Pros and Cons of Character Questionnaires

Good writers know that developing well-rounded characters is critical, and one technique for creating such interesting characters is to create in-depth bios using character questionnaires. The point of these tools is to stretch you to think about your character in ways that might not have occurred to you.

Some examples:

• As a kid, what did he want to be when he grew up?
• What is her happiest memory?
• What does she think makes a person successful?
• What three words would be on his tombstone?
• What superpowers does he wish he had?
• Does she hate her middle name?

The internet offers sites with links to dozens of questionnaires, from basic to comprehensive. I even discovered a random question generator. (Is this akin to Paul’s discovery of an altar to an unknown god? And perhaps just as useful?)

Strategic character building

Running through a few of these questionnaires can help you build a more rounded character, but they might also lead you down rabbit trails that will later complicate or sidetrack your writing.

Wired for Story by Lisa Cron warns that character questionnaires can be “so all-encompassing that, ironically, they obscure the very info you’re looking for. Here’s the secret: you are looking only for information that pertains to the story you’re telling.”

If the fact that your hero is afraid of snakes doesn’t pertain to the plot, then including it does not add depth so much as reader frustration. They will wonder when the hero will be forced to face a snake, and disappointed when it never happens.

Perhaps a question will spark insights into your character that will make your story richer, but beware of clogging the story with details that lead nowhere.