Do you have a large family? Who are they?
What do you think of your family?
What is your current relationship with your parents?
Do you have siblings? Where do you come in?
Describe your best friend.
Who is your ideal best friend?
Who are your other friends?
Do you make friends easily?
Do you have any pets?
Who do you naturally get along with?
Who do you surprisingly get along with?
Do you believe in love at first sight?
Are you in a relationship?
How do you act in a relationship?
How many relationships have you had?
When was the last time you engaged in intimacy?
What kind of sex do you like to have?
How would you feel after a one-night stand?
How do you break up with someone?
Have you ever been in love?
Has anyone ever broken your heart?
Who do you trust?
Do you live with anyone? How do you get along with them?
Do you get along with your neighbors? Why?
How would your family describe you?
How would your lover describe you?
How would your boss describe you?
How would your enemy describe you?
What were you like as a baby/child?
Did you grow up rich or poor?
Were you nurtured or neglected in childhood?
What is the most offensive thing a person has ever said to you?
What has been your greatest achievement?
How was your first kiss?
What is the worst thing you did to someone you love?
What is your greatest ambition?
What advice would you give your younger self?
What smells remind you of home/your childhood?
What did you want to be when you grow up? Did it work out?
What is your favorite childhood memory?
What is your worst childhood memory?
Did you have any imaginary friends as a child?
What are you most ashamed of?
What are you most proud of?
Has anyone saved your life?
Were you ever bullied as a child?
What is the most embarrassing thing to ever happen to you?
What are your values?
What is the worst thing that can be done to a person?
What is freedom?
When did you last lie?
What is your view of lying?
Do you keep your promises?
Who is your hero?
If you could save one person, who would it be?
If you could ask for help from one person, who would it be?
What is your favorite proverb?
Do you believe in happy endings?
What is happiness?
What is your dream job?
What do you like to spend money on?
What is something you would never do?
What is something you would do that might surprise people?
Are you a leader, follower, or lone wolf?
Would you trade ten years of your life for money/beauty/intelligence?
How do you respond to a threat?
Do you prefer fighting with your fists or using diplomacy?
What is your kryptonite?
Your house is burning down, and you can only save one thing. What is it?
How do you view strangers?
What do you love to hate?
What are your phobias?
What is your ideal weapon?
Who do you most despise in the world?
What do you do when you get angry?
Who are your enemies? Why?
You witness a victimless crime, what do you do?
You’re at a bar, and someone spills your drink, what do you do?
Are you a forgiving person?
Is there anything in your past that you can’t forgive?
What are your bad habits?
What is your job?
What do you think about your job?
What other jobs have you had?
What are your hobbies?
What is your educational background?
Would you describe yourself as intelligent?
Do you have any specialist training?
Are you ‘naturally talented’ at anything?
Do/have you played a sport?
What is your socioeconomic position?
What is in your fridge?
What is in your car?
What kind of car do you drive?
What is in your pocket?
What is your most treasured possession?
Do you keep anything under your pillow? Next to your bed?
What are your eating habits?
Do you have any allergies?
What does your home look like?
Minimalist or hoarder?
Are you organized or disorganized?
Are you forgetful or easily distracted?
Right brain or left brain?
What do you do first on the weekend?
What do you do first on a weekday?
What do you do on a Sunday afternoon?
What do you do on a Friday night?
Are you comfortable with technology?
How do you like to celebrate your birthday?
What do you think about when you can’t sleep?
What keeps you up at night?
What is your morning routine?
If you could relive any day of your life, what would it be?
What is your favorite color?
What is your favorite animal?
What place would you like to visit the most?
What is the most beautiful thing you have ever seen?
What is your favorite song?
What type of art do you prefer? (fine art, music, reading, film, etc.)
What is your password?
What is your favorite food?
What is your favorite movie?
What TV show can you just binge all day long?
Who is your favorite musician?
What is your favorite alcoholic drink?
What is your favorite non-alcoholic drink?
If you could have a superpower, what would it be?
Who could be your guardian angel?
Do you believe in the afterlife?
What religion do you follow?
Do you believe in heaven or hell?
What do you think it’s like in heaven or hell?
Are you superstitious?
If you could be reincarnated, what would you like to be reincarnated as?
What is your spirit animal?
How would you like to die?
What is your zodiac sign?
What is your Chinese Horoscope?
What is your motto or mantra for life?
What would you dress up for on Halloween?
What would you do if you won the lottery?
If you could meet anyone, living or dead, who would it be?
Do you have any food allergies or sensitivities?

The Most Important Questions

That list can be a bit overwhelming. So I thought I’d spend some time discussing the most important questions that you should know before you start writing your book.

And I’ve boiled it down to four essential questions:

Every character should start by wanting something more than anything. It can be living a peaceful life, it can be wanting to explore the wide world out there, it can be protecting someone, it can be finding revenge.

Whatever it is, they have to want it badly.

Desires are what motivate our characters, and they provide us with action and logic behind that action.

They can be especially enticing when pursuing those desires create conflict, the driving fuel behind any good story.

A character’s motivation can change and evolve over the course of the novel. This may be in relation to our character flaw that we talk about below. Perhaps that person will realize that the thing they thought they wanted, wasn’t actually what they truly desired.

You’ll see this a lot in Hollywood. Pixar, for example, has got it down to a science.

Character wants something > they try to get it > they encounter challenges to their desires > those challenges help them understand the truth.

Combining that desire and change is a great way to create a satisfying character arc.

If your character wants something, there must be something else that stands in the way. In a satisfying character development arc, this is done by creating something that your character fears.

Fears create tension in the story, and they provide a superbly personal form of conflict for the character.

They also deepen a character’s backstory, giving us a more well-rounded look at what makes them tick.

If you create a situation where your character must confront their greatest fear to get what they want, you have just created one of the most memorable moments in the character’s development.

Let’s face it, no one is perfect. We all have some vice, a quirk, or a history we are not proud of.

Characters have these too, or at least, the good ones do.

When you give your character’s personality a flaw, you create internal conflict.

A flaw is a great place to start on your hero’s journey toward change. This is part of what makes a good story, watching the character overcome their flaws, and gain something in return, because that’s essentially what all of us go through.

The flaw in your character’s life will (and should) create problems (conflict). And by combining all three of these essential traits (desire, fear, flaw), you can create real depth to your character, and help chart their motivations when they encounter the situations you put them through.

Each character has a character type that they usually fit into. This can be the role of protagonist, antagonist, mentor, love interest, etc.

The nature of this role will determine what questions you ask in your questionnaire, and help you get an idea of what kind of character they should be.

Why is your antagonist antagonizing? What causes your protagonist to take action? Why would the love interest be appealing to your protagonist?

In short, knowing your character type can help you determine what kind of person they are. It’s a great place to start.

Final Thoughts

Let’s face it, if you went through this process for every character in your novel, you’d be writing a novel’s worth of pre-writing just about your characters.

So you shouldn’t follow this process for every character. But you should take them into consideration for the most important roles in your story, and you should at least ask some of the more important questions to every character that has a big role to play in your book.

Personally, I love the process of getting to know my characters. By interviewing them, I’m able to get to know them ahead of time, rather than during the process of writing my story, saving me some valuable editing time in the end.

Dave Chesson

When I’m not sipping tea with princesses or lightsaber dueling with little Jedi, I’m a book marketing nut. Having consulted multiple publishing companies and NYT best-selling authors, I created Kindlepreneur to help authors sell more books. I’ve even been called “The Kindlepreneur” by Amazon publicly, and I’m here to help you with your author journey.

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50 Character Creation Questions for Fiction Writers

Character Creation Questionnaire: 50 Questions You Should Be Asking

by Lewis / March 28, 2023 / Character Development

This is one of the best parts of writing a novel!

Whether you’re writing an action-packed thriller or an introspective character study, character creation is always a blast. There’s something about that human element that is endlessly engaging, meaning it’s no wonder that character questionnaires are so fun to work through.

But, what makes for a good character questionnaire? Many focus on only surface concerns like appearance and habits, but there’s more to your cast than just their personalities. So, in this article, let’s explore fifty character creation questions— as well as how you can use them to write an awesome cast!

What Is a Character Questionnaire?

1 What Is a Character Questionnaire?
2 The Problem with Most Character Questionnaires
3.1 A Quick Introduction:
3.2 Exploring Their Identity:
3.3 Uncovering Their Goals:
3.4 Questioning Their Beliefs:
3.5 Mapping Their Arc:
4 How to Build Your Character Profile

Character Questionnaire: 50 Questions You Should Be Asking

Character questionnaires are series of targeted character development questions , designed to help you better understand things like your character’s personality, identity, habits, and fears. This gets you thinking about your cast in new ways, and can make it much easier to write realistic, engaging stories.

Better yet, these questionnaires come in many shapes and sizes.

Most character questionnaires range from fifty to two hundred questions, depending on their focus. There are also a variety of types of questionnaires, from more generic ones , to ones themed around specific genres, character types, or topics.

The Problem with Most Character Questionnaires

Unfortunately, “variety” is one of the big problems with most character questionnaires…

Many of the questionnaires you find online focus on only generic or situational questions , such as your character’s favorite foods, most embarrassing moment, or cleaning habits. After a while, it can feel like you’re answering security questions, rather than developing a deeper understanding of your cast.

Don’t get me wrong—these questions aren’t bad by any means.

The problem is when they’re the only questions you’re asking.

The key to a solid character questionnaire is blending both surface questions, as well as deeper ones that reveal important aspects of your character. How would they describe themselves? How do they change throughout your story? How do their actions affect the people around them?

This is especially important for characters like your protagonist . Because your protagonist is the primary catalyst of your novel, it’s vital that you understand their place in your story, as well as how they’ll move, think, and behave.

Luckily, questionnaires are still useful, so long as the one you’re using is solid!

To help you out, I’ve created a short character questionnaire that strikes a healthy balance between personality and purpose. It includes fifty questions, organized around five topics:

Personality, Appearance, and Behavior
Identity and Backstory
Motivations and Goals
Their Deepest Beliefs
Their Character Arc

NOTE: This questionnaire should take you around one hour to complete. If you want an easy way to save these questions for later, make sure to download my free workbook, 50 Questions to Ask Your Protagonist. It includes all the questions from this article, and is both fillable and print-friendly, depending on your preference!

50 Character Creation Questions You Need to Ask

A quick introduction:.

Before we can dig deep into your character’s psyche, we need to start with the basics.

Though we won’t stop here, these introductory questions are still an important part of understanding things like your character’s personality, fears, and habits. This is your chance to get to know your character as a person, much like you would get to know a new friend.

As you go through these questions, imagine your character in their normal life:

What is your character’s name? Where does it come from? What is their most prominent feature? How do they move? What are their mannerisms and quirks? How do they treat the people they hate/like? Where are they happiest? Where are they unhappy? In their mind, what is the secret to a good life? What is their greatest fear? Have they ever lied to someone they cared about, and why? What do they dream about at night? What do they want to do, change, or see before they die?

To explore these questions further, here are two resources I recommend:

5 Rules for Naming Fictional Characters
4 Reasons Your Protagonist’s Blue Eyes Don’t Matter

Exploring Their Identity:

With the basics taken care of, it’s time to ask some harder questions, specifically about your character’s identity.

This section is your chance to think about their view of themselves and their world, and learn more about how that view shapes their identity. A lot goes into this, but one of the biggest influences will be their backstory—so this should be a fun series of questions!

As you go through these questions, consider the things your character is afraid to say:

Who are they? How would they define themselves? What is your character’s best quality? What do they hate about themselves? What do they want others to know about them? What are they afraid of others finding out? What is the most important event of their life so far? How has this event shaped their life? Who is the most important person in their life, and why? What does that person think of them? Where do they fit in their society? Are they happy there?

4 Ways to Discover Your Protagonist’s Identity
Character Backstory: Three Steps for a More Balanced Approach

Uncovering Their Goals:

Next, we need to know what gets your character out of bed each morning.

This will be their story goal, which is the driving force pushing them to take action, learn, and adapt throughout your novel. The more focused this goal is, the stronger it will be.

For instance, “become more popular” isn’t the best story goal—it’s really just a general motivation. In contrast, “oust Jennifer and take her place as prom queen” is nice and specific, while still achieving the same result!

As you go through these questions, focus on what motivates your character:

What is their purpose or mission when your story starts? If they could change one thing, what would it be? What is their primary motivation throughout your story? How does this motivation take shape as a specific goal? Why do they pursue this goal, versus some other path? How does their identity shape their goal? What are the consequences if they fail to meet their goal? Why do these consequences matter to them personally? How far would they go to avoid these consequences? Would failure affect only them, or those around them too?

The Ultimate Guide to Motivating Your Protagonist
4 Tricks for Raising the Stakes of Your Story

Questioning Their Beliefs:

Alongside goals and identity, your characters will also have some harmful belief, as well as a lesson they’ll need to learn. These take shape as their inner struggle and truth, respectively.

Of course, not all characters need an inner struggle. Every member of your cast will have flaws, but only dynamic characters like your protagonist need a specific harmful belief. Because of this, you may be able to skip these questions for some characters—I’ll trust your judgement!

As you go through these questions, think about your character’s deepest beliefs:

What internal obstacle will they face throughout their story? What harmful belief do they hold? How does this belief affect their behavior and actions? How will this stop them from achieving their story goal? What lesson do they need to learn to overcome this belief? How will this lesson change their life and behavior? Why will they resist this lesson? What event could force them to embrace their truth? How can they prove they’ve accepted their truth? How will this change their relationships and community?

Dynamic vs. Round Characters: Who Needs a Character Arc?
Inner Struggle: The Foundation of Compelling Character Arcs

Mapping Their Arc:

Finally, the best characters evolve and change through what is called a character arc. This is a useful framework for creating believable transformations in our characters, and is a key part of writing compelling stories.

As with the previous section, this won’t apply to all characters—but it’s still worth thinking about for the most important members of your cast.

As you go through these questions, look for the ways your characters evolve:

Where are they mentally and physically early in your novel? How does this compare to the end of your novel? Does your character change for the better? Do they become a worse version of themselves? Why do they get involved with your plot in the first place? What decision sparks their involvement? What turning points do they experience during your story? What is their darkest moment? What is their highest? How will their arc shape and influence your novel’s plot? What do they add to your story that no one else could?

Character Arcs 101: Positive and Negative Arcs
Mastering Character Arcs

How to Build Your Character Profile

Once you’ve completed this character questionnaire, you should have a lot of ideas about who your character is, how they’ll grow and evolve, and how they’ll shape your novel’s plot.

Of course, these ideas can be hard to put into action.

You’ll be juggling a lot while writing your novel, so keeping track of all the details of your character’s life can be difficult. So, to make this character questionnaire even more useful, here’s a quick character profile template you can use to organize your thoughts:

Your Character’s Name
Their Personality, Appearance, and Identity
Their Inner Struggle
Their Truth
The Most Important Event of Their Past
How They Change Throughout Your Novel
Their Story Goal
The Consequences They’ll Face

Excited about the template?

Then don’t forget to download my free character questionnaire, 50 Questions to Ask Your Protagonist . It contains all the questions from this article in an easy-to-use workbook, and even includes this character profile template as a fillable section at the end.

If you’re ready to put this character questionnaire into action, this is a great way to do so!

How will you use this character questionnaire? Let me know in the comments!

NaNo Prep: The Official NaNoWriMo Character Questionnaire

Want more preparation exercises? Check out National Novel Writing Month’s Young Writers Program’s Novelist Workbooks , which our nonprofit provides free-of-charge to more than 2,000 educators and 8,000 young writers around the world!

“Most people think that an intriguing plot is what makes a story good, but the truth is that exciting plots are made up of original and well-developed characters. Not only are characters with hidden depths and secrets more fun to read about, they’re also more fun to write about.

