NaNo Coach: 7 Essential Questions for Your Characters

All through National Novel Writing Month, published authors will take the whistle, take over our official Twitter account for a week, and act as your NaNo Coach, offering advice, encouragement, and pep. Our first NaNo Coach,

Randy Ribay, author of An Infinite Number of Parallel Universes, wraps up his time with some final words on character:

With November quickly approaching, many of you are probably starting to outline your plot. I imagine the planners among you are neurotically filling notebooks (or Scrivener) with maps, color-coded notes, pictures, and complex charts, while the pantsers are chilling out as story ideas simmer in their minds. (And a good number of you might just be freaking out about how clueless you are.) 

Whichever route you take, don’t spend so much time figuring out what is going to happen in your story that you overlook who is in your story. Ultimately, stories are about people—or talking creatures or robots—and how they react to difficult situations. Strong characters will drive the plot and give your reader someone to root for. 

Though standard character questionnaires/profiles might be your jam, they haven’t helped me much in understanding what’s truly important about my imaginary friends. Below is a list of seven essential questions that I think will help you develop a useful base for your main characters before November hits: 

What single aspect of background (nationality, ethnicity, family, etc.) impacted your character the most?
When your character looks in the mirror, what is the first thing s/he thinks about? 
What is your character’s best personality trait—and how can it also be a flaw? 
What does your character value the most? 
What does your character fear the most? 
What does your character want, and why can’t s/he get it? 
What is your character’s biggest secret?

The more deeply you know your characters, the better you’ll understand what they’ll say or do in any given situation. Not only can this help prevent writer’s block down the road, but I think it leads to a truer and more organic story.

And try not to stress out too much if your imaginary friends feel flat initially. The more you write about them, the more you’ll learn about them. Think of your first draft as your first date.

Randy Ribay was born in the Philippines and raised in Michigan and Colorado. He is a graduate of the University of Colorado and the Harvard Graduate School of Education, where he specialized in language and literacy. He is the English Department Chair at an all-boys high school in Philadelphia and a nerd-of-all-trades. Randy lives in Camden, New Jersey with his wife and two dog-children.