TL;DR
Ask questions that can only be answered with a choice or a scene, not a trait. Start with want, fear and what the character hides, then test your answers by putting the character under pressure and see what they do.
The best character development questions are the ones that reveal motive: what the character wants, what they believe will happen if they do not get it, what they fear, what they hide and what they would give up. A question like "what colour are her eyes?" gives you a fact. A question like "what would she lie about to keep her job?" gives you a scene. Thirty-two questions, grouped by what they reveal, follow, with a worked example.
Ask for choices, not traits
A list of adjectives (brave, stubborn, kind) does not tell you what a character will do on page forty. Jericho Writers offers a rough guide for why it matters: people turn the pages because of plot, but they remember a book because of character. Scout and Atticus, Holmes and Watson: Jericho asks whether you remember them.
The three sources used here start from different places, and it is worth choosing yours on purpose. Reedsy begins with wants and needs. A want is what the character thinks will make them happy and a goal they pursue, and a need is a truth they must learn about themselves or the world. The book coach and editor Heather Davis, writing on Jane Friedman's site, begins one level up, with the Point the novel is making about the world or the human condition, then asks what in the protagonist's past makes them misaligned with it. Jericho begins by asking whether your protagonist is an ordinary person plunged into the extraordinary or an extraordinary person who makes things happen, and says the story must echo whatever is distinctive about them.
None of these is wrong. If you know your theme, Davis's route is quick. If you know a person, start with want and need. If you have an event in mind, start with Jericho's question about the sort of person it happens to.
Questions about want and motive
| Question | What it reveals |
|---|---|
| What does the character want in the first scene, in concrete terms? | The goal that starts the story |
| What do they believe will happen when they get it? | The hope behind the goal |
| What is the real need underneath the want? | The truth they have not seen yet |
| What would they give up to get it? | The price they will pay |
| What would they refuse to do, even for it? | Their moral limit |
| Who else wants the same thing? | Competition and conflict |
Scroll horizontally to see all columns. Arrow keys work when the table is focused.
Davis makes a useful point about the want: it usually centres on something external, such as a love interest's attention or making partner at a law firm, and achieving it will not provide the internal reward the protagonist is longing for. They may get it or not. Either way, they learn the Point and complete their arc.
Questions about fear and the wound
| Question | What it reveals |
|---|---|
| What is the worst thing that could happen to them? | The fear that drives their choices |
| What is the oldest memory that still affects what they do? | The origin of the wound |
| What lie do they tell themselves about it? | The false belief |
| What problems is the past creating in their life now? | Visible symptoms for the reader |
| What do they do to avoid thinking about it? | Habits and defences |
Scroll horizontally to see all columns. Arrow keys work when the table is focused.
Reedsy notes that a character's internal arc usually sees them realising that their want was fuelled by a lie they told themselves, and coming to understand a new truth, which is their need.
Questions about contradiction
| Question | What it reveals |
|---|---|
| What do they say they value, and what do they do instead? | Hypocrisy, which is human |
| Where are they generous, and where are they mean? | Range |
| What do they do well that they are ashamed of? | Complicated pride |
| What would surprise the people who know them best? | A hidden layer |
| What do they pretend not to care about? | Where the heart is |
Scroll horizontally to see all columns. Arrow keys work when the table is focused.
Reedsy's advice on strengths and flaws is to pick a mix of both, to give readers something to root for while keeping a real risk that the character will fail. Its example is Woody in Toy Story, a charismatic, loyal leader who can also be vain and petty, so the arrival of Buzz Lightyear makes him feel jealous and insecure.
Questions about other people
| Question | What it reveals |
|---|---|
| Who can they not disappoint? | Pressure from outside |
| Who knows their secret? | Risk |
| Who sees them most clearly? | A truth-teller |
| Who is the person best able to attack their weakness? | The right antagonist |
| Who is their opposite, and what does the contrast show? | A foil |
| Who do they treat badly, and why do they get away with it? | Power and blind spots |
Scroll horizontally to see all columns. Arrow keys work when the table is focused.
