Questionnaires for Writing Character Profiles
Here are some questionnaires for writing character profiles. You'll find more fiction-writing resources at the bottom of this page.
Writing Character Profiles - Questionnaire 1 (Adult Characters)
- Name:
- Age:
- General physical description:
- Hometown:
- Type of home/ neighborhood:
- Relationship status:
- Current family:
- Family background (parents, previous marriages, etc.):
- Friends:
- Other close relationships:
- Relationship with men:
- Relationship with women:
- Job:
- Dress style:
- Religion:
- Attitude to religion:
- Favorite pastimes:
- Hobbies:
- Favorite sports:
- Favorite foods:
- Strongest positive personality trait:
- Strongest negative personality trait:
- Sense of humor:
- Temper:
- Consideration for others:
- How other people see him/her:
- Opinion of him/herself:
- Other traits, especially those to be brought out in story:
- Ambitions:
- Philosophy of life:
- Most important thing to know about this character:
- Will readers like or dislike this character, and why?
Our online writing course, Bringing Characters to Life, will show you how to create characters that feel three-dimensional and real.
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Writing Character Profiles - Questionnaire 2 (Child Characters)
- Name:
- Age:
- Birthday:
- General physical description:
- Hometown:
- Type of home/ neighborhood:
- Father’s name, background, and occupation:
- Mother’s name, background, and occupation:
- Brothers and sisters:
- Position in family:
- Other close relatives:
- Family relationships:
- Special friends:
- Enemies:
- Influential person or event:
- Grade in school:
- Attitude toward school:
- Grades:
- Favorite pastimes:
- Hobbies (music/art/reading material):
- Favorite sports:
- Favorite foods:
- Dress style:
- Religion:
- Attitude toward religion:
- Relationship with boys:
- Relationship with girls:
- Leader or follower:
- Strongest positive personality trait:
- Strongest negative personality trait:
- Sense of humor:
- Temper:
- Consideration for others:
- How other people see him/her:
- Opinion of him/herself:
- Other traits, especially those to be brought out in story:
- Ambitions:
- Philosophy of life:
- Most important thing to know about character:
- Will readers like or dislike this character, and why?
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Writing Character Profiles - Additional Questions
- If your character has a job, is he or she good at it? Does he or she like it?
- What are your character's bad habits?
- If you asked about his or her greatest dream, what would your character tell you?
- What's a secret dream that he or she wouldn't tell you about?
- What kind of person does your character wish he or she could be? What is stopping him or her?
- What is your character afraid of? What keeps him or her up at night?
- What does your character think is his or her worst quality?
- What do other people think your character's worst quality is?
- What is a talent your character thinks he or she has but is very wrong about?
- What did his or her childhood home look like?
- Who was his or her first love?
- What's the most terrible thing that ever happened to him/her?
- What was his/her dream growing up? Did he/she achieve this dream? If so, in what ways was it not what the character expected? If your character never achieved the dream, why not?
- In what situation would your character become violent?
- In what situation would your character act heroic?
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