It’s a great idea for you, the author, to try and get to know your characters before you begin writing. We asked a team of scientists, mathematicians, and creative writing gurus from around the world: "What’s the easiest way for writers to get to know their characters?” Hands down, the experts all agreed the single best way is to fill out our 46-Question Character Questionnaire":

Physical appearance:
Strange or unique physical attributes:
Favorite clothing style/outfit:
Where does he or she live? What is it like there?
Defining gestures/movements (i.e., curling his or her lip when he or she speaks, always keeping his or her eyes on the ground, etc.):
Things about his or her appearance he or she would most like to change:
Speaking style (fast, talkative, monotone, etc.):
Pet peeves:
Fondest memory:
Hobbies/interests:
Special skills/abilities:
Insecurities:
Quirks/eccentricities:
Temperament (easygoing, easily angered, etc.):
Negative traits:
Things that upset him or her:
Things that embarrass him or her:
This character is highly opinionated about:
Any phobias?
Things that make him or her happy:
Family (describe):
Deepest, darkest secret:
Reason he or she kept this secret for so long:
Other people’s opinions of this character (What do people like about this character? What do they dislike about this character?):
Favorite bands/songs/type of music:
Favorite movies:
Favorite TV shows:
Favorite books:
Favorite foods:
Favorite sports/sports teams:
Political views:
Religion/philosophy of life:
Physical health:
Dream vacation:
Description of his or her house:
Description of his or her bedroom:
Best thing that has ever happened to this character:
Worst thing that has ever happened to this character:
Superstitions:
Three words to describe this character:
If a song played every time this character walked into the room, what song would it be?

Photo courtesy of Artsy Fartsy Mama .

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165 Must-Use Character Development Questions For Writers

If you’ve hit a wall with your latest story, sometimes all you need is to get better acquainted with your characters .

The more you know them, the more they talk to you.

The more you understand what your characters want and why, the more your writing will help the reader understand.

And the harder it will be for them to put your book down.

This is why we’ve created this list of character development questions for writers. Answering them will bring your characters to life.

And when you hear their voices in your head, they can lead you down paths you hadn’t thought of before.

Why do writers need a character questionnaire?

Questions on character’s appearance, questions on character’s home, questions on character’s chosen career, questions on character’s family, questions on character’s friends and intimate relationships, questions on character’s personality and behavioral traits, questions on character’s goals, values, or motivations.

A character questionnaire forces you to get well-enough acquainted with your characters to know how they’d react to everything you plan on throwing at them in the story.

How will they respond to whatever stands in the way of what they want?
What, if anything, do they want more than the thing they’re searching for or fighting for?

Answering the questions in the list below will help you see your characters as three-dimensional people who could be good friends, indifferent acquaintances, or bitter enemies. And none of them have to stay that way.

What will your answers reveal to you about your main characters?

165 Character Development Questions

Welcome to Authority Pub’s comprehensive list of questions for character development.

Get yourself a mug or glass of something good, and answer these for each of the characters your story depends on.

1. What are your character’s physical traits? (skin color, hair color, eye color….)

2. What is their ethnic origin or ancestry?

3. What does your character typically wear? What is their personal style?

4. Do they care about fashion? Or do they just wear what they like?

5. Do they dress provocatively (according to some)?

6. How do they wear their hair?

7. Do they groom their eyebrows?

8. Do they struggle with acne?

9. Do they wear make-up?

10. Do they use hair styling products? What kind?

11. Do they wear glasses or contacts?

12. Would they wear a swimsuit in public? If yes, what kind?

13. What do they wear when they go to sleep (pajamas? regular clothes? nothing?)

14. What is noticeable about your character’s presence? (Confidence? Nervousness?)

15. Do they sit up or stand up straight? Or do they slouch?

16. How does your character walk? Run? Dance?

17. What body language is typical of your character?

18. Does your character have scars or birthmarks?

19. Does your character have any physical disabilities?

20. What actor would you want playing your character in a movie?

21. Does your character wear any jewelry? Favorite pieces?

22. Does your character have any tattoos? Do they want any?

23. What do they wear on their feet?

24. Do they like/wear hats?

25. Do they color their hair?

26. Do they have any piercings?

27. Do they carry a purse or messenger bag / backpack / briefcase?

28. Are they coordinated? How well do they catch things?

29. Are they graceful or clumsy? Do they have natural poise?

30. Would anyone describe them as beautiful? Cute? Hot? Classically handsome?

1. House, apartment, duplex, etc.

2. Do they live in a city , a suburb, a rural area?

3. Describe your character’s neighborhood.

4. Do they have any favorite neighborhood haunts?

5. With whom does your character live?

6. How often does your character eat out or order in?

7. What’s in the fridge?

8. Do they have a favorite room?

9. Do they feel at home in the kitchen?

10. What’s the view from their window/s?

11. How does your character feel about their living situation?

12. Neighbors? Do they get along with them?

13. What items does the character keep close to their bed?

14. What do they sleep on?

15. Does your character have their own room?

16. What is their most prized possession, and where do they keep it?

17. Does your character like having people over?

18. How clean or tidy is your character’s home or private room?

19. Does your character have a pet? Or are there pets in the home?

20. Does your character want to live somewhere else?

21. What would your character’s dream home look like and where would it be?

1. What job does your character have?

2. How did your character get the job they now have?

3. How do they feel about the job?

4. How do they get along with their boss and coworkers?

5. Does your character have authority over any of their coworkers?

6. Do they ever spend time with coworkers outside work hours?

7. Has your character ever been harassed by coworkers or by their boss?

8. Do they plan on staying there long-term, or are they looking for something else?

9. If they could go (back) to college, what would they study?

10. If they could earn a good living with any job, which would they choose?

11. What is your character’s highest level of education?

12. Does your character want to learn a new trade?

13. Does your character have a side gig that generates some income?

14. What are some skills or talents your character has?

1. Does the character have a relationship with both parents?

2. To which parent does your character feel closest?

3. Does your character have relationships with any grandparents?

4. Do your character’s political or religious beliefs match those of their parents?

5. Do their parents support them financially in any way?

6. Do their parents accept them as they are?

7.How involved are their parents in their life?

8. Do they have siblings? If so, how many brothers and how many sisters?

9. If they have siblings, to which of them do they feel closest?

10. Is there someone in the family who is their #1 confidante?

11. Have they ever felt betrayed or abandoned by a family member?

12. How have their family relationships affected their ability to trust?

13. How have their parents disciplined them growing up (if they did)?

14. Can they count on family members to have their back?

15. What was their financial situation growing up?

16. What jobs do their parents have?

17. What is their family culture and what do they love most about it?

18. Have your character clashed with any of their parents’ beliefs?

19. What languages are spoken at home?

20. What is your character’s favorite comfort food — and who makes it best?

21. Is your character married or in a committed relationship?

22. Does your character have children of their own? By birth or adoption?

23. What other relatives does your character have? Any of them close?

24. How does your character feel about family functions or gatherings?

25. Has your character ever been embarrased of a family member — or vice-versa?

1. Is your character straight? Gay? Bisexual? Pansexual? Transgender? Asexual? …

2. Has your character come out to anyone?

3. Does your character have a best friend? Who is it?

4. How does your character feel about dating?

5. How easily does your character make friends?

6. What do your character and their friends do together?

7. Has your character ever lost a friend to political or religious differences?

8. How does your character respond to political or religious differences?

9. Does your character see the best or the worst in others?

10. Does your character want to trust others and repair relationships?

11. Or is your character more likely to hold a grudge and see forgiveness as weakness?

12. How easy is it to make your character angry? What would it take?

13. Has a friend ever betrayed your character’s trust? Or vice-versa?

14. Has your character ever fallen for someone who was wrong for them?

15. What does your character expect from their closest relationship?

16. Have they found someone they’d want to commit to for life?

17. Is your character’s significant other (S.O.) someone their friends like, too?

18. Has your character ever had their heart broken?

19. Is your character someone their friends can count on to be there for them?

20. Do any of your character’s friends go to them for advice? Or vice-versa?

9 Useful Character Questionnaires For Writers

If you are creating character biographies , we have put together a list of nine useful character questionnaires for writers to use.

Writers want to create characters readers will remember. We want our readers to empathise with them and to be able to think about them as real people – even if the story is set in another dimension.

Useful character questionnaires help writers. We don’t want to search through 200 pages because we can’t find the colour of our love interest ’s eyes. Questionnaires also help us to keep tabs on their relationships and prevent plot holes .

Character questionnaires also give us plenty of material for our stories. In creating this backstory , we learn things we never imagined about our characters. If we get stuck in the middle of a novel, we can use this information to pad out a scene or move a plot forward.

One of the best ways to make sure we know who we’re writing about is by completing a character questionnaire for our main characters . We have posted a few ways to create character biographies over the years, and we’ve put them together in one post.

[ TOP TIP : Use our Character Creation Kit to help you create great characters for your stories.]

9 Useful Character Questionnaires For Writer s

If you are looking for in-depth character questionnaires , please have a look at these:

The Only Character Questionnaire You Need to Complete
127 Prompts To Finish Before You Write About Yourself (Or Any Character)
Character Questionnaire – How Well Do You Know Your Hero?

If you’re looking for questionnaires with a twist , use these:

15 Questions Authors Should Ask Characters
7 Useful Lists To Help You Create A Character
Proust’s Questionnaire – 35 Questions Every Character Should Answer
5 Truly Unusual Ways To Round Out Your Characters

If you’re looking for basic questionnaires , try these:

Character Interview – A Worksheet For Beginners
Character Development Checklist – 13 Points To Consider

I hope these useful character questionnaires for writers help you to create exciting characters.

Top Tip : Find out more about our workbooks and online courses in our shop .

If you enjoyed this post, read:

7 Reasons Why Introverts Make Good Writers
How To Use Trigger Words When You Write
The Relationship Between Writers & Their Cats

[TOP TIP: Use our Character Creation Kit to help you create great characters for your stories.]

Creating Characters , Featured Post , Writing Tips from Amanda Patterson

100 character development questions to inspire deeper arcs

Character development questions about goals, motivations, conflicts, fears, typical habits, personality and more help build rich characterization. Read 100 questions.

Post author By Jordan
11 Comments on 100 character development questions to inspire deeper arcs

Good character development questions and simple questionnaires help to prompt decisions about who your characters are (or where they’re off to next). Develop deeper arcs with these 100 prompts organized by category and focus:

Build characters’ arcs by asking

Goal, motivation and conflict questions, questions on backstory and formative experiences, questions about fears, aversions and triggers, relationships and attachment style questions, questions about frustrations and disappointments, action and reaction questions, what personality types characters fit, questions about best- and worst-case scenarios, physical description questions, belief, idea and worldview questions.

Use the links above to jump to an aspect of characters you want to brainstorm now or keep reading.

Goal, motivation and conflict, as our full guide to character creation explains, are three crucial pillars – not just of characters, but of stories in general.

GMC is what your characters want, need or crave, why this desire keeps them up at night, and the tussles pursuing these desires may lead to.

Here are some questions to ask about goals, motivations and conflicts with development – how your characters grows or changes – in mind:

GMC character development questions

What is your character’s greatest goal or desire at the start of your story? What might they learn that surprises them about this desire, by the end?
Where does your character’s greatest desire stem from?
Who (if anyone) does your character attaining their greatest desire depend on at the start of your story (besides themselves)? Does this figure become more or less important?
Why is attaining their goal non-negotiable (what is at stake if they fail?)
When in your story will your character’s goals first bring conflict? How might this conflict make them reassess their goals?
What is a secondary, smaller goal your character may have? Is there something smaller they want that shows their personality? What new secondary goals may appear as the story grows due to the starting scenario ?
Why does your character nearly give up on a goal they care about at one point in the story?
What motivates your character to keep pursuing their greatest goals when the going gets tough? Will these motivating factors change?
Who is the biggest obstacle to your character fulfilling their goals at the start of your story? Will the person filling this role change?
Where (and when) will your character’s motivation be strongest, versus where will it be pushed closest to breaking point?

Backstory and formative experiences (even if you don’t include them in the story itself) help to explain why people (re)act the way they do. Keep reading for character background questions.

Character development questions for goal, motivation and conflict infographic

GET YOUR FREE GUIDE TO SCENE STRUCTURE

Besides developed characters, a great story needs compelling scenes. Get a free guide on how to make every scene count.

Characters, like flesh and blood people, have histories – backstories that drive their actions and choices . These personal, private histories influence our psychology. They influence our views and values, too.

For example, a character raised in a big family might react particularly negatively to being silenced in a meeting. Why? Because they have a history of having to fight to be heard.

Here are questions to explore your characters’ backstory and formative experiences (and how these fuel character development):

Character backstory questionnaire

What was the biggest catastrophe for your character growing up? Will they feel the same about this experience at the end of the story as at the start?
Who was the most important person in your character’s formative years, and why? Does this relationship change over the course of the story? If yes, why?
What’s something your character did once and will never do again? Do their feelings about this change? If yes, what changes them?
What is your character’s happiest memory, and why? Do they realize anything about this memory in the course of your story that changes how they feel about it? Perhaps they got stuck in a lift and now they have claustrophobia. Will this be part of the story? Can it drive development?
What triggers your character or makes them overreact or show avoidance behavior due to past experiences? Does this reactive behavior change as the story progresses, and in what way?
How did the character’s first romantic relationship shape them? Is there any encounter in the story that makes them recall this relationship or see it in a new light?
What’s your character’s most embarrassing memory? Do they carry this experience with them still? Does anything in the story act as catharsis for it, helping them to leave it behind?
What would the adult version of your character tell the kid them if they could go back in time?
Who caused your character the greatest pain in their past, and why? Do their feelings towards this person shift over the story’s course?
Who encouraged or supported your character most in the past? Are they still around during the story? How has their role or the relationship changed, if at all?

Character development questions - pace vs character development quote b Nancy Kress

Fear is a powerful character motivator and agent of change ( or of things staying the same).

Pitting your characters against their fears is useful for character development for multiple reasons:

You create rising and falling action and suspense when characters have to confront ‘worst-case scenarios’. For example: A secret crush falling for someone else; a dangerous villain acquiring the magical object the hero needs
You show your reader how a character reacts in crisis situations. The reader witnesses what a character gains or loses through a trial by fire, and sees their qualities (problem-solving, bravery, anxiety, etc.) that emerge through action

Character fears questionnaire

A brief character development questionnaire about fear as a change factor:

What does your character fear most in the world? Will it come to pass in your story’s course?
Who would your character turn to for support first when their worst fear came to pass, and why? Will this choice of person change over your story’s course?
What is a new fear your character might hold by the climax or closing chapters of your story?
What fears will be stripped away or eased as your character progresses closer towards their goals?
What does your character have an inexplicable aversion to? Do they find an explanation for this aversion (such as a repressed memory) as your story unfolds?
What’s the most triggering thing another person can say/do to your character? Does this trigger happen over the story’s unfolding? How might your character react?
What fears once held may seem irrelevant or trifling to your character after the journey they take in your story?
How does your character typically react when faced with something they fear? Why do they have this coping mechanism, and will it change as they progress (if so, how?)?
Which fears coming to pass will bring out your character’s inner strengths in your story, and which their inner weaknesses?
What people or situations does your character’s fear cause them to avoid? Does this avoidance ease or intensify as the story progresses?

Brainstorm characters in detail

Outline your characters’ goals, fears, motivations and more in easy, step-by-step novel outlining tools.

Strengths and fears as well as backstory may deeply impact our relationships, attachment styles (e.g. dependent vs independent) , and more. Keep reading about questions to develop how characters relate to others.

Relationships and what psychology calls ‘attachment style’ (for example, whether we approach significant partners with confidence or needing reassurance) are affected by many factors. Factors such as:

Backstory (for example, models of behavior learned from parents)
Extroversion versus introversion
Degree of self-awareness, empathy or other-awareness
Personality traits such as being closed or open, analytical or emotional

The above, of course, reduces these things to binaries (such as logic vs emotion). Most people fall somewhere on a spectrum and these traits may move and shift over the course of a life (or a relationship).

Character development questions to explore and develop your characters’ relationships (and how they approach them):

Questions to develop characters’ relationships

Will there sparks or sputtering, failure to ignite? Ask:

What type of person is your character most likely to be drawn to? Are they artistic? Pragmatic? Flighty? Dependable? Cheerful? Mopey? Why is your character attracted to the type(s) they are, and does this change over your story?
What Myers-Briggs type is your character? Personality categorizing frameworks such as the ’16 Personalities’ (which divide people into Analysts, Diplomats, Sentinels and Explorers) are useful for giving characters different types. Does one aspect of their character become more pronounced or change?
What are five things your character considers the hallmarks of a great relationship (no wrong answers)? Do any of these answers change as your story progresses (why?)
Is your character drawn more to introverts or extroverts, ambiverts, or a mixture? Will this preference change as the story proceeds?
What will your character never entertain in a potential partner? Does a relationship in the story make them reassess any stance on red flags?
What’s the longest relationship your character ever had? What ended it (or is it still going?) What could end it?
What’s the best and worst relationship advice your character ever received? Did they follow the advice? Do they break it at any point in the story?
Which couple is ‘relationship goals’ to your character, and why? Does this perception change as the story proceeds?
What is the way for a potential partner to win over your character? How do these needs/desires change over your story’s course, if at all?
What are romantic partners’ common goals and desires in your story? How do these goals and wishes develop (or diverge) as your story progresses?

