Yeah sure - if you can't think of questions at the moment but you have a character you'd like help with, please feel free to share. Most people are giving questions to multiple characters and most characters have multiple sets of questions given to them, so it'll work itself out naturally. Just try to give someone questions later, if you can. Questions that will help the reader probe deeper into the MC's personality, not just flat questions about favorite shows and stuff. The questions so far have been great - thanks, everyone. 1. How does Rika feel when someone assumes she's 14 or 15 instead of 18 because of her frailness, or when someone assumes she's weak and passive? Has it ever happened, and how would she react? 2. If Rika and her sister had a fight while off on a quest in the wilderness, what would the fight be about and how would the resolve (or not resolve) it? Sorry, I can only think of a couple, I'm juggling a few deadlines I'm super busy - I'll be back later.
Questions for Rika: 1. In a situation where you find yourself in danger and cannot count on your sister's help, what would you do? 2. What if your sister is in danger, having a sword against her neck? How would you get her out of the situation? 3. What makes you really angry? What makes you lose your self-control? 4. What if this "stranger" guy is someone who proves himself untrustworthy, but only you can see that? Your sister still believes in his good intentions. What would you do or say to convince her that you're right?
Sorry it's taken me sooo long to get involved with this thread. (Work). So lets start with the latest! Questions for Rika: 1. Why did you only take your sister for protection/company? 2. What make you think that this 'magic sword' is the answer to your problems? 3. And what makes you believe you can make a difference with the sword? apart from being the first born? 4. What makes you trust this stranger enough to travel with? 5. You described yourself as 'almost frail'. Do you believe you are stronger than you appear to be? 6. You also seem quite carefree to go on this adventure, even being the crown princess. Why do you believe this task will be simple enough just for you and 1-2 others? 7. If you succeed in your quest and save your kingdom, what plans do you have for your kingdom, if or when you take over from being crown princess to queen? 8. Would you ever seek help from any neighbouring kingdoms? 9. Do you resent your sister for being naturally stronger than you? 10. (You know what... thats probably enough. Let's leave it there.)
Thank you, FictionAddict, for the questions! 1. Would you use your curse to kill the person who put it upon you? No, I wouldn't. I wouldn't even think about it unless it would lift the curse... See, she did it "for my own good", or thought she did... I don't think she knew how bad it would be, so I wouldn't wish to kill her. 2. If the man you love needed your help against people hurting him, would you use your curse against them? Well, I don't love anyone... But if that happened, yes, I would. 3. What/Who comes to your mind when you hear the word 'revenge' ? ... That's an interesting question... Um... Revenge. Pain is what comes to mind... For both the victim and the causer of revenge. 4. Besides you curse, what are other things you think about? What do you like to do? I daydream a lot. Make up stories and things... I never write them down, but I like thinking them up. I also like to listen to the music from the tavern sometimes. If I were normal I would learn an instrument. Like the fiddle! I carve a little too. Wood carvings. 5. What would you change about your past so that this curse wouldn't be thrown upon you? Well, since the curse was put on me when I was nine, I can't really think of much... I would like to have been closer to my parents, but that wouldn't have changed anything.
Most people through history of a more "noble" blood line or heritage have a specific view of the world. That's not to say that they are all selfless or they are all selfish. I would start there because her view of her world will dictate and drive her desires to really "save" her world, and will also tailor the way she deals with people around her. Questions: 1. How do you spend your free time? (before the terrible event that caused you to have to save your world) 2. What among the things you own is your favorite? 3. How many servants do you have? Are they trust worthy? 4. If your family was over thrown and your kingdom fell into a dictatorship what would you do so support yourself and your sister? 5. How would you resolve the above situation or would you even try to?
