Character/Conflict Write-Up Questions
Friday, January 18, 2013
If you are having difficulty coming up with ideas for your character and conflict write-ups, here are some possibilities to help inspire you! Feel free to use what interests you, but do write-up a clear, full description of your main dynamic character and think about/brainstorm possible conflicts.
Basic Character Brainstorm
Physiology
Gender:
Age:
Height:
Weight/Build:
Hair:
Eyes: Posture:
Appearance according to others:
Appearance according to self:
Idiosyncratic physical qualities:
Sociology
Class:
Occupation:
Education:
Home life:
Religion, Spirituality, or Belief System:
Nationality:
Chief Community:
Role in that community:
Amusements, hobbies:
Psychology
Moral compass (person, object or experience from the past that motivates their morals):
An important personal ambition:
Chief disappointments in life thus far:
Chief accomplishments in life thus far:
Disappointing Qualities:
Redeeming Qualities:
Revealing Questions to Ask about Your Character:
• What is your core need (and what you will do if you can’t get that need met)?
• What is your greatest fear? (Deep-down fear, not just a regular phobia: Think abandonment, not heights, for example.)
• What is the incident(s) that wounded you early in life that got you believing a lie? (And what is that lie?)
Good Questions To Answer Before Beginning a Short Story…
1. What does your protagonist want?
2. When the story begins, what significant actions has he or she already taken towards that goal? (He or she should already have made a conscious choice, with repercussions that drive the rest of the story.)
3. What unexpected consequences — directly related to the protagonist’s efforts to achieve the goal — ramp up the emotional energy of the story? (Will the unexpected consequences force your protagonist to make yet another choice, leading to still more consequences?)
4. What details from the setting, dialog, and tone help you tell the story?
5. What significant choice does your protagonist make at the climax of the story? (Your reader should care about the protagonist’s decision. Ideally, the reader shouldn’t see it coming.)