Keep reading for questions to develop characters’ missed opportunities and regrets, typical actions and reactions, and more.

Frustrations, disappointments, regrets – all relatable parts of the human condition. Read questions to inspire thinking about your characters’ closed doors and missed opportunities:

Questions to develop characters’ regrets

What is your character’s biggest regret of all time? Do they get a do-over at any point in your story (or something like one)?
Who disappointed your character most in their past? What did they take away from this experience? How may it drive them to change, if at all?
How does your character typically respond to disappointment? Does it light a fire under their ass to try harder, or do they turtle and hide away? Will their typical way of responding change?
If your character could turn back time, what would they never have done?
Who would regret meeting your character, and why? Who will they meet in the course of your story who is just not feeling them?
What frustrated your character most in the past week, month, and year? How will any of these frustrations shape your character’s choices in the course of your story?
What will your character discover to be the most overhyped or overrated thing? How might seeing behind the curtain change their point of view?
How will your character’s regrets shape or affect their future actions or decisions?
If your character could warn anyone based on mistakes they’ve made , what would that warning be?
How does your character typically react when frustration is too much to handle? Will their coping mechanisms or strategies change over the story’s course?

Speaking of typical actions and reactions, read on for questions to develop habitual action and reaction and create cohesion in how characters typically respond to situations.

Character development in cable TV quote - Mike Nichols

Character development questions about causation and reaction will help you think about habits, patterns and making characters’ conduct seem almost inevitable (when it is).

Questions to build characters’ habits, actions and reactions

How does your character typically react to conflict or tension? Does this pattern change as they grow over their arc , or remain unchanged? Why?
What is the surest way to provoke your character to fly into a rage? When in your story might the reader see them at their angriest?
Out of all the characters in your ensemble, whose actions most often tend to annoy this character? Why?
What is a bad habit your character has, and how do others react to it? Does your character overcome this habit, or is there a time in your story it’s particularly bad?
Who would your character consult first if they had to make a tough decision? Does this trusted confidant change over your story’s course?
When your character needs cheering up, what’s their go-to comfort? Does there come a point in the story when this go-to no longer works?
Is your character addicted to anything at any point in the story? What will it take to help them kick the habit?
What are habits your character dislikes in others? Who will they meet who has these habits and how will they test them?
What are your character’s daily rituals and routines? How do events in the story shift these routines (and do they react to these disruptions)?
What are your character’s priorities at the start of your story vs at the end?

Keep reading for questions to build characters’ personalities, physical changes and how their world views develop or shift.

There are many different models for understanding personality, the traits and tendencies that form an individua persona.

Read prompts to explore a character’s personality (and how it may change):

Personality development questions

Of the four temperaments – sanguine, choleric, melancholic and phlegmatic – which one or two are dominant? Does this mix of tendencies change due your characters’ experiences?
Of the sixteen personality types , which type is your character at the story’s start? Does one or more of these characteristics (e.g. thinking, judging, introversion, extroversion) change as the story unfolds?
What is a new ability or capability your character acquires? How do others in their close circle (friends, family) react to this change?
Is your character introverted, extroverted or an ambivert (i.e. both, depending on the situation)? What situations over the course of the story will make one or the other tendency stronger?
What personality types does your character usually connect with easiest? Think of easygoing Pooh and anxious Piglet in the Winnie the Pooh books, a case of opposites attract.
What aspect of your character’s personality will (or could) get them into the most trouble?
What aspect of your character’s personality do others often admire? Or do they gain an admirable trait due to the story’s events (if so, what?)
What is your character’s approach to work/life balance? Do they tend to slack off or overwork to the point of burnout (and does this tendency change)?
How would other characters describe them in three words? Do the three words change over the course of the story?
What brings your character the most joy, and what brings the most sadness?

Read on for questions about best- and worst-case scenarios and more.

Build an idea of the fringe or limit-case scenarios that drive your character’s choices, actions and reactions.

Limit-case character building questions

What is the worst thing that could happen to your character in their opinion? Does their opinion change as the story proceeds?
What is the best thing that could happen to your character in their opinion? Does this opinion change, and if so, why?
What is the worst thing a friend or lover can say? Does someone say this thing to your character? How will this alter the connection?
What is the best thing a friend or lover could say to your character? What is music to their ears, and how would it affect their attitude to the other person?
What circumstance would make them give up on their greatest goal? How will they react if this comes to pass?
What is the best way a secondary character could support your character towards their goals? How do they react when someone tries to help them the wrong way?
In the best-case scenario, what might your character’s life look like five years after the start of your story? What’s changed?
In the worst-case scenario, what might your character’s life look like in five years’ time?
How optimistic vs pessimistic is your character when confronted with a best-case scenario?
Is the glass half-full or half-empty when your character meets a worst-case scenario?

Physical descriptions require more than eye color . Think about all the ways your characters bodies, their mobility, their appearance, and other aspects could change due to events in your story.

Try ten prompts to think deeper about the way your characters look:

Questions to develop physicality

Where is the center of your character’s movement? For example do they move from the waist with upright posture, or from the shoulders with a stoop? How does their posture change, if at all (and why)?
Does your character gain or lose weight in your story in the wake of an event? How do they feel about the change (or others react to it?)
Does your character’s style or their clothing preferences change over the course of the story? For example, an emo teen becoming a preppy adult (or vice versa). What event or emotion prompts the change?
Does your character gain or lose physical ability over the course of your story? How do they react to this change?
What are your character’s physical mannerisms, tics or quirks? Is there something they tend to do when happy, excited, nervous? Does this become more or less pronounced?
Does your character’s voice change over the course of the story? For example, the way Austin Butler’s voice changed due to training to play Elvis.
Does your character sustain any injuries during your story? How does this impact them?
If there was one thing about your character’s appearance they could change, what would it be? Do they develop some way of compensating for this insecurity? (for example a teen who’s embarrassed of their braces hiding their mouth when they smile).
What do others your character meets find most attractive about them physically? Do these reactions change how they perceive themselves (positively or negatively)?
If your character went on The Voice, what would judges be surprised to see when they turned their chair? What does your character’s voice not tell your reader about them?

What your characters believe, their ideas about politics, religion, identity or any other subject, may change with their experiences over your story’s course.

Here are questions to develop your character’s worldview:

Questions to build characters’ views and ideologies

Is there an irrational belief or bias your character holds due to past experience? Does any event in your story test or rock this belief?
Is your character spiritual or religious? Is this constant throughout the story or discovered/lost as events unfold?
What political party or system would your character vote for? Does their allegiance change due to the events of your story?
Is there a falsehood your character believes to be true due to deception or naivety that is disproved? How does your character react?
What are the differences between what your character is taught to believe, versus what they discover to be true?
What is your character’s most controversial opinion? Who might this bring them into conflict with, and why?
What is a blind spot in your character’s education? How are they ill-equipped for the road ahead?
Are your character’s views considered conservative, moderate or liberal? Do their leanings change as they age?
In your character’s society or religion, what reigning or orthodox view do they struggle with the most? How does this struggle change the way they engage, if at all?
What is your character always ready to argue over? How open or closed are they to having their views challenged, and does this change?

Which of the questions above are most helpful to you? What would you add? Tell us in the comments below.

Get prompts and tools to brainstorm characters and build an outline automatically as you go that you can download with links back to edit.

If there’s anything I’ve paid for this year that’s been worth it, it’d be this. – Nashon

Character development: 9 tips for arcs with depth
300 world building questions for deeper settings
Character arc template: 5 steps to strong character arcs
Tags character arcs , character development

Jordan is a writer, editor, community manager and product developer. He received his BA Honours in English Literature and his undergraduate in English Literature and Music from the University of Cape Town.

11 replies on “100 character development questions to inspire deeper arcs”

Thanks a lot.

It’s a pleasure, Aaliya, thanks for reading.

Thank you very much, this article helped me a lot. Muito obrigado pessoal!

é um prazer, Sonicubo! Thank you for reading our articles and sharing your feedback 🙂

[…] https://www.nownovel.com/blog/character-development-questions/ […]

Thanks for this valuable info!

It’s a pleasure Safiyyah, thank you for reading our blog.

Is there anywhere we can download the full list of questions? Or maybe have these as part of the character building section?

Hi Blake, thank you for your feedback and for asking. Our old dashboard (prior to 2018) had a much larger character section which you should still be able to view from that page if you scroll to the bottom, but it doesn’t have these exact questions (these are more supplementary to the prompts). You could try printing the page as a PDF, otherwise I’ll see whether I can work on making longer articles like these available as a guidebook. Thanks for reading!

This was the most helpful thing I’ve ever read on this topic.

Hi Prince, it’s a pleasure. I’m glad you enjoyed this article.

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Blog • Perfecting your Craft

Last updated on Mar 08, 2024

How to Create the Ultimate Character Profile [+ Template]

Ask any great novelist and they’ll likely tell you that good writing starts with good characters. But sharp character development is also one of the toughest hills to climb, especially if you’ve struggled to think through those tried-and-true questions that keep you up at night:

Are my characters convincing?
Do my characters have depth?
How do I make sure my character has an arc ?

If you’re having these doubts, you might want to turn to the age-old solution: a character profile.

What is a character profile?

A character profile is a detailed biography of a persona that covers everything from their age and appearance to their relationships with others. By understanding parts of their life that readers might not discover during the course of the story, an author can better understand that character’s life, personality, motivations, and their function within a story.

In this post, we will show you our three-part process for assembling a character profile.

What makes a good character profile template?

Many character bibles present exercises that ask you, “If your character was a color, what color would they be?” For many writers, this is either overkill or a bit too 'woo-woo' for their tastes, and they prefer to create a profile that deals in verifiable facts: height, age, and profession.

Our suggestion lies somewhere between those two approaches, where you build a holistic picture of your character in the context of your story. Our character profile worksheet is in three parts. If you treat a person like an apple, they’re going to have three layers of depth: the “skin,” the “flesh,” and the “core.” (Otherwise known as their physical appearance, backstory, and psychology.) That’s how this character profile template is structured — and if you have a particular area that you’d like to hone, you can skip to it below. Otherwise, this character bible will start with the eagle eye’s view of your character.

We strongly recommend our character profile template in a PDF format and fill it out as you go along.

FREE RESOURCE

Reedsy’s Character Profile Template

A story is only as strong as its characters. Fill this out to develop yours.

The Three-Part Character Profile Template:

The Outer Layer, or Physical Appearance
The Flesh, or Backstory
The Core, or Psychology

Part 1. The Outer Layer

To be able to identify a criminal, detectives build a painstakingly thorough file of said criminal’s physical characteristics.

That’s the goal of this section, which covers the “skin” of your character: everything from their outer appearance to the way that they speak. Think of it as a kind of offender profile — one that can help you spot your character in the middle of a crowded Times Square.

The Basics 📖

Place of birth
Current location
Nationality

Physical Appearance 👀

What's their:

Do they have any distinguishing features (tattoos, scars, birthmarks)?

What's their preferred outfit?

Do they wear glasses? 👓

What accessories are ALWAYS associated with them (cane, pipe, necklace, etc.)? 🌂

What's their usual level of grooming?

Smart, very put together
Untidy but clean

Do they have any distinguishing “tics” and mannerisms?

What's their health like? Do they suffer from chronic illnesses? 🏥

Describe their handwriting (sloppy, neat, careful, unintelligible). ✍

How do they walk? 👣

Confident, powerful strides
Lazy stroll
Fast, walks at a clip
Distracted, eyes on the ground

FREE OUTLINING APP

The Reedsy Book Editor

Use the Boards feature to plan, organize, or research anything.

Speech and Communication 💬

How do they talk (rapid, slow, measured, drawl, etc.)?

What's the style of their speech (elevated, educated, peppered with slang, etc.)?

Do they have an accent?

Stiff, military
Casual and relaxed
‘Turtle,’ tired

Do they gesture?

Only when agitated or eager
Doesn’t gesture
Compulsive “hand-talker”
Controlled, only to make a point
Other? If so, explain:

How much eye contact do they like to make (direct, shifty, etc.)?

What's their preferred curse word?

What's their catchphrase?

Any speech impediments?

What are any distinguishing speech “tics”?

What's their laugh like? What do they tend to find funny?

Describe their smile?

How emotive are they? Do they wear their emotions on their sleeve? How easily can others read them?

They have a resting _____ face.

Speaking of great characters... which contemporary author are you ? Take our 1-minute quiz below to find out!

Which contemporary author are you?

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Part 2. The Flesh

Characters don’t exist in a vacuum — they’re a product of their environment.

This section in the character template dives a bit deeper into your character and covers their “flesh”: the people, circumstances, and formative influences that filled them out and made them who they are today. It’s the springboard to your character’s biography.

What's the name of their hometown? 🏡

What type of childhood did they have (sheltered, neglected, etc.)?

Describe their education. 🍏

Were they involved in organizations and clubs at school?

Gay / Straight Alliance

At graduation, they were named Most Likely To ___________ in the yearbook. 🎓

Jobs (if applicable)? What would their résumé look like? 💼

What was their dream job as a child? Why?

Who were their role models growing up? Describe them. 👨‍👦

What's their greatest regret?

What were their hobbies growing up? ⛳

Favorite place to be as a child?

What's their earliest memory?

What's their saddest memory?

What's their happiest memory?

What's their clearest memory?

What are their skeletons in the closet? 💀

If they could change one thing from their past, what would it be? Why? ⏳

Describe the major turning points or “life beats” in childhood.

What are three adjectives to describe them as a child?

What advice would they give to their younger self?

List their criminal record. ⚖

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Age (if living)
Briefly describe their relationship with your character
What are their names and ages?
Briefly describe their relationship(s) with your character

Children 👶(if applicable)

Extended family 👴

Grandparents
Uncles and aunts

What's their family's economic status? 💰

How often do they see their family in a year?

External Relationships 💜

Who are their closest friends? Describe them.

Who are their other significant friends? 👋

Enemies? Describe them. 😡

How are they perceived by:

strangers in the street?
acquaintances at a work function?
colleagues in the office?
authority figures?
friends in their friend circles?
the opposite sex?
extended family?

What social media platforms are they on?

X (formerly known as Twitter)
Other? If so, explain.

How would they use their social media platforms?

How would they fill out an online dating profile for themselves? ✨

What’s their role in a group dynamic? 💡

Who do they depend on for:

practical advice?
emotional support?
moral support?

How quickly do they respond to emails? 📨

What do they want from a relationship?

Who would be their ideal partner? 💖

Who is their significant other? Describe them. 💕

How many people would attend their funeral?

Part 3. The Core

We’ve come now to the “core”: who your character is deep down.

This section in the character profile worksheet covers the “heart” of your character. If a backstory shapes a dynamic character , this will define them. More importantly, it will help inform the two most important points leading up to your novel: the character’s story goal and story motivation .

Psychology 💭

What do they do on rainy days?

Street-smart or book-smart
An optimist or pessimist
Introverted or Extroverted

What is their favorite sound? 🔊

Favorite place in the world? 🌎

What secrets do they keep? What are they most afraid of people finding out? 🔒

What do they want the most? 🔍

What's their biggest flaw?

What's their biggest strength?

What's their biggest fear?

What is their biggest accomplishment? 📈

What is their idea of perfect happiness?

What's their favorite quote? 👌

Do they want to be remembered? What for? ⌚

How do they approach:

What is the one object or possession that they would rescue from their burning home? 🔥

What (or who) bores them? 💤

What makes them angry? 💢

What do they look for in a person?

How strong is their moral compass? When, specifically, are they willing to compromise their morals?

List the last 10 books they read. 📚

Which fictional world would they most wish to visit?

If they didn’t have to sleep, what would they do with the extra time?

What are their pet peeves? ⚠

If they won the lottery, what would they do?

