The Character Questionnaire | UnClean Arts (2024)

Often if you read interviews with famous actors, you will hear them talk about the extensive character biographies that they write in order to get inside of the head of the people they portray. In order to get an idea of exactly how unique your characters are, and in which ways they will react differently from another person in their situation, there are few techniques as effective as to write a biography.

If you fuse your biography with a good idea for a plot, the bio will give you excellent ideas on where to take the story, how to escalate events, and how your story will need to end in order to maximize the exploration of your main character’s arc.

What many writers forget is that every moment in the present is infused with the residue of the past. Without a solid understanding of where your character has come from and who they were before the story began, how can you expect to fully explore where they are going and who they are becoming?

In As Good As It Gets, the three main characters are all clearly defined by their pasts:

• Melvin Udall is a famous author who also happens to be obsessive-compulsive. His outlook on humanity is fairly sour, as the unusual requirements that his mental illness places on his interactions with others has taught him to expect the worst from people. He needs others to do certain things in a specific way for him to feel comfortable, and when they can’t or won’t, he feels frustrated.
• Carol Connelly is fairly patient and very loving, as she has dealt for years with her son’s debilitating illness. She has put her life, career plans, and romantic relationships on hold because of her son, and is feeling life pass her by.
• Simon Bishop is a moderately successful painter. His parents (specifically his father) are cold and distant, because they cannot accept his hom*osexuality. His shallow, partying lifestyle has allowed him to avoid any serious self-examination for years.

Here you have a solid cast of characters with built-in problems that have dogged them for years. The film thus involves many of these problems coming to a head because of the special circ*mstances of the story, so that the characters are finally forced to deal with old issues. Screenwriter James L. Brooks also had a very thorough knowledge of these character’s psychologies, so that as the story developed, they would react in unexpected but logical ways. Indeed, “unexpected logic” is a phrase that neatly sums up what all good storytelling is about.

The Character Questionnaire & How to Use It

I have compiled a list of traits that you need to consider when creating any important character in your story; The Character Questionnaire. Don’t make things easy for your characters; uncover patterns of past problems that give clues to future behavior and story conflict. As Good As It Gets is a great example of how to look at your story; a story is often really about problems that the main characters have carried around with them their whole lives, and that they are finally dealing with them because of larger events.

The trick to effectively creating character information is to be as specific as possible. Don’t just say their favorite food is pizza, say it’s the garlic and clam sauce pizza made at a tiny joint on 52nd St. in New York by this ancient Italian guy named Frank, who never takes a cigar out of his mouth. Your character isn’t simply scared of cats, but is specifically terrified of orange striped tabbies, but doesn’t know why (although you should know the real reason). Specific information will create specific, unique characters.

Here are some examples of how to approach filling out the Questionnaire:

Name: Very important! Think of how Charles Dickens used names as clues to people’s behavior or situation. A good name can often suggest entire personalities for your characters. If you have a problem developing a particular character, try changing their name; it may open up whole new possibilities. Does their name sound hard or soft? Does it suggest their ethnicity? Is their name incredibly incongruous for comic or ironic effect? How does the character feel about their own name? Do they have a nickname? Did the character change their name for personal or criminal reasons, perhaps to hide a dark past or escape relatives, debtors, or the law?

Appearance: It is essential that you are able to visualize your character. Also, often their looks are often keys to their behavior, and are definitely clues to how they will be treated and reacted to by others.

Background: These are just the basic logistics of their early life. Where did they come from? Are they proud of their roots or ashamed? Does their cultural heritage suggest behavior or beliefs?

Psychology: Here is where we begin to delve into specific aspects of their personality. Remember, everybody has problems — nobody is perfect. These details will suggest many of your story elements, and essential dramatic elements such as goals.

Philosophy: It has been oft said that character is point-of-view. A well-developed, unique philosophy will flesh your character out in the best, most dimensional ways possible. Philosophy relates to everything a character is or does, from goals, to actions, to habits, to arguments they have with the mailman. Arguments are an inevitability of drama, and they are caused by both differing goals and differing points of view. Throw two people in a room with deeply opposing philosophies and give them confrontational goals, and the two of them will soon verbally battle it out.

Your degree of thoroughness in this exercise will show on the screen. This is because when your character has a chance to speak or react, their behavior will be dictated by a psychology and history you have created — and they will practically write themselves! This is the magic moment that every writer works for; when the characters begin to come alive on the page. This does not mean that they should wrest control of the story from you and take it in a new direction. It simply means that your story will become in a sense a collaboration between you and your creations. But don’t forget who’s boss — you are still god of your tiny universe. But be open to what your characters tell you. They are, after all, a part of your own experience and personality, and can reveal things about yourself you never knew. This process fulfills the other goal of art beyond transmission of thought and emotion; that of personal insight and growth.

My sources and inspiration for much of the information on this form are three excellent books you should have in your writer’s reference library: Art Of Dramatic Writing by Lajos Egri, Writing the Character-Centered Screenplay by Andrew Horton, and The Book of Questions by Gregory Stock, Ph.D.