Hi, guys I'm back here to bug again. A week and a half ago I asked for some help on an animal character of mine. Mal and Corbyn helped me out quite a bit. However, since that day, I've set aside that story of mine, which has seemed to have gotten me nowhere, and came up with a new one. This new story is stronger with my attention focusing more and more on character. So here's where I need a bit of help: My main character, Hank, is the bully in his elementary school. He's 13, brown eyed, and to everyone who's been on the receiving end of his fury -- he's one scary kid. But -- my question is why? I keep asking myself this. It's hard for me to relate to this character who also happens to be a boy. I can feel though as I try to write out his personality that something is amiss. I can sense that he's insecure about something but is so wound up tight that it never shows. Well, I just can't open him up really. That's the problem. If you guys could give me some help, either in questions or whatnot, that would be awesome. Thanks
I think usually the reason is the family. As in, he'll be violent (I'm guessing by the people being on the receiving end of his fury?) because his father is like that, or a sibling is. Perhaps just someone he looks up to. Or his family don't listen to him or ignore him so he feels he has to make people pay attention to him. Think about his values, his interests, what he really wants that could be behind his behaviour. I think sometimes boys don't like to show how they really feel and don't do the whole talking thing like girls do, and prefer action. (I may be wrong considering I'm female.. )
Oh, Thank you, Eunoia! Those are all perfect examples and would fit in Hank's situation either way. I probably need to work on his backstory and sort out his family info too. That would explain a few things about him. History, as they say, is who you are.
Questions for Hank: 1. If someone asked you when your 30 what your childhood was like, what would you say? 2. Do you feel comfortable at school? Do you like a specific person? 3. What do you do in your free time? 4. Do you like music, if so what kind? 5. Do you like to draw/paint? 6. If you could play any sport you wanted to when ever you wanted to what would it be? 7. What do you want to be when you "grow up"? 8. What is your favorite color? (I had a hard time jumping into Caleb, I finally found little things here and there.. a song, a tv show, food... that just made me think... Caleb. I made a list and found a picture of what I thought he would look like.. that and this exercise has helped me more than anything else..)
More for Hank: 1. What is your relationship with your dad like? 1A. What is the best memory of your dad? It can be a specific moment or a certain ritual/habit/tradition you did together -- just one thing that stands out. 1B. Ditto 1A, but the worst instead of the best. 2. Any older brothers? If so, repeat step 1 for them. Uncles, etc..any important male role models in your life. 3. What incident in your bullying career stands out the most, and why? 4. Under what circumstances do you enjoy bullying, and why? Is it a power trip, being able to be in control, just to gain popularity or another reason? What types of bullying give you this pleasure? 5. What scenarios/circumstances make you feel BAD about being a bully? 6. Do you care about how other people at school see you? 7. Do you have any embarrassing habits, babyish tendencies or anything that would cause you to live under a rock if all the guys at school found out? 8. What is your deepest darkest secret? 9. Why are you 13 and still in elementary school, rather than junior high? Did you get held back -- what for, and how did your parents react to you failing a grade? Or did you start school a year later than most kids, and if so, why?
Newer movie, "Let me in" good bullying framework. The bully of the MC was a bullied by his older brother.(warning very graphic movie even the first scene) My favorite author did bullying too well, I wanted to throw the book across the room(It was a library book) so I took it back and stopped reading it. Maybe she did it too well. the one point that clicked with me, the mother telling her son to stand up to the bullies, even to the point of bullying her son.(and teachers ignoring the bullying too)
^Oh, yikes. No, I don't want the bulllying to be too graphic. I won't support it, therefore I won't write about it. It's more of the "you made fun of me, take it back 'cause if you don't I'll sock you in the mouth." kind of bullying. It still is bullying, nevertheless, but not so extreme and horrible. I have figured my character out a bit more. I'm focussing just on him. But soon I'll figure out his family and the issues he has with them. Thanks for posting