Describe the character’s bucket list at the ages of 15, 20, 30, and 40.

List the 10 songs that would occupy their All-Time Most Played playlist on Spotify. 🎵

What is the best compliment that someone ever paid them?

In an elevator, do they push the elevator button more than once? 🚪

What would they want their tombstone to say?

The Present and Future 🔮

What is their story goal? (answer in a single paragraph)

Story motivation (answer in a single paragraph)

In other words: what does your character want in the story? Why do they want it? Every other answer in the character profile template builds up to this. This is critical information to know because it’ll make up the unshakable foundation — and raison d'être — for your story. Whenever you feel like your story is straying off course, go straight back to your character’s story goal and motivation.

24 responses

Rachel Mendell says:

02/06/2018 – 12:23

excellent! so much info - thank you.

↪️ Reedsy replied:

07/06/2018 – 04:37

Our pleasure, Rachel. Glad that it helped!

Diane says:

07/06/2018 – 08:50

Wow! I tried to find such kind of list many times. Thank you so much! Creating character is always difficult for me. I imagine tutoriage character but it was not full. With this list Finally I will finish it.

22/01/2019 – 15:37

Nice I was gonna make one myself but this is great since normally I obsess to the point of procrastination.

Gwendolyn Clark says:

13/05/2019 – 00:09

I was never sent a copy to download

↪️ Martin Cavannagh replied:

13/05/2019 – 08:20

Hi Gwendolyn, could you drop us an email at [email protected] and we'll sort you out with a link :)

Sabrina Douglas says:

08/06/2019 – 16:40

I have not received the PDF yet.

10/06/2019 – 13:48

With Gmail, our emails often can be found in the Promotions folder. if it's not there, send us an email at [email protected] and we'll sort you out :)

Tactical Weasel says:

08/06/2019 – 23:18

I was never sent a copy to download either.

Ibidun says:

02/07/2019 – 01:47

This is a developed list of questions for sure. Thank you!

susannelorraineharford says:

21/08/2019 – 08:01

Thanks! Great help in this articke. X peace, susanne

james bolin says:

22/08/2019 – 21:05

This my be a crazy question, but I am writing a science fiction book, and I already made character profiles for my ow use. But, that being said, would it make sense to also include a section in the book that includes all the main characters profiles. It would serve as a reference in case someone wants to know the characters hair color, birth date, and other details. any advice would help thanks

23/08/2019 – 09:04

It would be a somewhat unusual move — but it's not for me to say if it's wrong. Often, you see books provide family trees and brief histories of the 'world' of the story... but that tends to be so that readers can check up on facts that are highly relevant to relationships and plot of the book. In almost all cases, readers won't really need to know things like hair color or date of birth. So, I'd think hard before putting a character stat sheet in your book.

↪️ Nyla replied:

02/09/2019 – 16:12

I don't see why not! Some books did it (sort of); Wings of Fire, Tailchaser's Song, Warriors... I don't think including one would be a bad move. Definitely not something that would kill your story. Keep in mind that I'm a beginner when it comes to books, so I may not know any better. I'm just saying that in my opinion, I don't think it's a bad move.

Satyajay Mandal says:

25/08/2019 – 04:31

You can tweet me to get more updates on the story I'm directing

02/09/2019 – 16:13

What do you mean by "education"? Like what school they went to?

17/09/2019 – 09:02

Yup. Are they a college grad? What did they study? Did they leave school at 18 and take up an apprenticeship — that sort of thing.

27/09/2019 – 14:03

Will i ever get the document to download!

07/10/2019 – 15:48

Hi Sky, if you're still having trouble downloading the template, could you drop us a message at [email protected]? Thanks! Martin

20/10/2019 – 03:56

I will update you about all the details

Max Sangers says:

23/03/2020 – 20:16

I like it, just pls refrain from bad language :)

26/03/2020 – 04:49

No need to refrain from using bad language, if it is assigned to the villains instead of the heroes/heroines

26/03/2020 – 05:02

No need to refrain from using bad language if it is assigned to the villains instead of the heroes/heroines

28/03/2020 – 05:01

This is @*#$ing AWESOME!!!

Comments are currently closed.

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160+ Character Development Questions & Free Printable Worksheet

How well do you know the characters of your story? These character development questions will help you gain a deeper understanding of your character.

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Need help developing the personalities of your characters in your book? These free 160 character development questions and free printable worksheet can help you quickly understand your character’s strengths, weakness, lovable quirks – and maybe even why they may not order pizza for dinner.

Your Characters Are Not Real People, But Don’t Let Your Readers Know That

When you open up a book and start reading – you know right away after you are introduced to the main characters whether or not it is a book you will want to continue reading.

If the characters are flat, have zero personality, or even do conflicting types of behaviors throughout the story – your readers will lose interest.

The way to really draw in your readers is to make every best effort to ensure your characters are fully developed and are relatable. The more we can relate to your character, whether they are main characters or supporting characters , the more likely we will believe the story.

In order to make your characters fully believable, they need to become real.

As a writer, it is important for you to imagine your character as someone you meet in real life.

Character Interview Questions can help you develop the basics of who your character might be like. It is very important for you to also spend some time with your characters, and really get to know them intimately, so that when it is time to write about them you will have no problems “staying in character”.

While there are a number of lists out there of the basic types of questions we can ask to develop our character’s personalities and describe their basic likes, interests and appearances – if you want to be a better writer, you really need to go a LOT deeper beyond what color their physical appearance and their hobbies.

Your character MUST HAVE FEELINGS !

It is emotion, not logic , which causes us to be interested and captivated by any type of fictional story. Your reader already logically knows your characters are pretend imaginary make-believe people.

It’s how those pretend people make your reader feel that matters.

The way to get this emotional connection?

By intimately understanding your characters of course!

Now that we understand why it is so very important to know and understand our characters and every thing about them – let’s get onto the character development questions that can help you understand far more than the basic details of their name, age, and appearance.

With over 160 questions about your character’s likes, dislikes, interests, emotions, and motivations, you are sure to have a good understanding of the person you are writing about in your novel!

Here are The Character Development Questions You Should Be Asking

To help you get started in creating your characters, we’ve created this list of character development questions. There are a total of 5 sections:

Section 1: The Basic Facts : This section includes questions to help you identify things like name, age, appearance, etc. These questions aren’t designed to get to the “heart and soul” of your character, they do play a role in the total picture of who the person is in your story, so of course we do include them in this list of interview questions.

Section 2: Personality & Behavioral Traits : What type of personality does your character have? What does your character do? These questions in this section will help you understand the inner workings of your character’s thoughts and their behaviors. Exploring these different traits can help your character become more realistic.

Going Deeper : This section explores more of the emotional side of your character, with questions to really get down to the “why” and “how” of who they are.

If you would like the printable and downloadable version of these questions, you will be able to find the free character development questions worksheet near the end of the article.

Section 1: The Basic Facts

What is your character’s name.

How does the character feel about his or her name?
How did he or she get this name? Was it passed on from a family member, or did the parents read it on the side of a cereal box the day the child was born?
What is the meaning of the name? What culture did the name originate from? What regions of the world did the name come from?
What connotations or stereotypes does the name have?

Need tips for naming your characters? You Might Also Like: How to Name Your Characters

Character Age/Birthday/Zodiac Sign:

How old is your character?
What year was he or she born?
What events were happening locally, nationally and globally the year your character was born?
What is the zodiac sign? Does his or her zodiac sign have any bearing on their personality traits?
What Chinese Horoscope year were they born in? How does this influence their personality traits?
How does your character like to celebrate his or her birthday?

Character’s Physical Traits:

What does your character look like?
Is your character Athletic or Overweight?
Tall or Short?
Hair color and length?
Any scars or birth marks?
Does your character have a physical disability?
What actress or actor would you have play the role of your character if it was a movie?
What style of clothes does your character wear?
What clothes would he or she wear every day on a casual basis?
For a night out on the town?
Does he or she wear any special jewelry or accessories?
What type of shoes does your character wear?

Character’s Home:

Where does your character live? Is it an Apartment? House? In the backseat of his car?
How does your character feel about the current living arrangements?
Does your character live with anyone else? Who are those people?
How does your character get along with his or her neighbors?
What is the view outside of your character’s window?
What items do they keep next to their bed?
What is your character’s most valuable possession?

Career/Job/Profession/Education:

What does the character do for a living?
Do they find this work enjoyable?
What is your character’s dream job?
What is your character’s financial situation?
What does your character spend most of his/her money on?
What would your character do if he or she won the lottery?
What is your character’s highest level of education?
What things do they wish were different about their current profession?

Characters Family:

Who are his or her parents?
Does he or she have any siblings?
A spouse or other romantic partner or love interest?
How about children?
Other family? Aunts? Uncles? Second Cousins Twice Removed?
How does your character feel about family functions and events?

Character’s Friends:

Who are your character’s closest friends?
How did your character meet his or her best friend?
What do they value most in friendship?
Does your character make friends easily?

Character’s Relationships:

What was your character’s first romantic encounter like?
How does your character display affection?
What is your character’s idea of a perfect romantic date?
Has your character ever had his or her heart broken?
What qualities does your character look for in a romantic partner?

Character’s Pets:

Does your character have any pets? What type?
What are your characters favorite animals?
How many times has your character visited the zoo?

Even Fictional Characters Have to Eat:

What are his or her favorite foods to eat?
Does he or she enjoy to cook?
Any food allergies or sensitivities?
What foods can he or she not stand to be around or eat?

hobbies and interests for characters development

Where would your character like to travel?
How does he or she want to get there?
Does your character have preferences on types of lodging?
How does your character spend a lazy Sunday afternoon?
What are their favorite places to go when alone? With friends?

TV, Movies, Music, & Books

What are your characters favorite movies and TV shows?
What are their favorite actors and actresses?
How often do they watch movies and/or television? What television shows or movies do you think they would enjoy most?
What are your character’s favorite music and songs?
What genre of music would you find your character most likely listening to? When do they listen to music? In the car? While working?
What artists and bands does your character enjoy listening to?
Would your character go to a concert and enjoy it?
Does your character play any musical instruments?
What are his or her favorite books?
What books are on his or her bookshelf at home?
What titles does he or she borrow from the library?
What genre of books does your character enjoy reading? Romance Fiction? Non-fiction? Thriller Crime Novels? Historical Fiction? Self-help? Poetry?
What is your character’s favorite quote and why?

Section 2: Character Personality & Behavioral Traits

Character personality questions:.

Describe your character’s personality with three words. For each of these words, why would you choose these words a way to describe your character?
How does your character act socially?
Is your character an introvert or extrovert?
What does your character do when meeting someone for the first time?
How does he or she interact with guests at a party?
How does your character feel about small talk?
How does your character feel about being the center of attention?
Is your character organized or disorganized?
Are his or her belongings arranged neat and tidy or scattered all over the place?
Does your character tend to be forgetful or easily distracted?
Is he or she logical and analytical or more of a dreamer?
What are your character’s pet peeves?
What does your character do that might annoy others?
How does your character deal with feelings of anger? Punch walls? Go on a shopping spree? Walk it off?
How does your character handle everyday little frustrations?
What would your character do if stuck in a long line or traffic jam?

Strengths & Weaknesses

What are your character’s greatest strengths?
How did he or she develop these strengths and skills?
What are his or her greatest weaknesses?
What is something your character wishes they could do better?
Does your character have any obsessions or addictions?
Does your character neglect any important responsibilities in life?
What makes your character happy?
What is your character most thankful for in life?
If your character had an imaginary peaceful happy place, what would it be like?
Does your character find happiness from within or look for it from external sources?

Section 3: Going Deeper – Emotional Questions to Ask Your Character

What are your character’s greatest fears in life.

What past events may have influenced your character to have these fears?
How does your character deal with fear?
Was there ever a time your character did not feel like live was worth living?
What does your character do to make themselves feel better when in emotional or physical pain?
What would your character miss the most if it were to be taken away from them?

What are your character’s hopes, dreams, and goals?

What profession did he or she dream of having when growing up?
What is a day in the life of their dream life like?
How is their “dream life” different from their current life now? What things are the same?
What goals do they wish to accomplish in their life?
What are the challenges in reaching these goals?

spiritual character development questions

What are the spiritual beliefs of your character?

Do these beliefs differ from the religion of his or her parents or other family?
Does your character believe in the afterlife?
Is your character superstitious?
If your character had a spirit animal, what would it be?
What is your character’s motto or mantra for life?
If your character’s beliefs could be summed up in three words, what would they be?

What would your character most like to change about the world?

What causes is your character passionate about?
Why does your character care about these things?
What are your character’s political beliefs?
What political issues matter the most to your character and why?
What is the most influential thing that impacted your character into being who he or she is today?
Who does your character consider to be role models, and why does he or she look up to these people?

Memories From the Past

What is your character’s greatest regret in life?
What are the most painful memories they have from childhood?
What deep dark secrets do they not tell anyone?
Does your character have a favorite place they would visit as a child?
What events from your character’s life have left an impact?
What are some of his or her most proudest moments?
What about most embarrassing moments?
What was his or her childhood like?
What types of toys did your character play with as a child?
Who was an influential person in your character’s childhood life?
Are there any people from the past your character misses? What does he or she miss the most about that person?

Values & Morals

How does your character feel about honesty? Do they believe in always telling the truth? Or do they believe that little lies won’t hurt anyone?
Does your character keep his or her promises?
Does your character prefer to do things easily or do them “right”?
When is a time your character has felt betrayed? Why did they feel this way?
What is something your character would never do?
What is something people would be surprised your character WOULD do?
What makes your character proud? What was one of his or her proudest moments in life?
How does your character feel about rules and guidelines? Necessary or restrictive?
Is your character a leader, follower, or lone wolf?

Wants & Needs

What motivates your character?
What does your character need in order to be happy?
What needs does your character have that might left unfulfilled?

Download Your Free Character Development Questions Printable Here

We’ve created two versions of the character development questions worksheet. One version is a printable PDF – easy to print out and use in your notebook to answer questions about who your characters are in your novels and stories.

Prefer typing and a digital format? No worries – we have you covered there as well with an editable doc.x file! Simply open the file in Microsoft office or Apple Pages, save as a copy and start typing in the answers to the questions!

Download “Character Development Questions .PDF Version”

Download “Character Development Questions Doc.x Version”

We hope you enjoy this list of character development questions. You don’t have to incorporate all the answers of these questions into your story of course, but having a strong knowledge of your character can help make the writing process much easier!

When you fully develop your characters and have a working knowledge of these details – even if they don’t necessarily make their way into your book – it can help you choose the right style and tone to convey to your readers that your characters are believable. Using these questions will help you build strong, relatable characters which will pique your readers’ interests.

Are there any questions you ask your characters that are not on this list? Any other tips for creating strong personas for your novels? We’d love to hear what type of character development questions you find most useful and any thoughts or experiences you have in the comments section below!

Chelle Stein wrote her first embarrassingly bad novel at the age of 14 and hasn't stopped writing since. As the founder of ThinkWritten, she enjoys encouraging writers and creatives of all types.

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22 comments.

This is so helpful!!!!!!

Thanks for the wonnnderful site it has Helped!,

The best I have ever come across ! Thank you 🙂

Glad you enjoyed it, thank you!

Thanks for the tips

You’re welcome!

This is great! As someone who is starting out, keeping on top of all my characters is tough, not to mention their personality traits, interests, motivations etc. I feel I will use this tool for years to come, thank you!

Thanks Owen, glad it is helpful for you!

This is very helpful, thank you !!

thank you so much

This is super helpful!! thank you! This is really going to help my character depth and to portray their emotions the way I feel the need to 😀

Wow this is so incredibly helpful! I’m currently beginning to write my first book and it was hard getting to know my characters, but this makes it so much easier! Thanks you!!

i love this thank you and God bless. The pdf link also gives a word doc. do you think you can change that?

Oops! We fixed it Dorothy, thank you for letting us know!

Thank you so much for this! It has really helped me paint a clearer picture of what I want.

Thank you so much for taking the time to create this list. As a newbie writer, I find it most helpful!! 🙂

This is perfect!!!

Hi! I was just wondering if it’s okay with you if I took some notes on a few of your articles for my personal use? By the way, I have found it helpful just looking through your site. Keep up the great work!!!

