If you’ve done a lot of character questionnaires before, you probably know where your main character was born, the names and ages of their siblings, their favorite food, their favorite color…those things you timidly ask your new pen-pal in the first letter. But here’s the thing: there’s absolutely no reason to be shy with your characters. All those highly personal questions you would never ask a real person in an interview—those are the things you really need to know.
You could think up a lot of these prying questions, and I would advise you to think of some that would be particularly relevant to your character in their particular story. But to start you off, here’s a list of twenty deep questions to flesh out your characters.
1. How is your relationship with God?
2. Have you ever been in love?
3. Did you have a good childhood?
4. How is your relationship with your parents?
5. What makes you angry?
6. Are you comfortable with emotions?
7. What about you do you feel the world won’t accept?
8. What is your worst fear?
9. What’s something you feel completely incapable of?
10. Who would you die for?
11. What do you dream about?
12. What always makes you laugh?
13. What do you look for in a friend?
14. What are you most ashamed of?
15. What is your earliest memory?
16. What do you miss the most about your past?
17. Who do you owe the most to?
18. What would you change about yourself?
19. Have you ever come close to dying?
20. What do you hope for the most?
For best results, I would suggest writing the answers first-person in your character’s voice. You can use as many or as few of these questions as you want, and feel free to think up your own. I think you’ll find it gives you a lot of inspiration for character-arcs and even plot twists for your story.