60 Questions to Ask Your Characters

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Some writers say that the best characters are not imaginary figures, but real people who become a writer’s real friends. It kind of reminds me of the Skin Horse in the story Velveteen Rabbit: the rabbit’s uncle had owned him when he was young, and had made him “real.”

The challenge for us as writers is, how do we get to the place where our characters feel real to our readers? Perhaps a better question to ask is, how do we get to know our friends? Often, it’s by asking questions.

In this post, we’ll share some of the most important questions to ask your characters so you can ensure they’re fully developed and memorable for your readers.

How Do I Get to Know My Characters Better?

Some writers use a tool called the character interview. It is basically the process of asking your character questions so you get a fuller picture of who he or she is as a person. It’s best to do this in the prewriting process, so that you know everything you need to know about each character before you start writing.

Here are some of the best questions to ask to help you build your character profile. You can also download and print these questions as a PDF.

Questions About How They Look

How conscious are you about your looks? How much time do you spend getting ready to go out?
What kind of clothes do you prefer the most? Casual? Formal? A mix of both?
Do you have a self-confident bearing? Or do you tend to slouch?
Do you see yourself as attractive or not?
What do you wish was different about the way you look?

Questions About Your Character’s Background and Childhood

What did your parents do for a living?
Did you grow up with both parents? With one parent? With grandparents? With foster families?
How was your family’s social status when you were growing up? Do you consider yourself well-off, poor, or middle class?
Did your parents have favorites when you were growing up?
How were you disciplined when you were growing up? Were you basically a goody-goody, or a rebel?
Where did you grow up?
What were your favorite childhood experiences?
Who was your first love?
What was your biggest heartbreak?
How did you do in school? Were you popular? Bullied? Barely getting by?
When you were a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?
If you went to college, how did you pay for it? Why did you pursue the course of study that you did?
Do you look back on your school years with pride or regret?

Questions About Your Character’s Likes and Dislikes

Do you prefer books or movies? What’s your favorite book or movie?
What type of food do you like? Healthy options, or fast food?
How do you spend your free time?
What hobbies do you have?
What would you say is your greatest talent? Your greatest weakness?
When you get extra money, what do you like to spend on?

Questions About Your Character’s Social Life and Relationships

Are you single, married, separated, or is it complicated?
What is your sexual orientation? Are you comfortable with it? If not, why?
Where do you live now? Do you like it, or would you rather live elsewhere?
Who are the main influences in your life?
Who do you run to when you have problems? With whom do you share your deepest secrets?
How is your relationship with your parents? Siblings? Are you close? Estranged?
Do you have children? How is your relationship with them? Why?
Who is the most important person in your life right now? How is your relationship with him or her?
What is your dream relationship? Your dream family?
How do you feel about your current social life? Are you happy, or what would you wish to change?

Questions About Your Character’s Occupation

What do you do for a living? How did you enter this career?
How do you feel about your current workplace or work situation?
What is one thing you wish you could change about your current occupation?
Would you rather have a different job? What would you rather do?
How is your relationship with your boss? Your colleagues? Your subordinates? Your clients?
How are your current income and spending?
If money were not an issue, what would you like to be doing with your life?

Questions About Your Character’s Feelings and Thoughts

What activities do you enjoy the most?
What irritates you the most?
Are you mostly a pessimist or an optimist? An introvert or an extrovert?
What makes you come alive?
What are you most afraid of?
What kinds of things do you worry about the most?
What is the one thing you would like to have but don’t have right now? What is keeping you from achieving it?
How do you cope with stress?
What do you do to re-energize yourself?
Are you mostly in tune with your feelings? Or do you struggle to express them?
What would you say is your greatest failure? Greatest accomplishment?
How do you deal with conflict with other people? Do you fight, freeze, or flee?

Questions About Your Character’s Faith and Beliefs

How would you describe your current worldview? Do you adhere to a specific religion?
Did you grow up in the religion you have now, or have you shifted along the way?
What would you say were major turning points for your life?
What do you think is your purpose in life?
Do you have any political affiliation? If so, what?
What is one social issue you feel strongly about? Why?
If you could change one thing about the world, what would it be?

Answering Important Questions About Your Characters

We hope these questions help stir up your creative juices to form characters who are three-dimensional and easily-relatable.

If you can get someone to ask you the questions while you write down the answers, that would be great! If not, you can also answer the questions yourself on your word processor, putting yourself in your characters’ shoes as much as possible.

Don’t cut corners in this process. You will find that the more detailed you get about your characters, the easier it will be to help your readers care about them too.

Did you find this post helpful? Let us know in the comments below!

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Yen Cabag

Yen Cabag is the Blog Writer of TCK Publishing. She is also a homeschooling mom, family coach, and speaker for the Charlotte Mason method, an educational philosophy that places great emphasis on classic literature and the masterpieces in art and music. She has also written several books, both fiction and nonfiction. Her passion is to see the next generation of children become lovers of reading and learning in the midst of short attention spans.