Does your story need a personality infusion? Try these quirky character questions to unlock some unusual insights.
Engaging, memorable characters make the best stories. To achieve these awesome creations, writers must dive deep by asking character questions to add details and give readers connections. We’ve all come across excellent, detailed checklists and character dossiers to fill in, similar to paperwork at the doctor’s office–and those are useful–but how do we get deeper, tangible details that’ll easily play into our stories and bring out our characters’ psychology?
Well, how about some quirky character questions? Use the links for more blogs to take the question to the next level. See if your answers reveal details about your characters’ lives and personalities.
#1 What’s her favorite mug? And what does she put in it? Hot cocoa, tea, coffee, Irish coffee? Does her mug have meaning or tell readers something about her?
#2 Does she make her bed? I know… it sounds like such a random, useless detail. But your character’s small habits add texture to your story and build a better relationship with your reader. Here’s more info on the psychological aspects of bed-making, perfect for amping up your character profiles.
- Is her bedding simple or complicated? I have sheets, pillows, and a comforter–simple. Some people like a lot of decorative pillows, bedskirts, matching curtains, teddy bears, Squishmallows, creepy dolls…
- If she doesn’t bother with the bed but would like to, is it because she’s always rushed? Is her unmade bed a symbol for her disorganized life? Is it shameful to her? Or does she refuse to care? Maybe she has more important things in her life to bother with bedding.
- Or maybe she’s too easygoing to give herself a hard time about it. What did her parents make her do? Maybe she grew up in a military household, and her parents’ strictness about bed-making has turned her into a non-bed-maker.
- Or maybe her household was disorderly, so she made her bed to have control over something.
- How does she react to visitors who see her bedroom habits?
- If she makes her bed, does that mean she’s a neat freak? Or a control freak? If she doesn’t, is she a slob? How does it reflect her attitude toward the rest of her home?
#3 What’s in her car? What kind of car is it? How does she feel about her car? And… what does it mean to her?
#4 What would she see if she stared out her window all day? An entire story could begin by a simple glance out the window. Think The Girl on the Train or the recent Netflix spoof The Woman in the House Across the Street from the Girl in the Window. These stories and many others start by glimpsing the outside world and letting the imagination run with what’s there.
Your character could live in an unusual place… a houseboat, over a business, in someone’s pool house… making her window view all the more interesting. This is where you can really put your descriptive tools to the test and play around. Even if your plot has nothing to do with your character’s neighbors, picturing the world she lives in will help build her personality and environment. And who knows? The quirky neighbor who enjoys playing the ukulele to an audience of cats may find her way into your story.
#5 What is she waiting for? Everyone’s waiting for something… come on, massive book deal… please…
#6 What does she pack in her lunchbox?
#7 Who are her peeps? *Peeps are the people she turns to in an emergency or for no reason at all.
#8 What’s in her closet? Here’s a fun article on closet personalities that might help. Take some time to brainstorm what your character’s closet looks like and what it reveals about him or her. Be a sneaky houseguest and look around.
- Then ask, what secret thing does your character keep in her closet?
#9 What’s broken in her life? Her microwave? Relationships? Feelings of security?
#10 What does she think about in the shower?
- Does she run through her to-do list?
- Imagine murdering her neighbor?
- Wish to go back to bed?
- Is shower time meditative?
- Does she play music to get her day started?
- Is she a shampoo, rinse, repeat kind of girl or does she skip steps?
- Does she shower in the morning or at night? Or, like me, in the middle of the day? (hey, I’m a writer. I do what I want.)
#11 What sparks joy? *It’s okay to be trendy. *Smirk
#12 Has she ever received or given bad advice? How’d that turn out for her? “Another drink won’t hurt!” “No one will find out.” “It’s okay to splurge.” “Everybody’s doing it!” “No one’ll remember this tomorrow!”
Here are some other bad advice gems to use or at least to make you laugh.
#13 What are her hobbies? Does she share it with people or keep it to herself?
#14 How does she keep her home? Her desk? Her bathroom?
#15 Has she ever given or received a romantic gift fail?
#16 What’s in her grocery cart? What items would be on her list? Does she keep an actual list or wing it? What do her choices say about her?
You can understand a lot about a person based on how she shops and what she buys. For example, her store and item choices could reflect how she… spends her time, feels about money, worries about her health, wants to impress others, and a plethora of other things.
What if she runs into someone unexpected–someone she doesn’t want to see? What does she do? Write a scene with an uncomfortable grocery store run-in.
#17 What’s her spirit animal?
In a play in high school, my drama coach gave me excellent advice when trying to act out a scene. When I failed to capture my character’s vibe, she said, “Jessica, be a cat.” The way cats saunter over, moving between people’s legs to get attention, purring–these traits perfectly represented the character I was attempting to play (I don’t remember the role, but my character was a shameless flirt). When I tried being more cat-like, I did a much better job acting.
The same holds for enhancing character development in fiction. Assigning a character a spirit animal provides a unique perspective to capture his or her essence.
- Is your character a golden retriever–friendly and excited?
- Or maybe a snake–watchful, sly, devious?
- What about an octopus–smart, stealthy, skilled at getting out of traps?
- Maybe he’s a squirrel–always in motion, preparing for winter?
- A turtle who does everything at his own pace?
- Here are more animal ideas to get you started.
#18 What is she most sensitive about? Or… what’s the easiest way to hurt her feelings?
Everyone is sensitive about something—the bald spot, the love handles, the way we drive, our writing *wink*, hips, lips, gray hairs, old man elbows, bad fashion sense. We all have things we wish we could wave a wand over and improve in an instant. Here are some common insecurities people have.
#19 What was her first job? First jobs provide glimpses into the way the real world works, so they play a role in shaping a person’s views on work, people, money, and life in general. Here are some specific ideas for common jobs for teenagers.
#20 What was her first buy with her own money? Did she save up for it? Did it hold meaning for her? My first buy was a portable, battery-operated typewriter because… of course. Want more insights into how spending reflects personality? Check out this article.
#21 What does she desperately want to control but can’t?
#22 What’s her favorite Christmas movie? How does she deal with gremlins?
#23 What’s contradictory about her? Like… a beach girl afraid of the water, like in my Delilah Duffy Mystery Series.
#24 Has she ever committed a petty crime?
#25 What does she dream about? At night and in the daytime. Here are some other common dreams and what they mean.
#26 What’s her security “blanket”? What makes him feel secure?
#27 What’s her best comfort food?
#28 If your character was in a commercial, what product would he/she/they endorse? I’m not suggesting adding a commercial to your plot (though, of course, you could. It’s your story. You can do anything!). Only it might be a fun way to get inside your character’s head and learn more about her. Detailing the things they like stands out and makes your prose more interesting.
I recently read a great book called Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman. In it, the main character’s shopping experiences at Tesco made me want to shop there, too, though I’d never heard of the store before. I could see Eleanor in a Tesco commercial. It’s one of those tiny details I’ll never forget about the book.
Glam up your writing with character details, like their must-haves. What would your character tell her friends they must have, buy, try? What does that list reveal about the person you’re creating? How could you use it in your story?
#29 If she had a gathering, who would she invite? And would there be a theme to her party?
#30 Has she ever been stuck somewhere she didn’t want to be? Where would be the worst place for her to be stuck? And with whom?
#31 What does she view as essential in her life? What thing or person could she not live without? And how would she react if she had to?
Add to the list below, and we’ll grow our list of quirky character questions!
For more writing ideas, hit up my blog. If you don’t get inspired, then, well, I don’t know what to do with you. Maybe hand you over to the Gremlins.
