| Decision | What it affects | Planning use |
|---|---|---|
| Ask before drafting | Revision effort and the structure of the first draft; drafting without character history can leave a draft without a coherent structure or clear central action | Do the character work before scene work, especially if your drafts tend to wander |
| Answer as the character, quickly | Voice; first-impulse answers are the aim, not polished ones | Write in first person and do not agonize over wording |
| Choose a shortlist | Depth of each answer | Pick the questions that bear on your story’s central problem and answer those in detail |
| Limit to major characters | Where your effort goes | Skip the exercise for minor characters |
| Form a rough core first | Whether the questions have anything to test | Sketch who the character is, then use the questions to deepen and challenge that sketch |
The first two rows follow the playwriting exercise 99 Questions to Ask Your Character from Dramatics; the last three follow Novel Software’s character questionnaire guide.
Character development questions work best when you answer them as the character, quickly, for major characters only. Ask them before drafting to save revision work, then reuse the answers as a checklist once the draft exists.
They sit inside the wider craft of how to improve your writing, and the answers need somewhere to live. The Build Unforgettable Characters: A Practical Character Development Template You Can Use Today gives you a layout for recording them.
What the questions change in your draft
Good questions turn vague traits into decisions you can write scenes around. Each group below changes something specific on the page.
- Backstory that explains behaviour. Barely Hare Books argues that childhood history shapes a character and should not be sanitized, because bright, beautiful memories matter as much as the dark ones. Ask about happy history as well as wounds, or every character ends up damaged in the same way.
- Motivation you can test. A want only matters if a scene can deny it. Dramatics includes the question “Is there something that you need or want that you don’t have?” in its exercise, and the answer gives you something to withhold.
- Stakes you can name. The Dramatics list also asks for the most pressing problem the character has at the moment. Barely Hare Books frames the same idea as what is on the line, and says the journey must be personal to the character.
- Voice that holds across scenes. Answering as the character gives you a consistent speaking habit to return to when dialogue starts sounding like the author.
- Detail with depth. Novel Software describes a character questionnaire as a list of questions put into groups, which prompts detail and depth rather than a thin list of traits.
The question set, grouped by purpose
Dramatics organizes its 99 questions under purpose-based headings such as Childhood and Education, Current Household and Relationships, and Fears, Challenges, and Obstacles. The set below follows the same logic with five groups matched to what each answer does for the story. Do not answer them all; pick from each group according to your plot.
Backstory: where the character comes from
Use these when behaviour on the page needs a cause. If your story is set in an invented world, the answers depend on that setting, so pair them with the Worldbuilding Masterclass: Create Believable Fantasy Worlds That Hook Readers In 2026.
- What did your father and mother do for a living?
- What was your childhood like, and which memory do you return to most?
- Which good memory still shapes how you see the world?
- Who taught you the rule you live by, and did they follow it themselves?
- What did you leave behind that you have not forgiven yourself for?
The parents’ work question comes from Dramatics, and the childhood question echoes one in a Roll for Kindness warm-up list meant to start players thinking about a character’s personality and history.
Motivation: what the character wants
Use these to find the want that drives the plot and the obstacle that makes it hard.
- Is there something you need or want that you don’t have?
- What do you want more than you admit to others?
- Why does this journey matter to you personally?
- What stands between you and what you want?
- What would you do now to get it that you once refused to do?
Stakes: what can be lost
Use these when a scene feels optional. If the answer is not painful, the scene has nothing riding on it.
- What is the most pressing problem you have at the moment?
- What is on the line if you fail?
- In what situation have you been most afraid?
- What could you lose that you could not replace?
- What does it cost you to do nothing?
The pressing-problem question is from Dramatics, the on-the-line question follows Barely Hare Books, and the fear question follows a Tumblr list of harder character questions.
Voice: how the character sounds
Use these before writing dialogue or interior monologue, and answer them in the character’s own words.
- What do you say when someone asks a direct question you do not want to answer?
- What do you do instead of speaking when you are nervous?
- Which words or phrases do you reach for when you are angry?
- What would you never say aloud, even to a friend?
- What would your fridge say about you?