Alright, since no one has posted for awhile, I'll toss up another favorite of my characters. Tannan Dawnmark; Elf, almost old enough to seek apprenticeship, hobbies: Bowhunting, archery(he's an elf) prefers the staff for fighting. Mother: trained herbal healer, Father hunter, scout/guiide, former military scout Tannan is kidnapped by another elf, buried in a box, and this is where he is forced to train a mental ability he did not know he had, in fact the chance of one elf having this ability is 1000 to one. To powerful for the evil elf to train and use for his gain, he decides to take Tannan to his trainer. He implants a event into Tannan's mind, that his parents were killed by orcs, and that this elf had rescued him. Before he can leave, Tannan is rescued by his parents and Mudspawn, his elven dog(coshee). Since leaving the box, he has had a ringing or buzzing in his head anytime he is around people. So he tries to get away from people, even his parents. Mudspawn does not cause the buzzing and he was a big part of Tannan's rescue. Since being rescued, he has avoided people, has severe claustrophobia. The more people he is around, the worse the buzzing, the quicker the headaches come. He also doesn't trust anyone, since he was abducted. The parents learn that the evil elf's trainer is a respected mentalist with an academy in a large city. So they make the trip to the city to meet the Mentalist. He finds a whole house of kids with his kind of abilities, but only one other elf. Serana a Psychic healer, and can read what a person thinks. He also learns they all have the ability to comunicate with each other. They form a bond from her healing him(Florence Nightngale effect) but she accidently reads peoples thoughts, and very talkitive. Then he meets a human girl whose had been abducted in her past. She is secretive and refuses to accept anyone as a friend, will not tell them why she can't have friends. So he tries to get her to help him deal with his emotions about being abducted. Small town boy(elf) in a big city with all the excitement and danger of a large city. So lets see how well I know him.
That kind of bullying doesn't have to have an evil person in their life. They could just feel like they are bullied so they bully. The evil bully like I describe is usually sculpted by someone bullying them or pushing them to be mean.
This thread looks awesome. Sierra Summer is thirteen years old and albino. Her right hand is prosthetic, the result of a fateful albino hunt in South Africa (her aunt latched onto the idea that albino limbs meant good luck, but came after her with a hunting party). Sierra was ten at the time and couldn't defend herself. After a member of the party had a change of heart and saved her, her parents sent her to relatives in America to get her hand replaced and to get out of the hunting zones. In America, she gained her new hand and began taking martial arts with her cousin, almost two years her senior, whose family adopted Sierra. She attended church regularly, thanking God for saving her in South Africa. Being bored one day, she took up drawing, and has been at it for three years when the story starts, a week before her fourteenth birthday. She's drawn to manga, but can draw anything she wants from reference. She's a bad listener in school, but can memorize a song or a comic she likes with no problem. Her laziness gets her into trouble at times, but nothing too serious (till a certain point in the story, at least). Her martial arts and drawing skills are good for her age, though she's not satisfied with that. She wants to be the very best that no one ever was, and that's really all she cares about. That, and food. She loves ice cream, bubblegum soda, steak, and cheesecake. The only thing between her and being fat is martial arts, and she swears never to break that wall. By the time the majority of the story takes place, she's fourteen and her sister, Atemi, is fifteen. That's all I have for now, and I don't even have the entire story planned yet. I figure I should know the main character better before I settle on anything. EDIT: Oh, and she's left-handed.
I think everyone else is busy, so I will offer some questions. 1.How does she feel about her family in S.Africa?(other then the aunt.) 2.Does she keep in touch with the person that saved her? 3.You don't mention the time period, so does the prosthesis have a working hand? Can her prosthesis be used to block in martial arts, or will it be knocked loose? 4.Attention problems, Has she had any other abuse other then the aunt taking off her hand? 5.Is her sister adopted also or is she blood relations to her adopted parents? Does she have a problem with the relationship between the parents and the sister? 6.What genre of Manga does she like?(Manga;I will admit I had to look it up. ) 7.What does she want to do when she is grown up? 8.Any mental issues from the abuse or from being sent to another country alone? 9.Does she get along with her cousin(martial arts)? Do they try to out do each other? 10.Is there a class in school that she does better in? (assuming art class is good) 11.being different(missing hand and from another country) is she accepted in school?
