There are two ways you can use 20 Questions to create or develop a character.
Option A: Take a character you've been working with, perhaps one from your current work-in-progress (WIP). Answer these twenty questions as quickly as possible about your character. Then write a short scene with that character, using this new-found knowledge.
Option B: (my personal favorite) Use a coin-toss to select one option from each pair. That's your character. Now write.
The 20 Questions are:
- Male / Female
- Old soul / Young at heart
- Left brain / Right brain
- Glass half-empty / Glass half-full
- City / Country
- Big spender / Penny pincher
- Loves water / Can't swim
- Glasses / Tattoo
- Dogs / Cats
- Hybrid car / SUV
- Bites nails / Always manicured
- Chocolate syrup / Hot sauce
- Coffee / Tea
- Overgrown garden / Plastic plants
- Always tells the truth / Lies when necessary
- Organic food / Fast food
- Straight hair / Curly hair
- Soft-spoken / Loudmouth
- PBS / Reality TV
- Motto: "Do or die" / "Look before you leap"
Homework: Use this technique for one of your existing characters or create a new one. Now write a short scene with that character, where at least three of these details are revealed. This can be something completely new or an extension of a piece you're already writing.
5 comments:
I have been advised to try this out when I had trouble with a two-dimensional MC. It does work!
WHOOO! That's a great game to try
This is one of the best exercises I've found for creating characters. Fun to to while giving you real insight and much less laborious than other character profiles. My response is here.
Thank you for sharing. I will be using it in the future.
Glad you guys liked this exercise. I based it on one from the Write Brain Workbook, but I changed most of the questions and added the element of chance which often makes for more interesting characters because you have to deal with contradictions.
Like how do you reconcile a character who can't swim but has the motto "do or die"? Contradictions like that are what make characters human. And we are all a mish-mosh of contradictions, after all.
Awesome. I'm going to have to try this out.
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