Relationships and contradictions: how the character fits with others
Use these to generate scenes between characters and to plant the gaps between what a character says and does.
- Who do you trust without question, and why?
- Who do you avoid, and what happened between you?
- What do people misread about you?
- Where do your habits contradict your stated beliefs?
- Who would be hurt most if you got what you are chasing?
How to answer so the questions work
The method matters as much as the list. Dramatics states that the key to the exercise is to answer the questions as if you are the character, and to respond as quickly as you can without agonizing over the answers. Quick, first-person answers are more likely to surface habits and contradictions you can then use, whereas careful author-voice answers tend to produce neat summaries.
Interview-style answers also build voice. Novel Software says this format helps develop a character’s unique voice, which is why the fridge question above is useful: it asks about something small and lets the character’s manner of answering show through.
Resist the urge to answer everything. Novel Software advises against trying to answer all the questions for any given character and recommends selecting a shortlist first, so you can give more detailed answers. For a story with a large cast, that means full answers for the leads and nothing for the rest.
Example answers for a sample character
Here is an invented character, Mara, a ferry mechanic, answering a few questions quickly and in her own voice. She is an illustration, not a model answer.
- Parents’ work: “Dad rebuilt outboard engines in the garage. Mum kept the books at the harbour office. Between them nothing ever got thrown away.”
- Want that she lacks: “A workshop of my own. Not that I care.”
- Most pressing problem: “The gearbox on the ferry is failing and the owner won’t pay for a replacement.”
- What does your fridge say about you? “Half a sandwich, a jar of pickles, and a bag of spare fuses I keep meaning to move.”
Each answer gives a scene to write. The denied workshop and the failing gearbox point to a conflict with the owner. The line “Not that I care” marks a contradiction between what she says and what she wants. The fridge answer shows a voice that is dry and practical.
Novel Software gives its own sample: a straightforward answer to the fridge question might be seven types of cheese, vegetables and microwave lasagne. Even that plain answer implies habits and priorities you could build on. Answers like these rarely go into the story word for word. They tell you what the character would do in a scene you have not yet imagined.
Drafting versus revision
The same questions do different jobs at different stages. Before drafting they prevent problems; during revision they help you find them.
Before and during drafting
Dramatics gives two reasons to ask the questions early: to avoid pain on the back end when it comes time to revise, and because the more you know about your character and their struggles before you start to write, the easier the work becomes. Without character history, it warns, drafts can lack a coherent structure or clear central action. Dramatics writes about plays, but the reasoning applies to prose, where a meandering first draft is just as costly to fix.
Do not treat the questionnaire as a way to invent a character from nothing, though. Novel Software says a questionnaire is not a good way to start building a character and suggests using it only for the major characters. The two views fit together if you begin with a rough idea of who the character is, then use the questions to deepen and challenge it. If you have only a name and a job, write a loose sketch first.
During revision
Once a draft exists, treat the answers as a checklist and test each scene against them.
- Check dialogue against the voice answers. If a line could be spoken by any character, rewrite it using the habits you recorded.
- Check scenes against the pressing problem. A scene that neither advances nor complicates it is a candidate for cutting or merging.
- Check the want against the choices. When a character acts against the stated want, decide whether it is a continuity error or a deliberate contradiction, and make the page show which.
- Update the answers if the draft has outgrown them. A discovery in the draft may be better than your original answer, so revise the answer rather than forcing the scene back.
Frequently asked questions
What questions should I ask about my character?
Choose a few from each purpose group above: backstory, motivation, stakes, voice and relationships. A mix gives you both history and pressure, which is what a scene needs.
How do I find my character’s motivation?
Start with what the character needs or wants and does not have, then ask why the journey matters personally. Barely Hare Books says there must be something personal involved, so a want with no personal cost is probably still too generic.
How do I use questions during revision?
Reread each scene with the character’s answers beside you and mark every place where dialogue, choices or reactions clash with them. Keep the clash only if it creates conflict on purpose.
Will every answer end up in the story?
No. Novel Software notes that your in-depth knowledge of the character will bleed into your writing, so most answers can stay in your notes and still shape what appears on the page.
