What is a Character Questionnaire?
At its essence, a character questionnaire is a set of questions about a character. Seems obvious, right? Master Class has a good one.
A character questionnaire is not strictly necessary when putting together characters. But it can be very helpful. This is particularly the case if you are early in the process and still getting to know a character.
Some questionnaires seem to be overly complex. Or the questions address one area of a character’s personality in depth but not others.
Hence you will want to add some depth but probably some randomness as well. So, let’s look at the whole thing in pieces.
Here are some questions which might help.
Background
Of course you want to know some basics about the character. What is their name, and how old are they during the story? Gender is often important. But sexuality may or may not be. Educational level is probably also something you want to know.
- Name
- Date of birth
- Gender assigned at birth/current gender if different
- Sexuality
- Height
- Weight
- Educational level
- Siblings, if any
- Place in the birth order (if applicable)
- Whether parents or other close relatives are still alive
- Socio-economic background
Details for Your Own Personal Character Questionnaire
There’s more to a name than just … the name. Was your character named after someone? Are they a junior, a senior, a seventeenth?
Beyond going into horoscopes, a date of birth can inform a few things, not just whether someone is the eldest in a group. After all, if like me your character was born in early September, then if they’re in the modern world, school probably started right about the time of their birthdays.
Gender, gender roles, and gender changes all matter. If a person has body dimorphism, that is far different from if they just don’t like being (for example) female and upset that society keeps them from making more money.
Height isn’t just a yardstick. It’s also whether your character can reach stuff on high shelves or needs to duck through doorways. Weight? These days, you can be rather quickly and unfairly judged about your weight.
Educational level will inform how a character speaks, and perhaps also what you have them read. Are they quick on the uptake? Do they solve the puzzle first—or should they?
Siblings and place in birth order can give you an idea of whether a character feels overly responsible, or seems horribly spoiled, or doesn’t feel like they belong anywhere.
Parents—living or dead—will loom large. Is your character estranged from their parents? Orphaned? Is Mom or Dad in jail? Did the character kill one of them? Was one of them deadbeat, never known by your character? Or is your character adopted?
Socio-economic background can inform your character’s opportunities in life. It can also define if their growth was stunted, if they hoard food, or if they waste money.
Relationship Queries
Even if a piece is not a romance, understanding a character’s relationship history can prove fruitful.
- First serious relationship
- Also, the first serious relationship after coming out, if applicable
- Marital status
- Have they ever been in love?
- Are they ace/aero (asexual or aromantic)?
- Do they let anyone get close to them?
- Do they have any kinks?
Details
Beyond the parental and sibling relationships listed above, how does your character relate to anyone they’re interested in romantically? How serious did they get, and how soon? Are they a virgin? If not, when did they lose their virginity? Are they happy with that?
Is their sexuality set or fluid? Or is it repressed or so closeted that they don’t even realize they’re closeted?
Have they ever been married? Divorced, separated, or widowed? If so, what was the wedding like?
Have they ever loved anyone? Was it romantic? Chaste? From afar? Unrequited? Or was it some borderline stalking?
Has anyone ever gotten close to them? Also, are they vanilla, or are they in a dom/sub situation, or something else?
Work and School
Again, even if you never show work or education, it will help to inform the piece.
- Highest level of education attained
- Age when classes ended (that is, were they a dropout, or did they graduate?)
- Current employment
- Industry
- Basic tasks/duties
- If a supervisor/manager, number of direct and indirect reports
Details for This Part of Your Character Questionnaire
So, can you call your character doctor or professor? Or are they even literate? Did they drop out to help the family or because they were failing?
Where do they work, or are they unemployed? Also, do they even need to work? Are they perhaps an unpaid caregiver of some sort?
If they work outside the home (so, not necessarily literally for work from home and hybrid jobs), what’s the industry? Is it creative? Caregiving? Something in business? Do they work with their hands?
When the working day ends, how tired are they? Are they injured? Or are they so stressed out they can barely see straight? How does the commute (if any) treat them?
Can anyone call your character boss? Also, what kind of a boss are they? Do they rule with an iron fist, or are they empathetic? Sexist? Absent?
Favorites
So, after you’re about the age of eight or so, people stop asking you what your favorite dinosaur is. It’s as if they don’t even care! But you can always ask your characters!
Their faves can also include:
- Person
- Food
- Place
- Workout or place to walk
- Season
- Subject in school
And so on and on. Musicians can have a favorite guitar or glockenspiel. Carpenters can have a preferred hammer. The sky is literally the limit here.
Personality
Rather than listing various personality traits, it makes more sense to instead ask questions. Pretend as if you’re interviewing your character for some reason or another. Maybe it’s for a newspaper article, or a job. Whatever the pretense is, ask about things like:
- So, are you a morning or an evening person?
- In a group, do you lead, follow, check out, or something else?
- If you found a wallet full of money in the street, what would you do?
- Do you believe in God? Also, do you follow any religion?
- Who has been the most influential person in your life so far?
- What’s the most daring thing you have ever done? And would you ever do it again?
- How’s your mental health?
Takeaways
So the truth is, the more you treat your characters like people, the more your readers will see them as people. Adding depth will also help you write them, and know when you’re having them say or do something out of character.
If you don’t know your characters, who else could possibly know them? So, ask!
Oh, and another thing. This kind of a questionnaire can even help you with getting story ideas. No lie!
A character questionnaire can help. Just don’t treat it like gospel.