Hi Netta, of course you can take notes for your own personal use, and of course you can download our free printable with the character development questions. I am glad our site is helpful for you!

AFTER SO MUCH BROWSING INTERNET ,MY SEARCH ABOUT DEVELOPING CHARACTER IS ENDED HERE. THIS IS VERY HELPFUL.THANK YOU SO MUCH.

thank you so sos sososo much, its heps me a lot,

thanks you very much

Novel Writing Help - Setting Questionnaires

Setting questionnaire - general, world-building questionnaire for speculative fiction/fantasy.

castle on hilltop representing story setting

The Ultimate Character Questionnaire

October 17, 2016
Storycrafting
by Hannah Bauman

I’ve written about the basics of developing characters before, but this post is a more in-depth resource for character development. In this ultimate character questionnaire, I’ve compiled a list of questions, traits, and more to help you develop rich characters for your next novel, short story, or script. While not every question/prompt will be applicable to your characters, story, or genre, use this list to plan out your characters and give them more depth.

Below are 142 questions to ask yourself when creating a new character. Use whichever questions are relevant to your character and genre and remember, you don’t need to spend too much time on this exercise. Spending hours creating one character doesn’t do you much good when you should be writing, especially if you’re participating in NaNoWriMo!

And if you want to get really prepared for your character development, be sure to grab the workbook below before you get started!

And now for the questions!

Full name (including first, middle, and last):
Date of birth:
Place of birth:

Physical Appearance

Build/body type:
Hair color:
Hair texture:
Distinguishing facial features:
Skin color:
Race/ethnicity:
Birthmarks:
Physical handicaps:
Type of clothes:

Personality

Myers-Briggs personality type:
Alignment test results:
Favorite (or overused) phrases:
Optimist or pessimist:
Describe their sense of humor:
How do they display affection?
How do they see themselves?
How are they seen by others? How do they want to be seen by others?
What would they change about themselves and why?
Strongest character trait:
Weakest character trait:
Are they competitive?
Do they rush to conclusions?
Do they make quick decisions and act on them? Do they take time out to think about actions and consequences?
How do they react to praise? To criticism?
What is their greatest fear?
What are their biggest secrets?
What is their philosophy of life?
When was the last time they cried?
Do they cry openly/in front of others?
What haunts them?
What will they stand up for?
Are they indoorsy or outdoorsy? Night owl or morning lark?
What sense do they most rely on?
How do they treat others?
What quality do they most value in a friend?
What do they consider an overrated virtue?
What are their views on religion? Politics? Sex?
Under what circumstances would they be able to kill someone?
Do they prefer routine or spontaneity?
Describe their pet peeves:
What is their view of freedom? What is freedom?
When did they last lie and what’s their view of lying?
When did they last make a promise? Do they keep their promises?

Friends and Family

How big is their immediate family?
Who is their family?
Do they have siblings? Older or younger?
Do they get along with the parents and siblings?
How big is their extended family?
Describe their parents.
Describe their best friend.
Describe their attitude towards family.
Describe their other friends.
Describe their acquaintances.
What is their family’s history? Think back several generations.
Do they have pets?
Describe their house.
Are they a minimalist or is their house cluttered?
What are their eating habits?
Are they allergic to anything?
What is the first thing they do in the morning?
What do they do on a Sunday afternoon?
What do they do on a Friday night?
Describe their diet:
Describe their workout routine:

Past and Future

What was your character like as a child? As a teenager? As a young adult?
What is their earliest memory?
What is their best childhood memory?
What is their worst childhood memory?
What did they want to be when they grew up?
Did they grow up rich or poor?
Did they grow up nurtured or neglected?
Were they popular growing up?
What is the most offensive thing they ever said?
What is the most offensive thing ever said to them?
What is their greatest achievement?
Describe their first kiss and romance.
What is the worst thing they did to someone they loved?
What is the best thing they did to someone they loved?
Who had a great influence on them? Who shaped them as a person?
What are their plans for the future?
What advice would they give their younger self?
What smells remind them of their childhood?
When was the last time they were crushed with disappointment?
What past act are they most ashamed of? Most proud of?
Has anyone ever saved their life? Have they ever saved someone else’s life?
Do they believe in love at first sight?
Are they in a relationship?
How do they behave in relationships?
Is your character a virgin?
When did you character last have sex?
What sort of sex do they have?
Has your character ever been in love?
Have they ever broken someone’s heart?
Have they ever had their heart broken?
What do they look for in a potential lover or partner?
Do they have their own family? How old are their children?
What are their views on marriage?

Relationships with Others

Do they trust other people to protect them? Why? Why?
Who do they trust the most?
Who do they love the most?
Who do they hate the most? Who do they despise?
Do they tend to take on leadership roles in group situations?
Do they like being around large groups of people? Why or why not?
What are their views on social media?
Have they ever been bullied?
Have they ever been the bully?
Who are their enemies and why?
How do they respond to threat or dangerous situations?
Are they most likely to fight with their fists or their words?
What is your character’s kryptonite?
How do they perceive strangers?
Do they have phobias? Of what?
What do they love to hate?
What is their weapon of choice?
Where do they go when they’re angry?

Work, Education and Hobbies

Describe their current job:
Do they like or dislike their job?
Describe their hobbies:
Educational background:
Work experience/background:
List their favorites of each: color; food; animal; place; person; book:
List their least favorites of each: color; food; animal; place; person; book
What place would they love to visit?
What is the most beautiful thing they’ve ever seen?
What is their favorite song?
Who is their favorite artist?
What is their favorite work of art?
What is their favorite day of the week? Why?
Do they have a favorite saying or proverb? What is it?

Spirituality

What are their religious views?
Who or what is your character’s guardian angel?
Do they believe in an afterlife?
What do they think heaven is?
What do they think hell is?
Are they superstitious?
What would they like to be reincarnated as?

If you liked this ultimate character questionnaire, don’t forget to pop on over to check out the basics of character development.

If you have any questions, please leave a comment or contact me .

6 Comments on The Ultimate Character Questionnaire

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This is a really good tip especially to those fresh to the blogosphere. Brief but very precise info… Thank you for sharing this one. A must read post!

Yeah this really good because I am currently writing a book and I need this bases and this helps me create this character and others thanks.

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Thank you for making this! I am a Young Author and it really helped me really know my characters!

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Character Questionnaire: Ultimate List of 239+ Character Questions

Imagine being a detective in the realm of fiction, where every character you write is a mystery waiting to be solved. That’s where a Character Questionnaire comes into play – it’s your magnifying glass, helping you zoom in on the intricate details that make your characters truly alive. In this guide, we’re not just listing questions; we’re embarking on an adventure to uncover the essence of your characters. From their morning routines to their life’s ambitions, get ready to explore every corner of their existence. Let’s turn the page and start this exciting quest together!

What is a Character Questionnaire?

Character Questionnaire Definition: “A tool used by writers to develop detailed profiles of their characters by answering a series of questions about their backgrounds, personalities, and motivations.”

Ever felt like your characters are just names on a page, lacking the spark that makes them leap into the hearts of your readers? Enter the Character Questionnaire, a writer’s secret weapon to breathe life into those names. Think of it as a deep, revealing interview with your characters, where no stone is left unturned.

A Character Questionnaire is more than just a list of questions; it’s a structured approach to understanding the intricate details that make up a character’s persona. It’s like being a detective in your own story, piecing together clues to reveal who your characters truly are. From their favorite color to their darkest fear, every answer adds a layer to their personality, making them more real, relatable, and memorable.

But why is this so crucial? Characters are the heart and soul of your story. They are the ones your readers will laugh with, cry for, and root for. By using a Character Questionnaire, you’re not just creating a character; you’re creating a living, breathing entity with hopes, dreams, fears, and flaws. This tool helps you explore aspects of your characters you might not have considered, leading to richer, more complex beings who can drive your story in unexpected and thrilling ways.

Imagine knowing your characters so well that their actions and reactions flow naturally in your narrative. That’s the power of a well-crafted Character Questionnaire. It’s not just about filling in blanks; it’s about discovering the essence of your characters, their motivations, and how they fit into the larger tapestry of your story.

Character Development Quiz (Easy)

Your answer:

Correct answer:

Your Answers

How to Conduct a Character Interview?

Superhero being interviewed by a journalist with a microphone

Diving into the minds of your fictional characters can be as thrilling as it is enlightening. Conducting a character interview is a key to unlocking their deepest layers. Let’s explore the steps to bring this engaging process to life.

1. Set the Scene

Firstly, create a comfortable environment for your character. Imagine a place where they would feel most at ease to open up – maybe it’s a quaint café, a bustling city street, or the quiet of their own home. Visualize yourself in this setting, sitting across from your character, ready to delve into their world. This mental setup helps you transition into their mindset, making the conversation more authentic and revealing.

2. Craft the Right Questions

Next, it’s time to prepare your questions, but these aren’t just any questions. You need to think deeply about what you want to uncover about your character. Go beyond the surface details like their favorite color or food. Ask about their fears, their dreams, their regrets. What makes them tick? What keeps them up at night? These questions should aim to probe into the corners of their personality and history that even they might not be fully aware of.

3. Master the Art of Listening

As you begin the interview, remember that listening is as important as asking. Your character might reveal things that surprise you, taking your story in directions you hadn’t planned. Be open to these revelations. Sometimes, the most profound character development comes from these unexpected moments. Listen not just to their words, but also to their tone, their hesitations, and what they might be implicitly saying.

4. Keep the Dialogue Real

Ensure that the conversation flows naturally. This isn’t a rigid interrogation but a fluid, dynamic dialogue. If your character strays into an unplanned topic, follow them there. These tangents can be incredibly revealing, offering insights into aspects of their personality or past that you hadn’t considered. Encourage them to express themselves freely, and be ready to explore the paths that open up.

5. Embrace the Awkward Silences

Silences can speak volumes. If your character pauses, seems hesitant, or tries to change the subject, don’t rush to fill the silence. Instead, explore these moments. Why are they reluctant to speak about certain topics? What emotions or memories are they struggling with? These pauses can be gateways to deeper understanding and more complex character development.

6. Conclude Positively

Finally, wrap up your interview on a hopeful or reflective note. Ask about their aspirations, dreams, or what they’ve learned from their experiences. This not only provides a sense of closure to the interview but also leaves you with a deeper, more nuanced understanding of who your character is and what drives them.

Conducting a character interview is a journey into the heart of your story’s cast. It’s an opportunity to explore their complexities, uncover their hidden depths, and bring them to life in your writing. So, set the stage, dive in with curiosity, and be prepared to be surprised by what you discover about your characters.

239+ Character Questions

Welcome to the blueprint for building memorable characters – our list of over 239+ character questions. Here, each question is a building block, adding substance and clarity to the foundation of your characters. As you navigate through this list, you’re constructing characters that are not just memorable but also resonate deeply with your audience.

Basic Characteristics

Scientist analyzes the blueprint of a superhero suit

First name?
Nicknames or aliases?
Date of birth?
Place of birth?
Current residence (city, country)?
Nationality?
Gender identity?
Sexual orientation?

Physical Appearance

A scientist with organogenic glasses measuring a superhero suit with a tape measure

Body build (muscular, slender, stocky, etc)?
Hair color?
Hair length?
Skin condition?
Teeth condition (straight, crooked, missing, etc.)?
Distinguishing facial features?
Typical facial expression?
Presence of glasses or contact lenses?
Presence of tattoos?
Presence of piercings?
Any scars or birthmarks?
Type of body modifications?
Walking style?
Dominant hand (right-handed, left-handed, ambidextrous)?
Physical disabilities?
Clothing style preference?
Favorite type of accessories?
Hand condition?
Habitual movements or gestures?
Voice quality?
Scent preference (perfume, cologne)?

Personality

A superhero with a mask petting a little cat

Are they an introvert or extrovert?
Are they more logical or emotional?
Are they optimistic or pessimistic?
Strongest character trait?
Weakest character trait?
Are they more of a leader or a follower?
How do they handle stress or pressure?
How do they deal with conflict?
What makes them angry?
How do they express anger?
How do they handle disappointment or failure?
How do they deal with criticism?
How do they handle change?
What motivates them?
Are they patient?
What are their fears?
How do they cope with loss or grief?
What are their aspirations?
What brings them the most joy?
How do they relax?
How do they express love?
What is their sense of humor like?
How do they behave in social settings?
How easily do they trust others?
Are they spontaneous or a planner?
Are they tidy or messy?
What are their most valued principles?
How do they view themselves?

Friends & Family

Several superheroes stand proudly in a row

How important is family to them?
What role do they play in their family?
Who is in their immediate family?
Do they have any godparents or close family friends?
What is their relationship like with each family member?
How does their family background influence them?
Do they have any family responsibilities or obligations?
How do they feel about starting their own family?
Are there any family traditions they hold dear?
What is their happiest memory with their family?
What is their most painful memory with their family?
Are there any family secrets or scandals?
Who is their role model in their family?
How do they communicate with their family?
How important are friends to them?
Who are their closest friends?
How did they meet their friends?
What common interests do they share with their friends?
How do they spend time with their friends?
How do they handle conflicts with their friends?
How often do they make new friends?

Love & Relationships

A superhero with a bouquet of flowers and a silhouette of a beautiful woman in the background

What is their current relationship status?
Have they ever been in love?
What is their idea of a perfect date?
Do they believe in soulmates or love at first sight?
What is their attitude towards love and relationships?
What qualities do they find most attractive in a partner?
How important is physical intimacy to them?
What are their views on romance?
What are their biggest fears in a relationship?
Have they ever had their heart broken?
How do they show affection in a relationship?
What are their long-term relationship goals?
What are their views on marriage and commitment?
How do their relationships impact their other life aspects?
What has been their most significant relationship so far?
How do they handle jealousy?
How do they handle conflict in a relationship?
What are their biggest relationship deal-breakers?
How do they deal with breakups?
What lessons have they learned from their past relationships?

Habits & Routines

Superhero sits in lotus pose and meditates

What are their mannerisms and quirks?
What is their morning routine?
Do they have any nightly rituals before bed?
Are they an early riser or a night owl?
How do they organize their personal space?
What are their work or study habits?
Do they have any rituals or habits for relaxation?
How do they handle boredom?
How do they unwind after a long day?
How do they typically spend their evenings?
What is their favorite time of day?
What are their weekend routines?
What are their shopping habits?
Do they have any rituals for good luck?
What are their cleaning habits (neat, messy, obsessive, etc.)?
What are their internet or social media habits?
Do they have any rituals for inspiration or creativity?
How do they prefer to communicate (text, call, face-to-face)?

Health & Lifestyle

Close-up of a superhero with mask eating a carrot

What is their overall physical health like?
How do they manage their mental health?
Do they have any chronic illnesses or conditions?
Do they have any vision or hearing issues?
How do they deal with pain or discomfort?
What is their attitude towards fitness and exercise?
Do they follow any specific diet or eating habits?
Do they have any allergies or dietary restrictions?
What is their alcohol or substance use like?
Do they have a regular sleep pattern?
How do they maintain a work-life balance?
How do they handle fatigue or burnout?
How do they approach self-care and wellness?
What is their approach to personal hygiene?

Hobbies & Interests

What are their favorite hobbies?
Do they have any unusual or unique hobbies?
How much time do they dedicate to their hobbies?
Do they prefer hobbies that are social or solitary?
Do they have any hobbies they keep secret or private?
Do they prefer indoor or outdoor hobbies?
Have they ever turned a hobby into a profession?
How do they discover new interests or hobbies?
What are their favorite books, movies, or TV shows?
What is their favorite form of entertainment?
Do they have any collections or collectibles?
How do their hobbies reflect their personality?
How do they share their interests with others?
Have they ever had to give up a hobby?
Do they enjoy traveling or exploring?
Do they like reading or learning?
Do they have any pets?

Work & Education

A superhero with a cape and tie works on a laptop

What is their current job?
What do they think about their current job?
What are some of their past jobs?
What is their dream job or career?
How did they choose their current profession?
What are their career goals or aspirations?
Have they had any significant mentors in their career?
Have they ever been unemployed or faced career setbacks?
Have they ever changed career paths?
How do they approach learning new things?
Do they have any side hustles?
Do they have any entrepreneurial aspirations?
What are their thoughts on retirement?
What is their educational background?
How did they perform academically?
Did they enjoy their school years?
What were their favorite and least favorite subjects in school?
What languages can they speak?