Thought I might as well post my new character here: Sumiko Harusho is a fifteen-year-old teenage girl. She is a second generation Japanese-American that excels in both academics and athletics. In fact, she excels so much that she is currently a sophomore studying computer programming at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. She is even smarter, though, and if she applied herself she could easily be a graduate student or even a college graduate already. However, Sumiko is extremely lazy and only does the things she likes or the things that are easy. She has a photographic memory, and thanks to that she has been able to memorize over 20 different programming languages, and knows about 30 more, although not perfectly. She can also speak both Japanese and English fluently, and she know some Spanish and a little French. In lame-man’s terms, she is an all-around genius. As for her backstory, there isn’t much to tell. She skipped both the 6th and 7th grades, and later tested-out of 10th, 11th, and 12th grade. She was accepted into MIT at the age of thirteen. Sumiko has entered numerous contests such as science fairs, programming competitions, and trivia contests, although she didn’t do so of her own free will. Her parents always signed her up for things, and because she didn’t want to disappoint them she went along with it. The major event that happened in Sumiko’s life happened when she was 10. She was a prodigy with computers, and thanks to her intelligence she accidentally hacked into the CIA’s system. Although no problems were caused, the event got major news coverage. Reporters bombarded her house for the next couple of weeks, and many stories were run in both local and national news casts. Due to her young age and the fact that no problems were caused the government decided not to press charges. However, her fellow students and even her teachers never looked at her in the same way. As for a storyline, there isn’t much of one. I base my story off my characters, so I haven’t started writing anything yet. It will probably be something on how a foreign government (Japan, more than likely) tries to use her to attack and destroy the United States. It sounds worse than it is.
OK I have two brand new ones: Joseph Cream and Timothy Black, this is all I know about them. They are police officers one is a Detective Inspector and the other a Detective Constable or Sargeant (yet to decide which) Tim opens the door to the cleaning cupboard and scans the corridor outside, he looks back at Joe, who is doing up his belt. 'I'll go first. Same time next week?' Joe grins at Tim's rear, 'Your shirt's hanging out mate.' Tim quickly closes the door again and let's Joe tuck him in. Opening the door he checks again, the corridor is empty. With his head held straight leaves the cupboard. Going through the glass double doors at the top of the stairs he enters into the busy office, helps himself to a coffee and sits at his desk. A shadow falls across his desk, 'Black the Inspector wants to see you. Where have you been?' 'Err must have had a rum burger at lunch Sarge.' He looks up and smiles sweetly. 'That's been happening a bit too frequently. Maybe it's the dipping sauce.' He returns the smile and walks away.
For Sumiko How does Sumiko interact with other people? Who are her friends? Does she like being exceptional or does she try to be more ordinary? How would she react if she was sent back to High School ? What would she look for in a boyfriend? If she was looking in your wardrobe what outfit would she borrow? If you took her to school with you who would she hang out with ?
More for Sumiko: 1. What are you bad at? 2. How do you feel about sports and athletic events? If you were required to take a college P.E. class (no colleges do this that I know of, but I'm sure some do; just go with it), how would you manage and in what order would you be picked for the team? 3. What are you afraid of? 4. What would you clash with a professor over to the point where you'd have an argument with him/her? 5. What would cause you to see someone as a potential mentor figure? 6. What is your least favorite part of being 5-10 years younger than all your peers? 7. What are the advantages of this?
