Develop Your Characters

By L a u r a · Jan 8, 2012 · ·
  1. In order for your readers to fully appreciate your story, you must have realistic characters that they can relate to. Why? Everything that happens in your story—the entire plot line—centers around what happens to the characters. If you can’t make your readers connect to your protagonist—if you can’t create that bond between character and reader—no one will care about what happens in your story. For example, would you spend hours on end worrying about the stranger that you heard about on the news who just got in a car accident? I mean…yeah. You would feel bad for him/her. But as soon as the doorbell rang, signaling that the pizza guy had finally arrived with your dinner, your mind would shift back to your personal life. The situation might be a little different, however, if it was your best friend’s name that appeared on the news.

    So. How do you make your characters relatable? How can you make your readers care about what happens to your protagonist? Step One: learn your characters from front to back. I mean, if you don’t understand your characters, how do you expect your readers to? Know their quirks, habits, personalities, reactions, mood swings…everything. Among other methods that you can try, such as checking character trait lists or filling out character charts, one of the best ways to get to know your characters is to complete a character interview.

    And what the heck is a character interview? …Well, if you read the name, you can kind of figure out that it’s an interview…for a character. ;)

    Pretend that you’re a reporter and your character is the interviewee. Now, in order for a character interview to be successful, you should act like it’s really happening. In other words, write the entire thing in story format. Develop a setting that fits your character’s personality—possibly one that appears in your story—and have him/her react to the questions as if he/she were a real person. Note how your character looks and speaks. Does he/she mumble and keep his/her face toward the ground? Or does he/she stand tall and look you straight in the eye? What is he/she wearing?

    Still don’t understand how this works? Check out my sample response in the “Comments” section.

    Of course, you need some questions for your interview, right? I’ll list some below. But remember that—depending on your story’s plot—some of these might not apply to you. Answer what you can. And if you think of another question to ask that I don’t have listed here, please feel free to share!

    • Why did you want to come to this place for the interview? (This is referring to the setting that you chose. Does it play a part in the story?)
    • What are your strengths? Weaknesses?
    • Is there anything that you’ve always wanted to do but haven’t done? What’s keeping you from doing it?
    • Are you a morning or night person?
    • What time do you normally get up/go to bed?
    • Do you like to show off?
    • What’s your most prized possession? Why?
    • Do you have one sense that’s more highly developed than another? (In other words, do you see more than you hear or vica-versa? Or do you rely on the famous sixth sense?)
    • What’s the worst thing you’ve ever done? Why did you do it? Did you ever do anything to make up for it? If not, why?
    • Do you have any birthmarks or tattoos?
    • Do you have a hot temper? Or can you keep your cool?
    • Do you get along well with other people? Or would you prefer to be left alone?
    • What’s the scariest thing that has ever happened to you?
    • Does anybody live with you? Who are they? Do you get along with them?
    • Tell me about your parents and siblings if you have/had any. How well do/did you get along with them?
    • What were three things that you liked to do when you were a child?
    • What were you afraid of when you were younger?
    • What is your greatest fear now?
    • What would you change about yourself if you could?
    • Do you have a secret that you’ve never told anyone?
    • What do you want most in the world (or out of this world…whichever…)?
    • Do you believe in destiny?
    • Have you ever been married? If so, how many times? Have you ever been divorced?
    • Are you—or have you ever been—in love? What happened to that person? Did he/she love you back?
    • What is driving you to keep going—to keep fighting toward your goal? Greed? Power? Love? Revenge? Respect from others?
    • Are you a leader or a follower?
    • Do you depend on others or do you handle things for yourself?
    • Are you an optimist or a pessimist?
    • Do you like to crack jokes? Or are you serious all the time?
    • If you could bring someone back to life, who would it be and why would you choose him/her?
    • Are you comfortable with your appearance? If not, what would you change?
    • You’re watching a tear-jerker….What do you do if you’re alone? If you’re around other people?




    This next section is for the protagonist (the good guy) and the antagonist (the bad guy) to answer about each other.