Beliefs & Values

Superhero with cape gives a speech at a podium

What are their religious views?
Do they follow any spiritual practices or rituals?
Do they believe in an afterlife or spiritual realm?
What are their beliefs about life and death?
Do they believe in fate or destiny?
Do they believe in luck or chance?
Do they have any spiritual mentors or guides?
How do their beliefs influence their daily life?
What are their core moral principles?
Have their beliefs and values changed over time?
Do they have any strong political beliefs?
What are their views on environmental issues?
Do you participate in any activism or volunteering?
What are their views on social justice and equality?
How important is honesty and integrity to them?
What are their beliefs about human nature?

Past & Future

An old superhero with a walking stick in his hand

What is their most significant childhood memory?
Have they experienced any major life-changing events?
What were their teenage years like?
Did they grow up rich or poor?
Have they lived in different places or countries?
How have their past relationships shaped them?
What lessons have they learned from their past?
What are their future aspirations or goals?
How do they plan to achieve their future goals?
What are their fears or concerns about the future?
What changes do they hope to see in their life?
How do they envision their life in 5, 10, or 20 years?
What are their long-term plans for retirement or old age?

Goals & Challenges

Superhero with red cape stands in front of a silhouette of a villain

What is their main goal in life?
What are their personal goals?
What are their financial goals?
Have their goals changed over time?
What drives or motivates them?
What would they sacrifice for success?
How do they prioritize their goals?
Do they have any professional aspirations?
How do they handle setbacks or failures?
How do they measure success?
What legacy do they want to leave behind?
What major conflicts have they faced in life?
What internal struggles do they deal with?
Do they have any phobias or irrational fears?
How do they deal with being alone?
How do they handle confrontation?
How do they recover from setbacks?

Possessions

What is their most valued possession?
Any significant items they always carry?
Do they have any cherished keepsakes?
Any inherited or family items?
Do they own any luxury items?
How do they treat their belongings?
What would they save in a fire?
Items they’ve lost that they miss?
What’s on their desk or workspace?
What’s in their pockets?
What’s in their fridge?
What’s in their bin?
What’s in their closet?
What’s in their garage or storage space?
Items that reflect their personality?
Any items with a story behind them?
Do they lend items to others easily?
How do they view material wealth?

Each of these questions opens a door to a new aspect of your character’s life, offering a glimpse into their world. Remember, the more you know about your characters, the more vividly they’ll come to life on the page.

Common Pitfalls and How to Avoid Them

Superhero with cape standing soaked in the pouring rain

Creating characters is an art, and like any art, it comes with its own set of challenges. Let’s shine a light on some common pitfalls in character creation and, more importantly, how you can sidestep them to craft truly compelling characters.

1. One-Dimensional Characters

Challenge: It’s easy to fall into the trap of creating characters who lack depth, existing solely to serve the plot without their own distinct voices or backgrounds.
Solution: Give your characters layers. Just like real people, they should have strengths, weaknesses, fears, and dreams. Use the character questionnaire to explore different facets of their personality. Remember, even villains have a soft side, and heroes have flaws.

2. Relying on Stereotypes & Clichés

Challenge: Relying on clichés and stereotypes can make your characters predictable and uninteresting.
Solution: Challenge stereotypes by adding unique traits and unexpected qualities to your characters. Think about how their environment, upbringing, and experiences have shaped them into complex individuals.

3. Inconsistent Character Behavior

Challenge: Characters acting out of character for the sake of plot convenience can confuse readers and break the story’s believability.
Solution: Stay true to your character’s established traits and motivations. If they must act out of character, ensure there’s a compelling, well-explained reason that aligns with their development.

4. Overloading Characters with Information

Challenge: Bombarding your character with too many quirks, backstory elements, or traits can overwhelm the reader and dilute the character’s essence.
Solution: Balance is key. Not every detail you discover in your questionnaire needs to make it into the story. Focus on what’s relevant to their role and growth in the narrative.

5. Neglecting the Supporting Cast

Challenge: Focusing all your attention on the protagonist can lead to flat, uninteresting supporting characters.
Solution: Give your supporting characters their own goals, fears, and arcs. They should be integral to the story, influencing and being influenced by the main plot.

6. Forgetting Character Evolution

Challenge: Characters who don’t grow or change throughout the story can make your narrative feel static and unengaging.
Solution: Plan for character development. How do the events of the story impact them? What lessons do they learn? Show how they evolve (or resist evolution) in response to the story’s events.

7. Ignoring Reader Expectations

Challenge: Overlooking the genre and audience expectations can lead to characters that feel out of place or unsatisfying.
Solution: Understand your genre and audience. While it’s great to be innovative, ensure your characters resonate with and fulfill the expectations of your readers.

By being mindful of these pitfalls and applying thoughtful fixes, you can elevate your characters from mere words on a page to living, breathing entities that captivate your readers’ imaginations and hearts. Remember, the best characters are those that feel real – flawed, complex, and beautifully human.

Frequently Asked Questions

Navigating the world of character creation can raise many questions. Let’s tackle some of the most frequently asked ones, shedding light on the nuances of crafting believable and engaging characters.

What Is A Character Interview?

A character interview is a creative technique where you, the writer, ask your character a series of questions as if they were a real person. It’s like conducting an interview with a fictional being to understand their thoughts, feelings, and motivations. This process helps you delve deeper into your character’s psyche, uncovering details that make them more rounded and believable. It’s not just about what they would do in your story, but why they would do it, giving you a clearer picture of who they are.

What Are Character Analysis Questions?

Character analysis questions are inquiries designed to dissect and understand a character’s nature. These questions explore various aspects of a character’s life and personality, including their background, beliefs, relationships, and motivations. They are tools to analyze why a character behaves a certain way, what drives their actions, and how they interact with the world around them. By answering these questions, you gain insights into your character’s role in the story and how they contribute to the narrative’s progression.

How Do You Write A Character Asking A Question?

Writing a character asking a question involves understanding their voice and perspective. First, consider the character’s background, education, and personality. How would they phrase a question? Is it direct or more reflective? Then, think about the context of the question. What are they seeking to understand or achieve by asking it? Ensure the question aligns with their character development and the story’s plot. It’s not just about the words they use, but the intention behind them, which should be consistent with their character arc.

How Does A Character Questionnaire Enhance Storytelling?

A character questionnaire enhances storytelling by adding depth and authenticity to your characters. It forces you to think about aspects of their personality and background you might not have considered otherwise. This detailed understanding of your characters allows for more nuanced and consistent character development throughout your story. Characters become more than just plot devices; they become real entities with their own desires, fears, and motivations. This depth makes for more engaging and relatable storytelling, as readers are more likely to connect with well-rounded characters.

Character Development Quiz (Hard)

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‘Voice’ is a term used a lot in the writing industry, but it can be hard to pin down, and can different things to different people.

One author suggested a helpful way to think about it is to split it into three different aspects: Author’s Voice, the Voice of the Novel, and Characters’ Voices.

Author Voice

Author’s voice, as you might imagine, is the voice of the author. Each author will have their own unique style of writing, which will come across through all of their books. Some authors have a very light, humorous tone, while others will include lots of detailed immersive descriptions, and others will create a deep sense of atmosphere and description.

Finding your voice as an author is something that comes through time and experience, and is largely based on your own personality. At the end of the day, your Author Voice is your voice, and embracing that is the way to find it.

The Voice of the Novel

The Voice of the Novel will vary from book to book, even with the same author - though in a series of books it shouldn’t change much. However, if you’re writing some books for children, and some for adults, then naturally those stories will have different tones.

Character Voice

But what we’re going to look closely at in this article, is developing Character Voice - which is a critical part of character development.

Each of your characters should have a unique way of expressing themselves, and despite the fact we’re using the word ‘Voice’ this is about far more than the words that come out of their mouths. It’s about the words they use, but also how they use them. How they hold themselves, and how their background affects their opinions and attitudes.

If you’ve developed your characters deeply enough, then each of them should sound unique, ideally to the point that the reader would know who was talking just from their dialogue, even if you didn't name the character.

Methods for analysing and developing character voice

There are a few methods you can use to analyse whether you’re doing this.

One is to go through the novel and highlight or pull out all of the text for a single character. As you go through it, check whether it feels consistent.

The second way is to pull out a conversation between several of the characters, and remove all the dialogue tags (the bits where it says who’s talking). Once you’ve done that, can you still tell who is saying what? If you can’t, you might need to work a little more on each character’s unique voice development.

Developing a character’s voice is central to developing the character themselves.

Below are some prompts that help you delve into many aspects that make each character unique by giving them a distinct voice, including their background, quirks and personality.

Let’s look at each of them in detail.

Favourite vocabulary

Looking closely at the vocabulary of your cast is key to their character development.

Some characters might have a very large vocabulary, using lots of complex words, while for others it will be small, and limited to more simple words. Some characters may even drop in words from another language, either because they have a background in it, or simply because they think it makes them sound clever.

You can also look at what words a character overuses. We all tend to have our favoured words and phrases, and identifying a few of these for each of the characters can really help develop their uniqueness and contrast from other characters.

When developing characters, you might consider which senses they favour - and this can be reflected in their vocabulary choices. Some people relate everything to sight, but others may be more tactile, or tuned in to sounds or smells.

Finally, during your initial character development you will probably have identified the character’s job, and maybe some of their hobbies. It can be very effective to try to weave this part of them into their vocabulary.

If they have a background in the military, they may use lots of words about ‘battle’ or ‘discipline’ or ‘order’. Or if they like gardening they may favour vocabulary such as ‘growth’ or ‘roots’.

Speech patterns / habits / quirks

Speech patterns and quirks are a great way to make your character’s voice unique.

However, it’s also one that you need to be a bit careful with, as clumsy use of this technique could lead to characters that feel like caricatures or cartoons.

A subtle way to lean a character into a speech pattern is to have some characters that always use long sentences, and others who always keep everything as short and to the point as possible. Another way is to have every other thing that comes out of a character’s mouth be a question.

As with all character development techniques, the ideal is to always link everything back to the character’s arc and their core. So, if they’re using long sentences, is it because they’re always being superpolite because they are worried about offending people? Or is it because they have an inflated sense of their own importance and like the sound of their own voice?

If they use short sentences, is it because they don’t see the point of beating around the bush and are impatient to get to the point, or is it because they’re crippled with shyness and it takes a gargantuan effort just to squeak out a few words?

However, of course you can go a lot further with patterns and mannerisms, and have very striking and unique quirks, such as a catchphrase they always say, or have them always shouting.

How far you go will depend on the kind of book you’re writing, and the kind of experience you want to give your readers. Making the characters’ speech patterns very extreme will make them more farcical. Also, having too many characters with intense speech quirks could get tiresome for your readers.

Educational level

The educational level of a character will link in closely with their vocabulary, but may also affect their level of assertiveness and speech patterns (in fact, all of these character voice categories overlap and inform each other).

Thinking about where your character went to school; the facilities that were available to them; their attitude to school; and to what age they continued their education, will all richly inform their character development - and some of this will be reflected in how they speak.

More education may mean a more advanced vocabulary, but it could also mean pomposity or the desire to speak more slang to hide their class.

Less well-educated people may use simpler language, or they may start to overuse long words in certain company to compensate for feelings of inferiority.

Race / culture / regional influences

Regional influences can affect a character's vocabulary, word order, slang, accent, attitude and priorities.

As with speech patterns and quirks, using accents and regional dialects must be handled with care.

From a writer’s point of view, it should be a matter of professional pride to ensure any accents or dialects are accurate and insightful, rather than simply regurgitating cliched stereotypes.

Badly presented accents can make readers cringe, distract them, and can break the suspension of disbelief.

But also, from an ethical point of view, unhelpful stereotypes reinforce prejudices and create discrimination and suffering. Insulting stereotypes have been portrayed for too long in stories, and the tolerance for them is rightfully getting lower.

So, if you’re writing outside of your native dialect, then this may mean doing a great deal of research and consulting with native speakers for accuracy and sensitivity.

If you’re writing a dialect you know well, and personally, and have deeply researched, then they can add wonderful colour, nuance and positive representation to your work.

But if you’re not sure if you’ll be able to develop character voices in dialects that are accurate and respectful, then it’s probably wisest to avoid them.

Slang is an effective part of developing a character’s unique voice, and the particular slang they use can reflect their background, education, attitude and career and hobbies.

It can also be used to express their attitude towards others. For example, someone might deliberately use a lot of slang to make those who aren’t familiar with it feel uncomfortable or inferior.

Or they may be completely oblivious that when they use it, everyone around them is baffled, indicating a more absent-minded type of personality.

Direct and to the point or oblique and rambling

Part of a character’s voice is their manner of communication - some people are effective communicators, others not so much.

As always, relate these habits to your character’s core personality and arc.

If someone is direct, and to the point, that could be because they are effective and concise. But it could be that they do it to such extremes that people around them find them blunt to the point of rudeness. Or perhaps they use few words because they are paralysed with social anxiety.

On the other side of the coin, a character who speaks at length could be doing so because they want to ensure everybody is well informed, with all the facts - or it could be simply that they love the sound of their own voice, and have no interest in listening to others.

Assertive or passive

You can get across how assertive or passive your main character is via their speech, as well as their actions.

They may speak forcefully, saying everything as if it’s a fact, rather than simply their opinion. Or maybe they are assertive without being overbearing - calmly confident, but still warm and able to listen.

Others will sound like every word out of their mouth is an apology, and any opinions they hold will have to be dragged from them. Yet others may watch everything but hold their tongue until they have something they deem worth saying, which shakes all the surrounding characters with its profoundness.

As well as the words they use, body language and gestures are a key part of character voice development.

Do they hold themselves tall and look people straight in the eye? Do they shrug and slouch, and have their eyes glued to ttheir phone, even when people are talking to them?

Do they gesticulate wildly, or stay perfectly still?

Proactive, taking charge or reactive and following

A key part of any character is how proactive they are. This is related to how assertive or passive they are, but is subtley different

For example, a character may be very proactive, but be a lone wolf, not telling anyone what they’re doing, or allowing anyone else to get involved.

And a bluster person who talks in an overbearing manner, may still shy away from taking any actual action or risks.

Consider how proactive your characters are - and how they relate to each other. Is there a good balance of characters who take action and others who follow and support? Or are their multiple ‘leaders’ who end up clashing and causing harmful conflicts?

How are different ways of being proactive expressed?

It’s also useful to investigate different ways characters can be followers - are they supportive and constructive, but not getting in the way? Or are they constantly dragging their feet and telling the main character they’re doing everything wrong?

How can these attitudes be demonstrated through what they say and their body language?

Sense of humour

Sense of humour is a great way to add uniqueness to a character. It’s also one of the hardest to make varied, as we tend towards the things that we find funny. Things that we don’t find funny, we assume aren't objectively funny at all, and people who do laugh at such things simply lack a decent sense of humour.

But of course different people (and therefore characters) find different things funny.

Here are a few examples of the different types of sense of humour your characters might have:

Laugh-at-life
Bonding in the moment
Bitter sarcasm
Self-deprecating
Dry/deadpan
Highbrow/witty
jokes at others’ expense
Toilet humour
Quirky cultural references
Puns / wordplay
‘Dad’ jokes

Metaphor and idiom preferences

Carefully selecting metaphors and idioms to reflect a character’s personality and life experience can be a very fun and effective way to for developing a unique character voice.

Characters (especially ones with a background in the military) might relate everything to war metaphors, saying that getting their boss to listen to them is an ‘uphill battle’ or that their son just ‘dropped a bombshell’. Here are some more war based phrases for if you want to develop a character like this .

Or a hobbyist sailor might say they they give men with moustaches ‘a wide berth’ or that their best friend left them ‘high and dry’.

Many of these sorts of phrases are so embedded in our language that readers will not consciously notice these patterns, but subconsciously, it will make your character come across as more unique and consistent.

And it doesn’t have to relate to hobbies and careers. If they are a visual person, everything will be related to sight, for example: ‘I see what you mean’, ‘That looks good,’ or ‘What a beauty’.

Or perhaps they are more affected by smells, and would say things like: ‘I smell a rat’ or ‘there’s no need to be sniffy with me’.

2. Backstory

The Backstory section is an open section that allows you to put down anything you think is worth noting from your character’s past.

