In the telling of a tale it is necessary to answer many questions. While making a list of the questions characters in my fictional worlds must ask themselves, it occured to me that these are the same questions any one of us could ask ourselves in the serialization of our own personal stories - our very lives.
Who am I? Where did I come from? What do I want? Where am I going?Direct, simple questions we can ask ourselves, but sometimes ones with no easy answers.
QUESTIONS MY CHARACTERS MUST ANSWER
1. Who am I? Where did I come from? When? What makes me happy? Sad?
2. Who raised me? How old I am? Did I have a happy childhood? Was I loved? Wanted?
3. What character trait defines my personality? Am I trusting? Suspicious? Why?
4. What is my level of education? Am I intelligent? Am I capable of making hard decisions?
5. Am I healthy in body and mind? What is my history? Problems?
6. What is my occupation? Training? Experience? Work environment?
7. Do I have friends? For how long? Problems? How do they contribute to my story?
8. What about my family? Married? Spouse? Children? Parents? Siblings? Aunts? Uncles? Cousins? Grandparents?
9. What is my nationality? Culture? Religion? What are my core beliefs?
10. Where is my conflict? Why? With whom? For how long? What will I do?
11. What do I want? If I want it badly enough, can I make it come true? How? What were my successes? My failures?
12. What am I willing to risk in order to get what I want? Will my conscience allow my actions?
13. What could the consequences be? How high are the stakes? What are my odds?
14. Why do I want what I want? How long have I wanted it?
15. Where can I get it? Who has it now? Why?
16. How do I get it (back)? What tests must I pass? Will I have to hurt anyone? How badly?
17. What motivates me? Is family honour involved? Love? Hate? Revenge? Pride? Fear? Desire? Greed? Empathy? Lonliness? Memories?
18. What can I control? Who is stopping me from getting what I want? What stands in my way? Why? How?
19. Will I get what I want? How long will it take? Will I be happy in the end? Will anyone else?
20. What happens next? Why? With whom?
21. Am I telling a short story or a novel? From whose perspective? Why?
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This post is one of those that you keep in your favorites because they are "easy questions with tough answers"...and require more time for reflection.
ReplyDeleteI have asked many of these questions of my characters but I haven't asked them of myself. Not only is it an essential exercise in Character developement but one for "human" developement as well.
Actually, the one I'm working on at the moment is:
12. What am I willing to risk in order to get what I want? Will my conscience allow my actions?
Don't most mothers struggle with this one, in our search for ourselves....?
your AFF (ardent fan forever)