Elgaisma, I'll do my best with yours, but it'd be a lot easier if I had more information. From what I can gather, Tim seems like the type who's messy, a procrastinator etc but is quite charming and angelic to make up for it. I'll make a few questions based on this, but I really know nothing about Joe. For Tim: 1. You've been given a major detective assignment to take charge of all on your own. 1A. What type of assignment would be the biggest type of challenge to you,and why? 1B. What is your favorite aspect of the assignment? 1C. Least favorite aspect? 1D. Your other team members have flaked, leaving you with the bulk of the work. How do you react? 2. How well do you get along with your parents? What was the atmosphere like in your house/family growing up? 3. Do you have any pets? If so, why not, and if yes, what type of pet owner are you? (Try and answer this in a way that actually is condusive to character development; not just the "I have a dog" and that's it type of answer; Elgaisma, you seem great at answering MC-related questions but I'm throwing this out there so everyone knows). 4. You're on a date with a woman -- or man, if that's your preference -- who turns out to be someone much more formidable than you'd originally thought. Not in a bad way, just very sophisticated/knowledgeable/expertise/etc and much more so than you. How does this affect the date and how do you react? 5. You're at a large get-together of some kind in a non-work setting: a Christmas/Thanksgiving dinner where lots of your relatives are there, or a meet-the-girlfriends'-parents for the first time dinner, something like that. What types of events would make the event turn catastrophic? What would you worry about most? 6. What is the trait about you that most annoys your colleagues? 7. What is the trait about you that your colleagues like best and that makes you most useful at detecting? ------- I'll post more for Joe if you can tell me more about him..
Mallory, you seem to be helping everyone out a lot. You have a character you want questioned? And I'll put a character of mine forward. It's a relatively new character concept, and I'm still having difficulty nailing down her personality and the impression she leaves on the audience. Beck Harper is a thrill-seeking tomboy that is rarely found out of roller blades or wearing a helmet. She likes to stay active, but is prone to slothfulness when hunger strikes. She's friends with everybody, but doesn't have any close relationships with people her own age (early twenties). Beck's soul is forged into the shape of a longsword which she carries wherever she goes, and she has a habit of turning her life force inside out to become indestructible. Likes: movies, staying up all night, and cargo shorts Dislikes: seagulls, expectations, and traffic laws The story I'm writing right now follows a moderately sized group of people able to travel between worlds. It focuses on how they become a makeshift family through their struggles. Nothing else about it is really important.
Hmm, Beck and I would be good friends -around the same age/personality. I'll try and put some questions forward for her, but I can't think of any good ones at the moment so I'll hold off. I don't want to do a half-ass job, you know? I'll put forward a character: Her name is Alexis. I'm not sure what her last name is yet because I've only written a chapter. But basically, I'm writing a story about a female college freshmen who deals with some of the issues I dealt with when I was a college freshmen: not fitting in in the dorms, having everyone besides you have a posse of friends from high school by day one, guy problems, drifting apart from friends, etc. But I feel like most coming-of-age chick lit stories are about high schoolers, and the few that ARE about college people are super corny and all the same...like the worst problem is not getting along with your roommate at first, but then you have a bonding night on the third night in college and become best friends, you know? I'm going for both funny moments and sad/serious ones and real issues like pregnancy scares. Not quite sure what to ask for..basically, how my MC would react to certain college-life drama situations...
Gotcha. I've got some things to offer that I think you might find helpful. For Alexis: ---Starters--- 1. So you're at college now. How is it? Are you relieved to be away from your parents? Stressed to have so much more responsibility? Do you miss your family? 2. Do you have any cousins or siblings that really just get who you are? Are you staying in touch with them? 3. What do you miss most about home/high school? 4. What do you enjoy most about college? ---Plans--- 5. Do you know what you want to major in yet? 6. If the world was perfect, what would you want to study? Would you have the same major? 7. What are your plans for after you graduate college? ---Situations--- I can offer more if you find these useful, since they are what you asked for in the first place. 8. Your group of friends is planning a wicked awesome road trip for next week, and they want you to come along. Unfortunately, one or two of your classes have midterms during the time they plan to be gone. Do you go? 9. The condom broke. What do you do the day after? 10. You think you're in love, and you're pretty sure the feeling is mutual. What do you do? 11. Your best friend transfers to another school. You depended on them a lot--how do you manage now? 12. Despite your best efforts, you've been doing poorly in most of your classes. Your parents find out. How do they react? 13. You meet someone that you think is really cool, and they quickly become your best friend. However, they aren't popular because of their unique qualities. Your other friends don't get along with this person at all either. You find yourself having to make the choice of either staying with your current social group or leaving them to stick with your new friend. What choice do you make? 14. One of your parents died in a car accident. How does this affect you?
