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What
does he or she look like? (hair colour
and style, eye colour, height, build,
etc.)
Star signs? - which can show useful traits.
Where
do they live? Town or country?
Do
they live in a house or an apartment?
Do
they live on their own? If not who with?
Do
they have a pet?
What
sort of education have they had? Did they go to university?
What
do they do for a living?
Do
they enjoy their work?
How
do they feel about the opposite sex and why?
Have
they had former lovers?
Are
they single, married, divorced?
Are
there children?
Do
they have brothers or sisters?
How do
they feel about true love? Have they experienced it?
I am a huge fan of star signs, but I have to envision the character somewhat to set up a horoscope. Looks, goal, internal flaw or wound, primary personality trait, age and era: these help identify the birth time, date and place to run a test chart. I have been amazed by the "accuracy" of the charts, which leads to a fleshing out of the character. My thing, for sure.
ReplyDeleteYour list of questions is super!!
I have used star signs quite a lot too, Ana. It really does help in fleshing out the characters.
DeleteI confess I don't do any character study before I start writing! For me, writing the first draft involves getting to know my characters, just as I get to know people in real life - and I love how they gradually reveal themselves to me! At the end of draft I may be able to answer some of these questions, but not necessarily all of them!
ReplyDeleteIt's a good job we're all different, isn't it, Paula. But I have to confess my characters do sometimes take me by surprise.
DeleteMy stories usually start out with one character. I usually know some things about them, but not everything. Like Paula, I find I get to know them as the story goes on, but I also do sometimes get stuck. This is a great list of questions that might help me get unstuck!
ReplyDeleteThere are many different ways of working on new stories, and I find it interesting to hear how other writers go about it.
Delete