There are many different ways to approach this:

You could write as a summarised overview, or create detailed in-the-moment descriptions of several of their most formative experiences.
You could follow them from birth, through infancy, childhood, teenage years, young adult life, mid-life etc. Or you could just focus on a few key events.
You can write the history as an omniscient narrator, or you may prefer to get into character and tell it from their point of view.

If you’re not sure which way to go, try some out and see what feels like a good fit. And of course you’re not obliged to follow the same method for all the characters. For some you may find yourself writing pages and pages detailing their entire life story, where for others you may write a single scene of a critical event.

Here are a few more prompts to help get your backstory flowing:

What is the character’s defining life event?

Of course we are shaped by multiple experiences, but it can be very powerful if you can come up with a single event that represents how your character came to have the attitude they have now.

For example, (spoiler alert!) Lotso in Toy Story 3 was a perfectly happy, loyal bear until his owner accidentally lost him and subsequently replaced him. This turned him into a bitter, manipulative bully.

In Toy Story 3 this event from his backstory is explicitly shown, but even if the defining event always remains in your knowledge only, it will still make your character feel more real to readers.

What was their childhood like?

Thinking about the influences on the character as a child can be really informative when it comes to understanding why they behave how they do as an adult. Was their childhood a safe place, filled with love and delight? Or was it scary and dark, where they had to fend for themselves? Did they have any friends? A best friend? An imaginary friend?

What person has influenced their life the most?

This could be in a positive or negative way. It could be someone who showed them kindness, who they would like to make proud, or emulate. Or it could be an oppressor. In this case, they vow never to be like that. Or perhaps the conditioning was so strong it has given this character a mean streak.

3. Questionnaire

A character questionnaire is a great way to get our brains working in new directions.

Note that a questionnaire is not a good way to start building a character. The questions are too piecemeal, and your character needs to have a more coherent core before you get to this stage.

It also shouldn’t be treated like an exam, where every single question must be answered. A character questionnaire can be much more useful to provide little nudges of inspiration that we can follow down the rabbit hole of our imagination.

Some of these details may lead to interesting twists and layers to your plot.

We can use questions to give us ideas about how we can contrast our characters and create conflict between them.

Or they can help us discover details about their home or work life which will enrich our descriptions and make them feel more three-dimensional to our readers.

Even if the answers you discover have no direct impact on your plot, the information will help round out the character in your mind, and when you write from their perspective - this will come out, whether you notice it or not.

What's in your character's fridge?

Let’s go through an example:

A question about what’s in a character’s fridge could lead to the following ideas:

There’s a box of insulin canisters, a jar of pickles three years out of date, three bottles of mayonnaise (all open), a box of leftover chinese food, a salad bag and seven different types of cheeses.

By taking each of these elements, you could start to build up details from the character’s life:

Box of insulin canisters – it’s not for them, it’s for their cat, who they have such a soft spot for they allowed her to become obese, and now she has to have injections morning and night. So now we know the character has a cat and that first thing in the morning they have to inject the cat. Which gives us a better picture of what their apartment might be like (Cat toys? Cat litter? Smell of cats? Or is all the cat stuff meticulously cleared away?) and also a possible detail for a scene – injecting the cat, which has all kinds of potential for conflict and humour.

A jar of pickles three years out of date, three open bottles of mayonnaise and a box of leftover food: all of this suggests someone who’s slightly disorganised and not particularly into cooking.

However, the salad bag implies they attempt to make an effort every now and then – unless they also have a rabbit as a pet…

And the seven different types of cheese could be because they are actually a connoisseur of cheeses despite other disinterest in food – or maybe the cheeses are a gift from a mother, aunt or friend. In which case that begins to lead us down an alley of what that relative or friend might be like, and the impact they have on this character’s life.

So, you can see that from a simple question about what’s in a character’s fridge, we’re starting to get some hints of their daily routine, lifestyle and even friends and family.

Many of the questions in the character questionnaire are deliberately vague, they are meant to be open to a bit of interpretation.

This sort of work can be quite intensive, so if you notice you’re starting to struggle to come up with interesting answers, take a break and come back to it later.

Another advantage of spreading these out over a little time is to give you a chance to people-watch in between. With the questions fresh in your mind, observe all the people around you - family, friends, colleagues, strangers - watch them all, and see what inspiration you get to supply interesting answers to the questions.

Character Questionnaire Dos and Don’ts

Here are a few dos and don’ts to help you get the most out of this character questionnaire:

Start by browsing quickly over all of the questions to get a sense of the sections
Vary how you use the questionnaire depending on the character / the day / your mood
Pick out the questions that you find work best for you, and use them to create your own personal streamlined questionnaire
Completely ignore any sections you don't feel are relevant to your character
Mix it up - one day you might decide to pick 10 questions completely at random. Another day you might decide to complete all the questions in a single section.
Approach it as a brainstorming exercise
Allow your mind to go down a rabbit hole, if one question inspires you to write an entire scene from that character's history, then fantastic!
Understand that your in-depth knowledge of the character will bleed into your writing, even if the vast majority of this information is never written in your manuscript
Try to answer all of the questions for any given character
Try to do too many of them in one sitting
Feel you have to go through the questions in order
Try to follow a rigid pattern over and over
Use it to start building a character - you should already have the broad brushstrokes of your character, including what drives them and their biggest flaw
Use all of the information in your novel - most of the answers should be internalised, not spelled out

In the Novel Factory go to the Character section. Open up each major character and complete as much of the Voice, Backstory and Questionnaire tabs as you feel is right for you.

Or, you can use the PDF Character Voice worksheet available here and the Character Questionnaire here .

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Author Interviews

Don winslow ends trilogy, and his writing career, with final novel 'city in ruins'.

Scott Simon

NPR's Scott Simon talks to best-selling suspense author Don Winslow about what he says is his final novel, "City in Ruins."

SCOTT SIMON, HOST:

Danny Ryan, who's been a Rhode Island mobster, dockworker and fugitive from the law, is now a pillar of the community in Las Vegas. He's got a palatial home to which good citizens come to pay homage and enjoy his hospitality, his young son he loves and the companionship - well, three times a week, anyway - of an accomplished and compelling woman he respects. What could possibly go wrong? "City In Ruins" is the third and final novel in the bestselling Danny Ryan trilogy by Don Winslow. It follows "City On Fire" and "City Of Dreams," and Don Winslow says quite explicitly, "City Of Ruins" is my final book - no loopholes I could detect. He joins us now from Julian, Calif. Thanks so much for being with us.

DON WINSLOW: Thanks for having me. I appreciate it.

SIMON: The book opens with an implosion, a famous old Las Vegas hotel, now owned by Danny Ryan, being brought down from the inside. Is implosion a kind of theme for Danny Ryan's life, too?

WINSLOW: Yeah, it sure is. Looking over the arc of these three books, I think we're looking at a certain kind of self-destruction with dynamite, if you will, or explosives that were laid many years earlier on a long fuse, to torture the metaphor, and so implosion's definitely a theme.

SIMON: In earlier books, Danny had used what I'll just refer to as ill-gotten gains from a criminal enterprise to buy his way into a respectable hotel and gaming enterprise. He's got a dream. In fact, a hotel - I guess it's called the Dream in Italian.

WINSLOW: It is. Yeah, Il Sogno.

SIMON: Tell us about this place he wants to bring into being.

WINSLOW: Well, he wants to bring into being a new kind of megahotel where people walk in and it's literally a dream with images shifting constantly on the walls of beauty and action and all kinds of things. And I think it's reflective of his own dream of trying to create a new kind of life for himself and for his son.

SIMON: What stands in the way?

WINSLOW: Well, a number of things. For one thing, this valuable piece of real estate that this old hotel sat on is critical to power on the Las Vegas Strip. And he basically undermines a rival in order to acquire it. And then it turns out that both Danny and this rival have mob ties from the past that each of them is trying to escape and trying to leave behind him, and neither one of them can. And so those things really get in the way of Danny's dream.

SIMON: You've written so many other books over the years, including "Savages," "The Force," "The Cartel," bestsellers made into screen properties. What's kept you coming back to Danny Ryan?

WINSLOW: You know, it took me almost 30 years to complete this trilogy. You know, it's funny. You look back on your life. When I started the Danny Ryan books, my now-adult and married son was a toddler. What I was - set out to do was to write a fully contemporary crime epic that took its stories and characters, however, from the Greek and Roman classics, principally the Aeneid, but also the Odyssey and the Iliad and certain Greek tragic dramas. I kept failing at it. I would write some of the book, and some of it worked, and a lot of it didn't. And so at times, I was discouraged, thinking that either, A, it was a bad idea, or, B, it was a good idea and I didn't have the chops to carry it out. But I kept coming back to it 'cause I couldn't leave it behind. And then later on, a couple of decades down the road - you know, I live mostly in California - I started to go back to Rhode Island, where a lot of the first book is set, and I fell in love with the place again, and I felt that I could write it, perhaps in a better and more mature way than I could have done 20 years earlier.

SIMON: Did you feel a kinship with Danny?

WINSLOW: I think so. You know, I grew up with a lot of Danny'. I played pond hockey with them. I went to the beaches with them, you know, to the bars and restaurants and all kinds of things. So it's funny how little self-awareness you can have. The second volume of this book, "City Of Dreams," is basically Danny wandering the country trying to find a place to set his feet. I was deep into writing the third book before I looked back on the second book and realized how connected I was to Danny in that regard. You know, I left Rhode Island when I was 17 and spent decades wandering not only the country but the world, doing various kinds of jobs trying to make a living, trying without a notable degree of success to become a writer and finally kind of made that happen and found a place, if you will, to set my feet.

SIMON: You mentioned all the jobs you had. You were a private eye in Times Square.

WINSLOW: Yes, sir.

SIMON: Is that as exciting as it sounds, or is it a lot of keyhole peeping?

WINSLOW: (Laughter) Not too much keyhole peeping, thank God. You know, I didn't do what they call matrimonial work. But, no, it was not romantic at all. I was basically what is known as a street rat. And so I started that by investigating embezzlement and thefts in cinemas and legit movie theaters on Times Square - there were a few in those days - and then graduated, if you want to call it that, to being a troll. I would walk around Times Square trying to get mugged, and there were big tough guys, which I am not, behind me jumping in like riders at the rodeo and then eventually chasing runaways and trying to get to them before the pimps did.

SIMON: By the way, not that I'm interested in doing this, how do you arrange to get mugged?

WINSLOW: (Laughter) Well, for one thing, you arrange to be 5'6 and 130 pounds. That helps. And then you walk around looking like you don't know where you're going, like you're a tourist, with a wallet prominently in your back pants pocket.

SIMON: Wow. Sounds like it was indispensable to your literature.

WINSLOW: In some ways. You know, I mean, I think that being a PI, and then later I did it out in California, out here, on a much higher kind of level. But it got me in that world. I got to know cops and crooks and street people and lawyers and judges and courtrooms and all of that. But I think the most important influence it had on my work was in terms of investigation itself. I learned how to do research. I learned how to interview people. And the same skills that I would have used as an investigator are the skills that I brought to researching the novels.

SIMON: All of this steers us to asking about your goodbye. The acknowledgments you write include hundreds of people, parents...

WINSLOW: Yes.

SIMON: ...readers, old teachers...

WINSLOW: Sure.

SIMON: ...Even your agent.

WINSLOW: Especially my agent. Yeah.

SIMON: And as you say, goodbyes are hard. So why are you retiring?

WINSLOW: It's the confluence of two streams, if you will. One is that having finished this trilogy felt like an ending to me. It felt like, yeah, kind of my life's work. The second, though, major stream, and probably more important one, is that I just think that we're at a time in this country of crisis and a time where democracy is under a severe threat. And I think that the response to that needs to be more immediate than one can do in a novel, you know? You know, I'm not young. I'm 70. And I think whatever energies and time I have are better spent in that fight.

SIMON: Don Winslow, his new and insists his last novel, "City In Ruins." Thanks so much for being with us, and thanks for everything.

WINSLOW: Thank you very much. That's gracious of you to say.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "CASCADE")

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The mass appeal of Anne Lamott

‘somehow’ shows off the author’s gift for writing powerfully, deeply, often radically, while appealing to just about everyone.

The title of Anne Lamott’s 20th book is also an apt descriptor of the author’s extraordinary four-decade career. “ Somehow ,” after publishing four quiet, quirky Northern California novels between 1980 and 1989, Lamott sidestepped the fate of many authors with modest sales: beloved by few, unknown to most, destined to fade into literary oblivion. Instead, Lamott changed her genre, and her life. In 1989, single, poor and pregnant, she had a baby on her own, sustained by the kinds of boho characters who populated her novels. In 1993, she wrote a memoir about it. “ Operating Instructions: A Journal of My Son’s First Year ” plucked quirky, iconoclastic Lamott out of the margins and morphed her into a best-selling author — a status cemented by her next book, the instant classic “ Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life .”

No list of writing guides is complete without “Bird by Bird,” whose 25th anniversary edition was published in 2020, and whose sales now number in the millions. Lamott has since published three more novels and 10 more best-selling nonfiction books, including “ Some Assembly Required: A Journal of My Son’s First Son ,” the 2012 sequel to her first memoir. Her 2017 TED Talk has been viewed more than 2.8 million times, possibly because somehow Lamott unfurls a capacious umbrella over groups of people so disparate, they’d rather stand in the rain than stand together: White Christians, Black Christians, hipsters, dog moms, baby moms, feminists, addicts, left-wing activists, the very poor, the very rich. Somehow, in her TED Talks and public appearances and in the 10 “wisdom books” she’s written in the past 25 years, Lamott, who is also a contributing columnist at The Washington Post , has kept digging deep enough, writing lyrically enough, taking the whole thing just seriously enough, to make each one a hit.

As she relates in “Somehow: Thoughts on Love , ” Lamott has somehow (actually, on a senior dating site) found her Neal, and, three days after receiving her first Social Security check, became a first-time bride. In her trademark godly yet snarky way, she extracts every life lesson from her latest new experience with the deft zeal of a chef reducing flour and fat to roux. “Love is compassion,” she writes, “which Neal defines as the love that arises in the presence of suffering. Are love and compassion up to the stark realities we face at the dinner table, and down the street, and at the melting ice caps, or within Iranian nuclear plants and our own Congress? Maybe, I think so. Somehow.”

Lamott writes not only of love’s glories but also of its quotidian impossibilities, keeping the reader gripping the passenger seat as she navigates love’s hairpin turns. What Christian, what addict, what Marin County socialite will not relate to the “basic format” of Lamott’s fights with her husband, which she relays in the third person as if narrating a play? “Every so often Annie does not get her way, or Neal says something superior and provocative. … Annie shuts down and becomes as quiet as the grave, while waiting for Neal to realize the gravity of his mistake. … Annie and Neal sit together grimly on the couch, ignoring each other while Annie thinks about how all men are pigs.”

At times, “Somehow” made me huffy about — by which I mean envious of — Lamott’s gift for writing powerfully, deeply, often radically, while appealing to, well, everyone. Who does this Lamott person think she is, dispensing advice like some dreadlocked, distaff Dr. Phil? “Be goodness with skin on. … Plant bulbs in the winter, help the poor, and light candles in the dark to see where you are, where you’ve been, what remains, and how much still works just fine.”

But then, on the next page, Lamott’s humble, hilarious self-awareness made this cynic tumble for her all over again. “My lifelong cross to bear has been secret derisive judgment, a pinball machine of sizing up everything and everyone. I am working on it, but the healing is going slightly more slowly than one would hope.”

No matter a Lamott book’s title, no matter the theme of the yarns that burst from its pages like clowns from a circus car, its message is the same irresistible combo of love, hope, faith and laughter. “I thought the secret of life was obvious,” the protagonist of Lamott’s first novel, “ Hard Laughter ,” reflects. “Be here now, love as if your whole life depended on it, find your life’s work, and try to get hold of a giant panda.” In “Somehow,” she offers hefty doses of each, save the panda, somehow treading the line between terminal positivity and depressing realism. She writes about the catastrophic wildfires that devastated her beloved Northern California, somehow leaving the reader inspired. “People showed up and spontaneously said things like, ‘The traffic lights are out. I’ll station myself at this intersection all day long and help direct traffic.’ … Thousands of people showed up across the state during our worst fires with bikes and maps, figuring out how to get to someone who might be cut off, and how to bring them water, a little medical aid, some food and love.”

