Complete a character questionnaire for each of your main characters or even secondary characters that play a vital role in your story. This way you will know your character(s) well before you start writing about them.

Fill in as much information about them as possible. Don’t only answer what you will need in your story. The objective here is to get to know your character till he becomes a ‘live’ person in your mind.

So let’s begin…

1.In a few sentences write down a summary of plot

2.Character’s personal details

a)First name b)Surname c)Age

3.In a few sentences write down character’s back story (a bit about his background)

4.The role of character in your story

a)What are character’s goals?

b)What are character’s motivations?

c)What is character’s conflict?

d)How will conflict stop character from reaching his goal?

e)What is he going to do to overcome conflict?

f)What problems will crop up during story?

g)How will those problems get worse?

h)What will character do to overcome those problems?

i)How will he resolve conflict?

j)How will your character’s background influence how he behaves in your story?

k)What is relationship with other characters, if any, in your story?

5.Physical Descriptions

a)Height b)Eye colour c)Hair colour d)Hairstyle e)Hair length f)Complexion g)Shape of face h)Body type i)Weight

6.How does his expression change when…

a.He’s with a loved one b.He’s with someone he dislikes c.He’s with his boss d.He’s with a colleague

7.Personality

a)Type? (shy, outgoing, insecure, dominant etc)

b)Distinguishable traits?

c)Mental scars? (Complexes etc)

d)Ambitions?

e)Sense of humour?

f)Fears?

g)Anxieties?

h)Phobias?

i)Overall personality?

j)How does his personality change when he’s experiencing different emotions?

k)How does he act when he feels confident?

l)How does he act when he feels inadequate?

m)What gestures does he use when he talks and thinks?

n)How does he walk? With confidence? Does he slouch or stride?

o)What mannerisms does he have? (Does he fold his arms? Does he flick his hair?)

p)How does he speak? (Clearly, mumble, confidently, drawl etc.)

q)His voice? (Rich, loud, soft, etc)

We’ve established what a title should be and we’ve also established your title is your selling tool. So if it can make or break sale of your story, then we’ll have to agree that it is extremely important. How much emphasis have you placed when selecting a title?

1)You can’t write a story before titling it, so you jotted down first thing that came to mind.