30 Questions to Ask Your Main Character
By Carly Watters
*** This blog post was originally published January 13, 2014 ***
How well do you know your main character?
So often I see writing that feels like it only lives on the page. Writers only imagine their main character in the situation they've put them in, not what their main character would be like if they were real. To get beyond the obvious, try to imagine your main character as someone that lives in a multi-dimensional, multi-situational way. Readers connect most with characters that they feel live on after the book is over.
Do you know the answer to these 30 questions?
What do they look like?
What do they like to wear?
How do they like to socialize?
What was their role in their family growing up?
What were they most proud of as a kid?
What did they find terribly embarrassing as a kid?
What was their first best friend like?
What 'group' were they in during their high school years?
What did they want to be when they grew up--and what did they end up becoming?
What are their hobbies?
What music do they listen to?
What annoys them?
What makes them laugh?
Are they a dog or a cat person?
What season do they enjoy most?
What makes them embarrassed as an adult?
Do they drink alcohol?
What do they feel most passionately about?
What trait do they find most admirable in others?
Do they want a job that helps people or a job that makes money?
Are they a leader or a follower?
What scares them?
What are their long term goals?
What are their short term goals?
What are their bad habits?
If they could have lived in another decade which would it have been?
What do they do when they're bored?
What do they think happens after we die?
If they were to come into money what would they do with it?
Who was the love of their life?