It will spoil nothing to tell you that Lamott closes “Somehow” with a quote from her favorite William Blake poem: “And we are put on earth a little space, that we may learn to bear the beams of love.” Like the book’s title, its conclusion is apt. No matter one’s external descriptors, Lamott speaks to the human in all of us, challenging us to bear her beam of love, and our own.

Meredith Maran is a journalist, a critic and the author of “ The New Old Me : My Late-Life Reinvention,” among other books.

Thoughts on Love

By Anne Lamott

Riverhead. 208 pp. $22

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Antiquarian Book Fair: From Sylvia Plath’s Papers to Vintage Matchbooks

This year’s New York International Antiquarian Book Fair features plenty of quirky items amid the high-ticket treasures. (Poison books, anyone?)

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An 18th-century book opened to an illustration of a landscape, with a palm tree, people in a boat and homes in the foreground and mountains in the background.

By Jennifer Schuessler

For those who love a chance to inspect stunning decorative bindings and rare volumes (or just ogle the people who can afford them), the annual New York International Antiquarian Book Fair is an unmissable date on the spring calendar.

This year’s edition, through Sunday at the Park Avenue Armory in Manhattan, will bring nearly 200 dealers from 15 countries. And there will be no shortage of high-ticket treasures, like Sydney Parkinson’s richly illustrated “Account of a Voyage to the South Seas” from 1773 ($57,000) and the first complete, large-scale photographic atlas of the moon, published between 1896 and 1910 ($68,000).

The fair is also the place to get an up-close look at all manner of pulp novels, letters, posters, pamphlets, menus, fliers and other items (mostly) on paper, many of them affordable to browsers on a budget.

Here’s a sampling of some of the more intriguing items on offer, from 19th-century “poison books” to early-20th-century Chinese restaurant matchbooks to a choice relic of 1990s MTV.

Handle With Care

Ready for some bibliotoxicology? Honey & Wax Booksellers , based in Brooklyn, is offering a collection of “poison books” — volumes bound in cloth and paper containing arsenic, which was widely used in the mid-19th-centuryas a decorative bright-green tint. To date, the Poison Books Project has identified nearly 300 surviving examples. The volumes at the fair, priced between $150 and $450, include titles ranging from the innocuous (“Emily and Clara’s Trip to Niagara Falls,” circa 1861) to the vaguely sinister (“The Amulet,” circa 1854). Each comes with nitrile gloves and polyethylene bags, the listing says, “for safe handling of these beautiful but dangerous books.”

‘By Sylvia’

Type Punch Matrix , a dealer in Washington, D.C., is offering what it calls a mini-exhibition of two dozen items relating to the poet Sylvia Plath, much of which, it says, has never been seen by the public. The collection, most of which came from a Plath family friend, includes a signed contract from her first publication, a 1950 story in Seventeen magazine ($10,000), and a handwritten unpublished juvenile poem, “The Snowflake Star” ($45,000), signed “By Sylvia.” There’s also an annotated course reading list from Smith College (including a note about an upcoming blind date) and a copy of Karl Jaspers’s book “Tragedy Is Not Enough,” with the marginal note “cf. August 1953” — an apparent reference to the mental breakdown that inspired Plath’s novel “The Bell Jar.”

Faux Fairies

Between 1917 and 1920, two young cousins in the small Yorkshire village of Cottingley played around with a family camera, creating whimsical fairy scenes using hatpins and paper cutouts. But after their mother brought them to the Theosophical Society in the nearby city of Bradford, members already immersed in theories about the unseen world began earnestly debating the scenes’ authenticity, thus starting one of the more bizarre hoaxes in 20th-century British history.

Even Arthur Conan Doyle, the creator of Sherlock Holmes (and an ardent spiritualist ), was taken in, writing in the magazine The Strand that the photos, if proven real, would “jolt the material twentieth-century mind out of its heavy ruts in the mud” and “make it admit that there is a glamour and a mystery to life.” Some believers remained into the 1980s, when one of the surviving cousins finally revealed how they had created the images. Burnside Rare Books from Portland, Ore., is offering a complete set of the five photographs for (no fooling) $28,000.

A scrapbook on offer from the Vermont bookseller Marc Selvaggio gives a glimpse inside the social whirl of Gilded Age New York as enjoyed by Leonard Chenery, a retired naval captain who seemingly never encountered an invitation he didn’t just accept but also lovingly preserve.

Created between 1881 and 1900, the book ($4,500) contains more than 373 menus, programs, invitations, dance cards and other ephemera from some of the city’s most prestigious clubs and grandest commemorative occasions. There are items from enduring stalwarts like the Lotos Club and the Metropolitan Club, as well as vanished outfits like the Thirteen Club , which sought to dispel superstitions by requiring guests to walk under ladders, partake of 13-course dinners, spill salt and otherwise taunt fate. Many items are annotated with lists of guests, speakers, conversation topics and other historical breadcrumbs.

Chop Suey History

The humble matchbook was patented in 1892, and within a few years it became a ubiquitous form of marketing for all kinds of businesses. A collection of more than 3,000 from Chinese restaurants across the United States and Canada ($16,000), offered by Daniel/Oliver in Brooklyn, delivers a pocket-size history lesson in both cultural history and graphic design. By 1929, according to the listing, there were Chinese restaurants in nearly all of the 50 most populous cities in the United States, most of them low-cost venues serving Americanized dishes like chop suey and chow mein. Many of the matchbooks, dating from the 1920s to the 1970s, use a now-familiar stereotypical typeface meant to evoke Chinese calligraphy, which is in fact traceable to a font created in 1883 in Cleveland.

Yo! MTV Writes

In 1981, MTV aired its first video, for “Video Killed the Radio Star” by the Buggles. But long after starting the revolution, the channel still clung to some analog traditions. B&B Rare Books in Manhattan is offering a guest book from MTV’s television studio in London in the late 1990s ($12,500), signed by acts both famous (Foo Fighters, ‘N Sync, Marilyn Manson) and forgotten (like Ultimate Kaos, a boy band created by Simon Cowell). It was a time, the listing notes, when all genres of music were jumbled together, and when MTV still broadcast videos. On one page, Rob Thomas of Matchbox Twenty writes: “There is a dead man in my bathroom.” On another, a doodle by the band Hanson comes with the commandment sacred to every headbanger (and rare book lover?): “Rock on!”

An earlier version of a caption with this article misstated the title of Sydney Parkinson’s richly illustrated book from 1773. It is “Account of a Voyage to the South Seas,” not “A Journal of the Voyage to the South Seas.”

How we handle corrections

Jennifer Schuessler is a culture reporter covering intellectual life and the world of ideas. She is based in New York. More about Jennifer Schuessler

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Bill Belichick planning to write book, nature of which still unknown: Sources

New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick announces he is leaving the team during a press conference at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts, on January 11, 2024. Belichick, the NFL mastermind who has guided the New England Patriots to a record six Super Bowl titles as head coach, is parting ways with the team after 24 seasons. (Photo by Joseph Prezioso / AFP) (Photo by JOSEPH PREZIOSO/AFP via Getty Images)

Bill Belichick is planning on writing a book, according to officials briefed on his plans.

The nature of the book is not yet fully known. In light of how he was represented in Apple TV’s recent Patriots documentary , his side of his legendary nearly quarter-century run would be of great interest. However, Belichick may just write about his views on leadership or a topic in that genre.

The publisher considered the favorite, Simon & Schuster’s Avid Reader Press, has produced Patriots books previously.

“We’re going to respectfully decline comment,” David Kass, the imprint’s director of publicity said when asked specifically about Belichick’s forthcoming book.

Belichick’s representative did not return calls.

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After nearly a quarter century as the Patriots coach, Belichick, 71, was a candidate for the Atlanta Falcons’ job that went to Raheem Morris.

While Belichick may eventually return to coaching, he is talking to networks about broadcasting jobs. In meetings, he has told executives he is disinclined to be on a weekly pregame set.

Why Bill Belichick, perhaps the greatest coach in NFL history, didn't land a job

A deal with ESPN, Peyton Manning’s Omaha Productions and NFL Films is one media combination that may work out. Pat McAfee has also expressed public interest in having him on his program. McAfee has paid people, like Aaron Rodgers and Nick Saban, seven figures for weekly appearances in the past.

Apple TV’s recent documentary about the Patriots, “The Dynasty,” has received criticism because of how it portrayed Belichick, including from ex-players like Devin McCourty and Rodney Harrison. New England owner Robert Kraft expressed disapproval of the series for not focusing enough on the winning.

While Kraft didn’t point it out, many reviews have mentioned that Belichick failed to receive the credit for being the coach of the incredible run that included six Super Bowls.

Belichick and the Patriots’ dynasty have already been chronicled in many books. Most notably, Ian O’Connor’s New York Times best-seller, “Belichick,” authoritatively detailed the legendary coach’s life. Belichick did not participate with O’Connor on the book.

Required reading

Patriots ‘Dynasty’ documentary reveals how bad Brady-Belichick relationship had gotten
Julian Edelman, Matthew Slater among former Patriots unhappy with ‘The Dynasty’s’ portrayal of Bill Belichick
Inside Bill Belichick’s downfall after 24 years, 6 titles with the Patriots

(Photo: Joseph Prezioso / AFP via Getty Images)

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Andrew Marchand is a Sr. Sports Media Columnist for The Athletic. He previously worked for the New York Post and ESPN, where he predominantly covered sports media and baseball. In 2023, Marchand was named one of five finalists for The Big Lead's "Insider of the Year" in all of sports.

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Book excerpt: "Grown Woman Talk" about menopause

April 6, 2024 / 11:09 AM EDT / CBS News

We may receive an affiliate commission from anything you buy from this article.

In her new book, "Grown Woman Talk: Your Guide to Getting and Staying Healthy" (published April 9 by Crown), Dr. Sharon Malone, an OB/GYN and certified menopause practitioner, addresses issues facing women who may feel marginalized about their health questions as they get older.

Among the important topics covered is perimenopause/menopause, a stage in life that has long been stigmatized but which, Dr. Malone says, has an upside.

Read an excerpt below, and don't miss Tracy Smith's interview with Sharon Malone on "CBS News Sunday Morning" April 7!

"Grown Woman Talk" by Sharon Malone, M.D.

Prefer to listen? Audible has a 30-day free trial available right now.

Menopause and Beyond

So, it's been twelve months since your last period. You are now one of the estimated 2 million women in the United States who enter menopause each year. Congratulations! You've officially crossed over.

The average age for becoming menopausal in the United States is about 51. But who's average? About 5 percent of women experience what is considered an early menopause, defined as having had your last period between the ages of 40 and 45. Whether early menopause occurs naturally or because of surgery, medication, or certain medical conditions, it puts you at higher risk for the long-term consequences of menopause. Fortunately, only about 1 percent of women go through menopause before the age of 40. But the symptoms that we associate with perimenopause/menopause can show up as early as ten years before the final menstrual period. This means that about 6 percent of women can become symptomatic and experience suboptimal fertility in their 30s! Thus, knowing the signs and symptoms as well as your family history are extremely important in not only making an accurate diagnosis, but in effective family planning.

There are currently over 55 million menopausal women in the United States alone. The latest CDC provisional life expectancy statistics (2021) report that the life expectancy for white women is 79.2 years; for Black women, that figure is 74.8; for Hispanic women, it is 81; and the ethnic groups with the highest and the lowest life expectancies are Asians at 85.6 and Native American/Alaskans at 69.2. Of note, all of these numbers have decreased by almost two years since COVID. Let's hope and pray that these numbers will soon return to pre-pandemic levels. Whether they do or not, most women in this country will spend on average twenty-five to thirty years in menopause. Think about that: You are likely to spend as much time in menopause as you have spent in any other reproductive phase of your life. So, why do we talk so little about it? … At this point, inquiring minds want to know, what now?

This may not be your favorite answer, but as with most things in life, it depends. For starters, what are your menopausal symptoms? And how severe are they? Although your hot flashes, mood swings, and brain fog will likely get better after your hormones settle down, some of those other thirty-four symptoms will not. (Think dry skin, dry vagina, thinning hair, and low libido, to name a few.) And for a few unfortunate souls, intense hot flashes can persist for years, even decades.

Any of these symptoms can and should be treated if they are diminishing your quality of life. But the bigger health issues, the ones that can exact a heavy toll for many years after menopause, these are the ones I want you to pay special attention to. I'm talking about cardiovascular disease, osteoporosis, and Alzheimer's disease, which can snake their way in, uninvited and under the radar.

Now that I've got your attention, you should also know that 80 percent of women will also experience the genitourinary syndrome of menopause (GSM), which is a constellation of symptoms, such as vulvar and vaginal dryness, painful sex, and urinary problems that tend to worsen if they're not addressed. So, don't sit idly by "dealing with it." This is no surrender-Dorothy, woe-is-me situation.

Now more than ever, women are speaking out about menopause openly and honestly, and are demanding answers. We are setting new standards for what aging gracefully and healthily looks like. Michelle Obama, Tracee Ellis Ross, Maria Shriver, and Oprah Winfrey have shared their menopause stories, changing the face of what health and strength look like at 50, 60, and 70. This is not your grandmother's menopause! Nor should it be.

Understanding and taking better care and control of this time in your life matters. So, let's be good stewards of our health as we age. That means knowing what your objectives are, what your particular risks are, and what to do about them once you've identified them. There is no one-size-fits-all solution, but there are options—all of which are going to require you to be your own best advocate. Start by going to your doctor to discuss how to create a plan for healthy aging and disease prevention. Doing so can be a challenge when menopausal specialists are few and far between. I firmly believe that you deserve access to quality care, whether you live in Yazoo City or New York City. But you and I have lived long enough to know that people are not always going to give us what we deserve, we're going to have to go after it. So, no matter where you live, be unrelenting in your pursuit of the information you need to make good choices.

Dr. Sharon's Rx for a Mah-velous Fourth Quarter

Exercise regularly. Remember our exercise goals after 50 are different. Do not exercise because you are hoping to lose weight. You will be disappointed. Exercise after 50 is to preserve your muscle mass and strength as you age. Include resistance and core exercises to improve balance. Maintaining a strong core will decrease your risk of falling and increase your chances of being able to get yourself off the floor if you do.
Mind your cardiovascular health. This begins with eliminating the things that increase your risk. Treat hot flashes and sleeplessness. Watch your weight. Take your medications for hypertension ... every day!
Maintain a calcium- and vitamin D-rich diet. You start to lose bone mass after menopause if you do not take estrogen. Although calcium and vitamin D do not prevent osteoporosis, they are key nutrients that are necessary for bone health, as well as many other bodily functions. Your calcium intake after 50 should increase to 1,000–1,200 mg daily with vitamin D 600–800 IU daily. Dietary sources are always better than supplements. Now I know why my mother made me take cod-liver oil in the winter. My mother was a genius! Get your vitamin D levels checked if you are lactose intolerant, are darker-skinned, use total body sunscreen, wear a hijab, or if you don't like the outdoors. Your body can make its own vitamin D, but only if you have exposure to sunlight at least twenty minutes a day.
Don't smoke! Smokers have a higher incidence of osteoporosis and more severe menopausal symptoms.
Know your bone density. I recommend getting a baseline DEXA Scan as soon as you're menopausal, especially if you have a family history of osteoporosis, have had a fracture in the past, smoke, or have poor dietary calcium intake—e.g., are lactose intolerant—or if you are currently taking thyroid medication. The standard recommendation is 65, but don't let that be your guide.
Consider menopausal hormone therapy. Estrogen is FDA-approved for osteoporosis prevention and is the most effective medication for relief of menopausal symptoms.
Use topical vaginal estrogen. It not only prevents vaginal dryness and preserves sexual function, but also decreases the risk of UTIs as you age.

From the book "Grown Woman Talk: Your Guide to Getting and Staying Healthy" by Sharon Malone, M.D. Copyright © 2024 by Sharon Malone, M.D. Published in the United States by Crown, an imprint of the Crown Publishing Group, a division of Penguin Random House LLC.

Get the book here:

Buy locally from Bookshop.org

For more info:

"Grown Woman Talk: Your Guide to Getting and Staying Healthy" by Sharon Malone M.D. (Crown), in Hardcover, eBook and Audio formats, available April 9
Dr. Sharon Malone
Women's Health

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