Do you want to flesh out your characters a little better? Want to have a little fun? Want to express your massive ego artistic talent? Want to learn a valuable lesson about writing? Then stick around!
Step 1: Pick a character of yours you want to flesh out. Any of them will do, really.
Step 2: Answer the following questions with that character, in first person, from their perspective.
Step 3: How many of these answers you made as your character, would you personally relate to or agree with as an author? (Between 1-10.) Are you similar or different to your character? How do you feel about this?
As for how these particular questions develop your character...
Keep in mind one more thing: These are just ten random questions that I came up with in brainstorming for about fifteen minutes. You can come up with pretty much any questions to answer for your own character--typically mundane or specific scenarios that allow you to start figuring out who they are in everyday life, or when under pressure. These are questions you can ask yourself while sitting on a public bus, or when you're at work and it's slow--questions you can use to think about who your character is.
All in all it's a fun little exercise I thought I would share.
Step 1: Pick a character of yours you want to flesh out. Any of them will do, really.
Step 2: Answer the following questions with that character, in first person, from their perspective.
Code:
[b]#1:[/b] Who are you?
[b]#2:[/b] What do you want?
[b]#3:[/b] What is your ideal scenario for a good evening?
[b]#4:[/b] How do you feel about the concept of family and friends?
[b]#5:[/b] What is your greatest regret?
[b]#6:[/b] What is your warmest memory?
[b]#7:[/b] What motivates you to try and accomplish things in your life?
[b]#8:[/b] What role or purpose do you think you fill in a group of people--like adventurers, or classmates?
[b]#9:[/b] Name an event in your past in which you were beaten by someone or something else. (Doesn't have to be violent--could just be an argument with someone, for example.)
[b]#10:[/b] You enter a store and see a thief holding up a store clerk for money. You recognize the thief as someone who lost his job recently, and who has been struggling to get by. What would you do?
Step 3: How many of these answers you made as your character, would you personally relate to or agree with as an author? (Between 1-10.) Are you similar or different to your character? How do you feel about this?
As for how these particular questions develop your character...
#1: Who are you?
Why?: Asks a character directly for their identity. How they respond--whether by name, or otherwise--can show their first impressions toward others.
#2: What do you want?
Why?: A rather blunt and broad question. It's a good way to simply, without context, figure out what a character's desires are.
#3: What is your ideal scenario for a good evening?
Why?: Displays what a character finds to be enjoyable out of life, which in turn demonstrates how they might behave in a group environment, or what they might casually pursue.
#4: How do you feel about the concept of family and friends?
Why?: Displays how emotionally stable a character is.
#5: What is your greatest regret?
Why?: Displays a character's personal weak points from loss.
#6: What is your warmest memory?
Why?: Shows what a character cherishes most about life in general, and what their long term objectives may be as a result. (Ex: A character whose warmest thoughts lead to home, probably wants to settle down one day.)
#7: What motivates you to try and accomplish things in your life?
Why?: Characters need motivations. A character without a motivation is like owning a car but having no idea of where you want to go. You can drive in circles all day, you won't achieve anything.
#8: What role or purpose do you think you fill in a group of people--like adventurers, or classmates?
Why?: Shows what sort of person a character is in a group, and by extension, how likely they are to form relationships with other player characters--and what types of relationships those might be.
#9: Name an event in your past in which you were beaten by someone or something else. (Doesn't have to be violent--could just be an argument with someone, for example.)
Why?: No character is perfect. Being able to demonstrate where your character went wrong and failed due to their own incompetence is a powerful tool to ensure that you not only write flaws into your characters, but understand them, and make them meaningful.
#10: You enter a store and see a thief holding up a store clerk for money. You recognize the thief as someone who lost his job recently, and who has been struggling to get by. What would you do?
Why?: A classic ethical scenario with a shade of grey painted into it to show whether your character leans more towards empathy or order... Or something else entirely.
Why?: Asks a character directly for their identity. How they respond--whether by name, or otherwise--can show their first impressions toward others.
#2: What do you want?
Why?: A rather blunt and broad question. It's a good way to simply, without context, figure out what a character's desires are.
#3: What is your ideal scenario for a good evening?
Why?: Displays what a character finds to be enjoyable out of life, which in turn demonstrates how they might behave in a group environment, or what they might casually pursue.
#4: How do you feel about the concept of family and friends?
Why?: Displays how emotionally stable a character is.
#5: What is your greatest regret?
Why?: Displays a character's personal weak points from loss.
#6: What is your warmest memory?
Why?: Shows what a character cherishes most about life in general, and what their long term objectives may be as a result. (Ex: A character whose warmest thoughts lead to home, probably wants to settle down one day.)
#7: What motivates you to try and accomplish things in your life?
Why?: Characters need motivations. A character without a motivation is like owning a car but having no idea of where you want to go. You can drive in circles all day, you won't achieve anything.
#8: What role or purpose do you think you fill in a group of people--like adventurers, or classmates?
Why?: Shows what sort of person a character is in a group, and by extension, how likely they are to form relationships with other player characters--and what types of relationships those might be.
#9: Name an event in your past in which you were beaten by someone or something else. (Doesn't have to be violent--could just be an argument with someone, for example.)
Why?: No character is perfect. Being able to demonstrate where your character went wrong and failed due to their own incompetence is a powerful tool to ensure that you not only write flaws into your characters, but understand them, and make them meaningful.
#10: You enter a store and see a thief holding up a store clerk for money. You recognize the thief as someone who lost his job recently, and who has been struggling to get by. What would you do?
Why?: A classic ethical scenario with a shade of grey painted into it to show whether your character leans more towards empathy or order... Or something else entirely.
Keep in mind one more thing: These are just ten random questions that I came up with in brainstorming for about fifteen minutes. You can come up with pretty much any questions to answer for your own character--typically mundane or specific scenarios that allow you to start figuring out who they are in everyday life, or when under pressure. These are questions you can ask yourself while sitting on a public bus, or when you're at work and it's slow--questions you can use to think about who your character is.
All in all it's a fun little exercise I thought I would share.