Character Building Questions: The Complete Guide for Writers

Creating a really memorable character is a process of discovery. Most frequently, as authors, we have the bare bones of a hero or villain or a ridiculous sidekick, but it is the flesh we have to find on those bones before it starts twitching and gasping. The character building questions for writers are comparable to the key in a skeleton, opening the doors of a character's soul. They make us look deeper, beneath the surface, and convince us to find out about their unhealed past, their hidden aspirations, and the fundamental ideas, according to which they make any decisions. These are not a checklist; the questions are reminders to have a chat with the imaginary individuals who will tell our stories. 

Imagine them as a tutorial that can help one to realize oneself as an archeologist of a human heart, that focuses more on excavating through a character some pearl of truth, that renders the motivation revolving around a character, and makes the deeds performed by the character understandable. You are not only creating a character by answering these questions, you are making a person the way that they come to life.

What are Character Building Questions?

The Character building questions refer to questions that are structured in such a way that they facilitate a writer, in a systematic way, to go beyond the superficial characteristics of a character to explore his inner psychology, history, and the driving forces. These questions do not just present facts such as the color of hair or occupation, but instead provide a roadmap to the step-by-step guide to character creation and look into the causal nature of the relationship between the past and current behavior of a character. An example of such a good building question would be, instead of, Are they rich? Asking what their relationship is with money, and how the childhood fear of scarcity is causing them to make the current career decisions? They are important tools since they:

• Ensure Coherence: They compel the writer to relate the motive of a character to their biography, meaning that their actions in the narrative are rational and deserved.
• Create Confrontation: When inquiring what a character fears most or what he or she hates most, these are the questions that at once point out the places of conflict and development in the story.
• Set Voice: They assist in determining not only what a character is saying, but how, based on his or her education, background, and emotional condition.

The prompts are your characterization traits worksheet and are usually divided into two categories in order to explore all the aspects of the character, one after the other, to reveal the past experiences of the character, the emotional landscape he/she is in, and what he/she is striving to achieve in the future.

What are Character Building Prompts?

Character-building prompt is a set of narrow, open-ended, or short scenarios that help writers develop comprehensively and intimately in a short amount of time the different layers of the personality, history, and inner world of their character. They act as imaginative shortcuts, and later help you write the Character Biography. They compel you to do more than merely sketch out the bare bones of a character and make them seem real. They are actually organized thought experiments which:

• Reveal the Underlying History: What was the worst mistake they ever made, and who was it hurting most of all?
• Identify Core Values: A question could be given, such as, what would they save in a burning house, the one that is required, and why?
• Create an Inner Strife: One of the questions may be, what is their strongest point, and how does it get them into trouble by accident? 

Answering these specific questions, the writers will be able to create a detailed and coherent image of their character as well as guarantee the plausibility of their motives and reactions within the context of the narration.

Difference Between Character Building Questions and Prompts

Both are aids in assisting the writers to develop complex characters, but the distinction between Character Building Questions for writers and Character Building Prompts is in the scope, focus, and intended use. They provide depth to the Character Development process. Both are sides of this coin: Questions allow you to create the interior world of the character, and Prompts will enable you to observe the exterior responses of the character to a crisis.

Character Building Questions: The Internal Deep Dive

These are questions that are to be developed systematically on a basic level. They can be used as a complete checklist to determine whether you have covered all the psychological and biographical aspects of your character.

• Focus: Causation (The "Why"). They associate the past with the present conduct.
• Scope: Wide-ranging and general, the scope includes whole categories such as biography, relationship, and moral philosophy.
• Examples: How do their parents relate to them, and how has it affected their lack of trust as an adult?

Character Building Prompts: The External Test

They are niche, sometimes open-ended situations or dilemmas that are created to create instant ideas and put the fundamental values of a character to the test. They come in handy when a burst of creativity or a plot twist is required.

• Focus: Revelation (The "What Would They Do"). They display the fundamental nature of the character by choice.
• Scope: Small and very circumscribed in a particular situation or dilemma.
• Scenario: your personality has discovered a briefcase of money, with no identifiable owner. They are broke and desperate. What do they do?"

Character Building Questions Vs. Prompts

Personality Questions

The most critical issue of any character is its personality. The personality questions are not mere adjectives, but digging into the core of what these people stand by, what makes them tick, what their little quirks and fears are, and what their daily routine is made of. These questions enhance their personality and bring clarity even for the writer, and they eventually are able to introduce the character comprehensively. Some examples of the questions you must answer include: 

1. What is their strongest attribute and their weakest attribute?
2. What causes them to lack control in laughter?
3. So what happens to them when they are not around or seen?
4. What is the most annoying thing to them?
5. What are they most proud of?
6. What do they seem to be fond of when in reality they despise?
7. So, is he or she an introvert or an extrovert? Why?
8. Do they have a nervous habit?
9. What is the widespread misunderstanding concerning them?
10. Are they an employee or a boss?

