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15QuestionsAuthorsShouldAskCharactersWritersWrite

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15QuestionsAuthorsShouldAskCharacters

Howwelldoyouknowyourcharacter?
Wespendalotoftimecreatingcharacters.Wethinkaboutnames,wheretheylive,whotheylove,
whetherornottheyhaveaphobiaorapersonalitydisorder.Wedecidetoplaceourcharactersinconflict
withanantagonistinordertowriteanovel.Weplananincitingmoment,andplotourscenes,buthow
muchdowereallyknowaboutthepsychologicalmotivationsofourimportantcharacters?
Hereare15questionsyoushouldbeabletoansweraboutthesecharactersinyournovel.
1. Whatwouldmentallydestroyyourcharacter?
2. Howdoesyourcharacterfeelabouthismotherandfather?
3. Whendidyourcharacterfeelcompletelylovedandaccepted?
4. Whatwouldhavetohappentomakeyourcharacterspeakout,or,defendastranger,inpublic?
5. Whatdoeshelieabout?
6. Doesyourcharacterneedfriends?
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7. Whatphysicalthingdoesyourcharacterfearmost?
8. Ifyourcharactercouldchoosetospendhislastdayalivewithoneperson(deadoralive),who
wouldhechoose?
9. Whatishisdefiningstrength?
10. Isheabletoworkforsomeoneelse?
11. Doesyourcharacterhaveapositiveornegativebodyimage?
12. Who,orwhat,wouldyourcharacterdiefor?
13. Doesyourcharacterhaveaplanfortomorrow?Nextweek?Nextyear?
14. Isyourcharacterresilientenoughtochange?
15. Whatwouldyourcharacterthinkifhecouldseeyounow?
Acharacterspersonalityismadeupofpatternsofthoughts,feelingsandbehavioursthatmakehim
unique.Thesepsychologicalpersonalitytraitsremainfairlyconsistentthroughoutlife.
Ifyouwanttomakeyourcharactersmemorable,itsagoodideatogettoknowthembetter.
Ifyouenjoyedthisarticle,youmayenjoyThe12MostBasicCharacterBuildingBlocks,CheatSheets
forWritingBodyLanguage,andSevenEssentialThingstoRememberaboutVeryImportantCharacters.

