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Questions you never thought to ask your character

I have seen many different character building exercises floating around the internet, but none of them have ever really caught my eye. This one, as random as it may seem, is not meant to build you the perfect character; it is purely for entertainment. I find that it does, however, manage to fill in some curious attributes that a writer never thought their character had to begin with.

I hope you all enjoy this character building exercise!


Name:

If your character were to change their name, what would they change it to?

Age:

How old do they act?

Does your character have allergies, and if so what are they?

Everyone is afraid of something. What does your character fear most?

On a scale of 1-10, how messy a individual is your character?

If you were to open their fridge right now, what would you see?

Do they shower or bathe?

Imagine your character is next in line for a roller-coaster ride. If given the choice, where would they sit- front, middle or back?

If your character was a superhero, what would their name be?

What would their powers be?

Would they have a sidekick?

Which reality television show do you think your character would do best on, and why?

If your character won a million dollars, what's the first thing they'd buy?

How many kids does your character wish to have?

Your character is in a terrible situation. The boat they are on is sinking. There's only one lifeboat (carrying capacity: 25 people) and 50 people on board. What does your character do?

If your character could be a part of any fairytale, which one would it be and what role would they play?

A homeless man begs your character for change, what is your character's response?

An estranged uncle of your character magically appears on the doorstep of your character's home. It's approximately 3am. What's your character wearing?

One of my favorite things to do for characters is give them some sort of tic - whether it's noticeable to readers is optional. A twitch, or something they feel compelled to do.

Whether it's ordering their bookshelf by height as opposed to alphabetically or they twitch an eye whenever they hear a doorbell ring.

It helps me, as the writer, to view the characters more as 'real'. Everybody has some sort of tic.

I also like to take one to two of the seven deadly sins and apply it to each character, to help develop flaws that could lead to misjudgments and errors in the story line.

Interesting. I don't think I've heard of that method before. How do others go about writng your characters?

I put their bios up and commission writers in the writing shops forum to write a short story about them. It helps me see the fuzzy/confusing areas in the bios I've written up. The writers I commission also have this tendency to ask questions about my characters, and I'm forced to think of answers, especially when their question is about something I forgot to consider.