Background & Family Questions

There are several questions to ask when building a character, and one category is the background and family. The personality of any character is fertile ground that is nurtured by their background and family. Knowing their background enables you to defend their ideologies and lifestyles and make them feel as though the environment and the past might have shaped them to be the way they are. This also decides their future actions and motivations: 

1. In what place had they been brought up, and what was childhood like for them?
2. How do they get on with their parents?
3. Is there a sibling to the pair, and what is their relationship?
4. What is the family background (financial status)?
5. What was one of the biggest childhood recollections they had?
6. What was their first job?
7. What is something a family does or does not love about a tradition that is being practiced in the family?
8. What were they taught in their family about life?
9. Who was his/her most crucial figure in the past?
10. Have they endured any early trials to make them what they are?

Motivation & Goal Questions

The driving power of a story is motivation. These are detailed character building questions that cut deep into the deepest wishes and wants of the character and give inspiration to everything they do and think. For the elaboration of the same subject, see our elaborate Character Motivation page. The motivation and goal are the one that takes the story further and add plots and twists to it, which eventually play a significant role in character development: 

1. What is the one most significant goal of theirs?
2. What is their reason to choose that goal and stick to it?
3. What are they going to give in order to reach their objective?
4. But what then are they afraid to lose?
5. Are they motivated internally (through their desire) and externally (through pressure)?
6. What do they want most of all?
7. What would they think of being remembered coming?
8. What does it mean to wake them up in the morning?
9. Are they driven by love, power, aiming to even the score, and survival?
10. What is something that they will never disclose to anyone?

Relationship Questions

There are no characters who exist in a vacuum. These questions to build character relationships are about their intercourse with the people that they have in their life and will include their friends and family, as well as their rivals and lovers, and how these relationships will tell about them.

1. Which is their most significant connection in the story?
2. Whom do they fully trust, and whom do they not?
3. What is their seek in an associate?
4. What do they do in case of disagreement with people they love?
5. What type of personality do they fall in love with?
6. What do they feel they lost most during a relationship?
7. Do they have a rival? If so, why?
8. What about their treatment of the members of other social groups?
9. What is their ultimate relationship regret?
10. What are their contribution in the group environment?

Conflict & Growth Questions

It is conflict that makes a character change. There are some good character building questions that will allow you to determine both the internal and external conflicts your personality struggles with, which will give you a guideline on how your personality can grow during the story.

1. What is their conflict of the soul?
2. What is their response when they are under stress?
3. What do they consider to be their biggest mistake ever?
4. What have they never repented of?
5. What will they give their everything over?
6. How do they handle failure?
7. What is one of the beliefs they are going to have to alter to get where they are going?
8. What was their largest overall character arc?
9. How do they react when they are emotionally surpassed?
10. What will the end of the story teach them?

Bonus: D&D Character Questions

The d&d character building questions are role-playing questions specifically designed to inspire thought outside of the game data in order to build a memorable hero or anti-hero in a future tabletop adventure. To learn more about it, visit StudyUnicorn and go through the Character Development Guide: 

1. What do they disagree on, and what was a recent instance to support that?
2. What are their sentiments towards their god or benefactress?
3. What is their individual code of honor?
4. Why are they adventurer?
5. What is their biggest secret?
6. What is the most significant disadvantage of theirs in a fight that is not their statistics?
7. What is their association with their equipment?
8. Are they strange in any way or superstitious?
9. What is an event that they remember about their last adventure?
10. What do they really desire doing that is against their class/role?

Free Printable Worksheet (Download).

Once these questions have been addressed, it is essential to have one place where you can, in effect, write down the answers. This worksheet template will summarize all the major categories, such as motivation and flaws to appearance and backstory, in a concise form. With this one-page guide, you are sure that your character will be the same and multi-dimensional in all parts of your writing project. Explore our templates to enhance the practice:

• Character Building Questions: Click here to download
• Character Building Prompts: Click here to download
• Also, Checkout out Character Sheet Templates: Free Character Sheet Template

Conclusion

The character building questions and prompts are critical instruments that compel the writer to move past the superficial qualities of a character to uncover the internal world of the character. Systematic development is done by the use of questions to relate the backstory of a character to their motives and objectives. Prompts, in turn, set particular situations to challenge their values and bring out their real nature into action. Through these practice exercises, you are guaranteed to have psychologically consistent, fully detailed, and ready characters, ready to push the story forward with powerful conflict and development.