Reedsy quotes the story theorist John Truby on the fourth question: the main opponent is "the one person in the world best able to attack the great weakness of the hero," and the opponent either forces the hero to overcome the weakness or destroys them. It adds that the opponent need not be a person: it can be nature, technology or society.
Questions about pressure
| Question | What it reveals |
|---|---|
| What do they do when they are lied to? | Trust and anger |
| What do they do when they have to choose between two good things? | Values in order |
| What do they do when no one is watching? | The private self |
| What are their tells when they are nervous or lying? | Behaviour you can show |
| How do they speak when they are afraid? | Voice that changes |
Scroll horizontally to see all columns. Arrow keys work when the table is focused.
Reedsy lists "tics and tells" among its prompts: what the character does when they are nervous, uncertain of how to proceed, or telling lies. It says mannerisms are a step towards showing instead of telling.
Questions about change
| Question | What it reveals |
|---|---|
| What event forces them out of their normal life? | The start of the arc |
| What is the first time they act on the lie and it fails? | A cost for the flaw |
| What choice at the climax proves they have changed, or have not? | The test |
| Where do they end up, internally? | The destination |
| What do they lose in order to change? | A bittersweet price |
Scroll horizontally to see all columns. Arrow keys work when the table is focused.
Davis's last question is how the protagonist will change by the end, and she says the important change is internal, whatever happens to their circumstances. For the shapes this takes, see character arc types.
A worked example
Take Hester Voss, who tends a lighthouse on a northern island.
- Want: to keep the lamp lit every night this winter.
- Belief behind it: if the lamp never fails, nothing else on the coast can go wrong.
- Wound: one night, years ago, the lamp went out while she was asleep, and a boat did not come back.
- Lie: that vigilance can pay off a debt.
- Contradiction: she is gentle with strangers and merciless with the boy who helps her.
- Pressure question: what does she do when a storm demands she leave the lamp to save someone? She has to choose between the thing she guards and the thing the guarding was for.
- Change: at the climax she lets the lamp go dark on purpose, and that is the first time she has forgiven herself.
Notice that every answer is something she does or believes, and several of them are scenes you can write today. That is the test of a good question.
Use the answers in scenes
Put each answer into a scene instead of a profile. A fear shows up when she avoids a topic. A secret shows up when she changes the subject. A contradiction shows up when she acts against what she says. Keep the answers short and update them as the draft teaches you more. Character development covers how change is shown over a whole book, and the character profile template gives you a place to keep the results.
Frequently asked questions
What are good character development questions?
The ones that can only be answered with a choice or a scene: what they want, what they fear, what they hide, what they would give up and what they refuse to do.
How many character questions should I answer?
Enough to write the next scenes with confidence. Jericho Writers offers a free character bio template with more than 200 questions and Reedsy a questionnaire of 40, but for your main character you can start with the want, fear and secret questions above.
Should I answer the questions before I write?
Answer the want, fear and secret before you write, and the rest as the draft shows you who the character is. Discovery writers can fill them in after the first act.
How do I know my character is developed enough?
If you can predict what they will do in a situation you have not written, and the prediction surprises you a little, they are ready.
Do secondary characters need these questions?
A few. Ask what they want in the scenes they appear in and what limits them. The full set is for the people who carry the story.
Where Musael fits
A character answered on paper can still be wrong on page three hundred. In Musael, characters are entries in the world and characters codex, related to other characters and places, with their mentions counted across the manuscript, so you can see where each one appears. Continuity checks compare who knew what and when against your text. On Ink and Press, the AI editor gives notes on what each character wants in a scene, and it never writes the scene for you.
Sources
- Jericho Writers, "Character and characterisation in novels: techniques, examples and exercises": jerichowriters.com
- Reedsy, "Character Development: How to Create Fan-Favorite Characters in 5 Steps": blog.reedsy.com
- Heather Davis, "7 Questions to Design a Better Arc of Change for Your Protagonist", Jane Friedman: janefriedman.com
