Is it writer’s block or an underdeveloped character?
Sometimes writer’s block is due to a lack of character development. You’ve named your character and… that’s about it. If you get to a point in a story and can’t figure out what a character would do next, it may be helpful to go back and develop their personality, interests, skills, and character weaknesses a bit more. Writers often complain of characters taking over the story and doing the unexpected. What better way to defeat writer’s block than letting your characters write the story for you? But they can’t do that until you give them well-developed personalities and backgrounds.
How do you do that?
You can try interviewing them. It’s a common prewriting practice, and there are loads of character interview questions out there you can use. A lot of the questions won’t be directly relevant to your story, but they can still give you an idea of what the character’s personality is like. Penny The Protagonist might not be going to the movies in your story, but knowing if she likes action or romance can help you decide if she’s going to punch the mall security guard or flirt with him until he lets her go.
Character Interview Questions
- How do other characters react to them? Are they tall and muscular or short and skinny? Is their hairstyle casual or creative? Do they dress to impress or to shock? How does their appearance impact the way others think about them? Do people think they’re “normal” or “weird”? Do they pass through a crowd unnoticed, or do they make people feel alarmed, aroused, excited, unsafe? Do the other characters think of them as a boring bookworm or a metalhead freak?
- How do they spend their time? What were they doing before the story began? What is their normal, daily life like? Are they a workaholic, or do they show up late and put in the minimum effort? How do they feel about their job? Why? Do they find their job interesting or dull? Do they have an ethical employer, or do they go home feeling guilty about they way they earn a living?
- What are their interests? Do they have any hobbies? If not, why not? Is their spare time taken up by work, caring for children or older loved ones, or just trying to survive? Maybe they’re too busy running from zombies, or the cops. Or zombie cops.
- How do they feel about art? What kind of creativity makes their life worth living? Do they constantly have a book in their hands, or would they rather put on some music and dance? What about movies? Are they into horror, romance, surrealism, store security footage?
- How do they sound? Are they eloquent and highly educated, or is their dialogue filled with slang and filler words? Are they more likely to recite their favorite quotes or poems, or mumble and… um… ah… what was I saying? Do they speak in the same way as the other characters, or do they have a different accent, educational level, or other background differences?
- What do they want to do with their life? Before the story began, what were their goals? Did they want to run away, start a business, start a family? Now that the story’s events have taken over their life, are they sticking to their goal or finding a new one? How does this make them feel?
- How do they feel about other people? Are they introverted or extroverted? How do they feel about the other characters? Do they have a secret crush or a secret enemy? Do they get along with their coworkers, or are they secretly planning to set the building on fire?
You can download a PDF with these character interview questions here. Answering questions like these should help you get to know your characters better. With any luck, the rest of the story will come easier, and your writer’s block will be gone!