    • Describe your relationship with the antagonist/protagonist. Were you ever friends? Could you ever be friends?
    • How did you and the antagonist/protagonist get to know each other?
    • What do you hate the most about the antagonist/protagonist?
    • What is the antagonist/protagonist’s BEST quality?
    • Could you ever forgive the antagonist/protagonist?
    • What are the antagonist/protagonist’s weaknesses? If you don’t know them, how do you plan to figure them out?
    • Why are you enemies with the antagonist/protagonist?

Comments

  1. L a u r a
    I’m just going to go through a few of the questions that I have listed to give you guys an idea of how this should look. I decided to focus on the questions that are meant for both your protagonist and antagonist because I think they’re the most interesting. :)

    Of course, there are multiple ways to complete a character interview, and if you like a different method better than the one I show here, please feel free to share your ideas!

    PROTAGONIST: Brad

    As I reached into my backpack and retrieved my notebook and pen, Brad watched me with wary eyes. I tried to ignore him, to pretend that I didn’t notice his stare, but it was impossible. Brad, with his shoulders tensed and his hands balled into fists, looked ready to pounce on me if I made a wrong move.

    “What would you do,” Brad muttered, his face stony, “if I walked out right now?”

    I laughed, struggling to keep the atmosphere lighthearted. “Aw, come on. I’m supposed to be the one asking the questions, aren’t I? Now.” Leaning forward, I poised my pen above my paper, ready to catch every word. “How would you describe your relationship with Doctor Dirk? Were you ever friends? If not, do you think you ever could be?”

    Brad’s eyebrows rose, and he glared at me for a moment before answering. “Doctor Dirk? I don’t have a—what did you call it? A relationship? God, you make it sound like we’re dating or something.” He ran his fingers through his hair and sighed. “I thought I knew him…but I didn’t. So, no, we’re not friends, and I never plan to be. Next question.”

    I hesitated. Obviously, Brad was trying to hide something. Was it about his past with Doctor Dirk? Did I dare press him to find out more…or would that just scare him off? “How did you and Doctor Dirk first get to know each other?” I tried, crossing my fingers behind my back.

    “He was the leader of the House, the place where all ismanar are trained to fight bacteroids. He taught me why the ismanar came to save the recluses from the bacteroids and about the innocent people that the bacteroids murder…then he turned around and decided to join them.”

    I nodded slowly, my pen flying across the paper as I described Brad’s dark scowl and set jaw. “What do you hate most about Doctor Dirk?”

    “That,” Brad began, his tone thoughtful, “is a good question. Of course, it sucks that he lied to everyone…and that we all believed him.” Brad paused to take a deep breath, rubbing his temples. “But you know what the worst thing is? Doctor Dirk was a damn good leader. He kept us all together. Focused. And now do you know who we’re stuck with as the leader of the House?”

    I shrugged, but Brad didn’t even notice that I had moved. He glared off into space, cracking his knuckles and adjusting the sword that hung on his hip—whoa. My gaze shifted from the sword to Brad’s face and back again. What the heck did he use that for?

    “Cobbins.”

    Frowning, I forced myself to look up from the detailed hilt that stuck out of Brad’s belt. “Cobbins? What…what are those?”

    “That’s his name,” Brad sighed, and his eyes snapped back to mine. “The idiot who is leading the House now.”

    “So….” I trailed off, confused. What did Cobbins have to do with Doctor Dirk? “You’re not saying that you actually miss Doctor Dirk…are you?”

    Brad pursed his lips. “Next question.”

    “But—”

    “Next. Question.”
  2. unluckyguardsman
    Thanks for a good read! Will definitely apply some of this to my personal work.

    UG
  3. L a u r a
    Happy to help! Thanks for the reply. :)
  4. Miss Jo
    I've heard of character interviews before but I've never heard of writing out the responses in story form before! I thought you just answered the questions. This was awesome information. Thanks!
  5. L a u r a
    You're very welcome!
  6. Stupid-Face
    Is it alright if I use the following questions to create my own interview with my characters? I think it would definitely develop their personalities. :)
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