byAmandaPatterson
AmandaPatterson
FollowheronFacebookandPinterestandGoogle+andTumblrandTwitter.Amandaisthefounderof
WritersWrite.Hersignaturecourse,WritersWrite,specializesintheteachingoffictionwriting.
~~~~~
WritersWriteoffersthebestwritingcoursesinSouthAfrica.Ifyouwanttolearnhowtowriteabook,
writeforsocialmedia,andimproveyourbusinesswriting,sendanemailtonews@writerswrite.co.zafor
moreinformation.
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35responses
Greatquestionsthatareveryhelpfulforthewritingprocess...butIamdisappointedthattheauthorof
thearticleassumesamalegenderfortheprotagonist.
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Julia7monthsago
HiJulia
Ineverassumeanygenderforanything.SometimesIuse'she'andsometimesIuse'he'foreaseof
reading.Itisclumsytosayheorsheconstantlyinashortpost.WhenIusethefeminineformIget
criticisedforthattoo.
Regards
AmandaPatterson
WritersWrite7monthsago
Haha,Iknewsomeonewouldcomplainaboutthegender.IKNEWit.Dragonmagazineusedtodoa
thing,whereinthemiddleofthearticle,whentalkingaboutanamelesscharacterlikethis,they'd
switchgender.Sointhefirsthalf,therangerwouldbemale,inthesecondhalf,she'dbefemale.
Hypto7monthsago
Hypto:Ididn'tevennoticeditbeforethecomment.ButIalwaysusewhensomeoneuses"she"allthe
time.Mostlywhenitisforwordsthatareinmaleforminmylanguage,whichforexampleprotagonist
is.
M.7monthsago
Excellentarticle,Amanda!Iknowsomeofthesethingsformyprotagonist,butIsometimesdon't
worryaboutthingslikethisuntilitcomesup.SeveralofyourquestionsgavemepauseI'mgoingto
havetothinkaboutthemformycharacternow.Thankssomuch!
VarinaSuellenPlonski7monthsago
Irecentlywroteanarticleoncharacterbuildingaswell,butitlacksalotoftheideasyou'veincluded.
Sothankyouforsharingthiswithus.
MelissaParker6monthsago
Youshouldchangethepronounsreferringtothecharactertoneutralpronounsasinthesingular
'they'.You'regivingofftheimpressionthatthecharactersworthbotheringwitharemale,andwiththe
excessofmalemaincharactersvs.sparsepresenceoffemalemaincharacters,thismalesuperiority
impressionhereneedstobeavoided!
Ruinabout1monthago
"They"ispluralbydefinition.Iamfemaleanddon'tgiveaflyingrat'spatootieifyousayusemaleor
femalepronounsbut"they"isnotsingular.Thatweallowitinthelanguagenowisjustamatterof
lazyEnglishevolution/devolution.Ifyouuseitinformalwritingyouareshowingalackof
professionalism.Iactuallygetalittleannoyedwhenawriterfeelsforcedbypoliticalcorrectnessto
switchbackandforth.It'sdistracting.I'mmatureenoughandsecureenoughtounderstandthatasa
womanIampartofthesameprocessbeingdescribed.
KCabout1monthago
No,theuniversaluseof"he"isoutrightoffensive.Ifyoudefendit,it'sjustbecauseyou'reusedtoit
andusedtotheculturethatusesit,notbecauseit'sactuallyacceptable.Singular"they"isamuch
betteroption,andthereisnogrammaticalargumentagainstitit'sbeenattestedinEnglishsinceat
leastthefourteenthcentury.Anothermuchbetteroptionwouldbe"heorshe".Tohellwithsexism.
Sandraabout1monthago
Hello,
Excellentarticle!Ihopeyoudontmindmetranslatingthequestionnairesintomyfirstlanguageand
postthisviafacebook.Cantwaittoseeanswersfrommyfriends'characters!!!
PSButifyoudomind,pleasedonothesitatetocontactviagivenemail,Iwouldimmediatelytakethe
postdown
Jaeshiizouabout1monthago
FromAmandaPatterson:
"Ineverassumeanygenderforanything.SometimesIuse'she'andsometimesIuse'he'foreaseof
reading.Itisclumsytosayheorsheconstantlyinashortpost.WhenIusethefeminineformIget
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reading.Itisclumsytosayheorsheconstantlyinashortpost.WhenIusethefeminineformIget
criticisedforthattoo.
Regards
AmandaPatterson"
WritersWriteabout1monthago
Jaeshiizou,pleaseemailnews@writerswrite.co.zawithyourrequest.
WritersWriteabout1monthago
Greetingsagain,Ihademailedtheaddress,however,itseemedthattheemailaddressdoesnotexist,as
IreceiveaDeliveryStatusFailureemailsoonafter
Jaeshiizouabout1monthago
Itexists.Jaeshiizou,pleasetryagain.
WritersWriteabout1monthago
Seemedtohavebeentechnicalerroronmypart,utmostapologies:(

I'veresenttheemail,hopeitreaches.
Jaeshiizouabout1monthago
"They"isnotpluralbydefinition.Evenifitwasatsomepoint,ithascometobesomethingdifferent
overtime(thiswasaprocessthatwasinitiatedbyShakespeare,sopleasedon'tactlikeit'samodern
anachronism).Itisaperfectlyacceptablegenderneutralpronoun,andshouldbeusedwhenever
possible.
Snowskeeperabout1monthago
Pleasedonotprescribehowotherpeopleshouldorshouldnotwrite.Ifyouwanttousetheclumsy
sounding'they'asasingular,youarefreetodoso.
WritersWriteabout1monthago
ThislistwasamazingIcan'tbelievepeoplearebeingnitpickyabout"he"beingused.Whocares?
Weallknowwhatwasmeant.Besides,using"they"foronecharacterinmyopinionsoundsmessy
andunprofessional.That'sprobablyjustme,though.Anyways,thisarticlehelpedmetogettoknow
mycharacterevenfurther.Ilovethissite/blog,itreallyishelpful,unlikeotherplacesIhavecome
across.Thankyouforthislist!:)
Carolyn27daysago
Thankyou,Carolyn.We'rehappythatthelistworkedforyou.
WritersWrite27daysago
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Posted7monthsago
July8,2014at10:30AM
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