So a while back I was looking for characters sheets and quizzes to help with the characters I was writing. Some were the typical character sheets – the ones made for authors. But I came across one that was for personal insight.
Originally, I was going to tackle it the way I usually do. But a little ways into the first one I started having fun with it. I think I found out more about my characters through that.
I would totally suggest trying it. The questions I found were from here.
Here were my answers for the three characters I did (as they were at the start of the novel):
Mark
- What is your idea of perfect happiness?
A library
- What is your greatest fear?
That my mom’s statues are one day going to move
- What is the trait you most deplore in yourself?
The anti-social one
- What is the trait you most deplore in others?
Arrogance
- Which living person do you most admire?
My dad
- What is your greatest extravagance?
I have a signed copy of The Sorcerer’s Stone, does that count?
- What is your current state of mind?
It’s at Hogwarts
- What do you consider the most overrated virtue?
Ambition
- On what occasion do you lie?
Only when it’s the only acceptable option
- What do you most dislike about your appearance?
Nothing much
- Which living person do you most despise?
I wouldn’t say I despise anyone, but my roommate Henry is getting very close to having that honor
- What is the quality you most like in others?
Humility
- Which words or phrases do you most overuse?
I probably say “Harry Potter”, “Shakespeare” and “books” in general too much
- What or who is the greatest love of your life?
Bacon
- When and where were you happiest?
When reading
- Which talent would you most like to have?
I’d love to be able to write
- If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be?
Make faster friends instead of taking months to make one
- What do you consider your greatest achievement?
Not getting a big head because I’m in college now
- If you were to die and come back as a person or a thing, what would it be?
A pillow or a penguin
- Where would you most like to live?
In a library
- What is your most treasured possession?
The above mentioned sign book
- What do you regard as the lowest depth of misery?
Being illiterate
- What is your favorite occupation?
Teaching
- What is your most marked characteristic?
Passion
- What do you most value in your friends?
The ability to talk more than just small talk
- Who are your favorite writers?
All of them
- Who is your hero of fiction?
Harrison Bergeron
- Which historical figure do you most identify with?
Does Hades count?
- Who are your heroes in real life?
My father
- What are your favorite names?
I’ve always liked the really hippie ones – serenity, sky, etc…
- What is it that you most dislike?
Not having a book with me at all times
- What is your greatest regret?
Not going to college someplace warmer
- How would you like to die?
In a way that will end up with a headline reading “Virginia man (insert weird thing here)”
- What is your motto?
If I’m not reading, get me to a library ASAP
Katie
- What is your idea of perfect happiness?
Camping in the woods
- What is your greatest fear?
Being forced to live in a city like NYC
- What is the trait you most deplore in yourself?
I am a horrible public speaker
- What is the trait you most deplore in others?
Condescending-ness
- Which living person do you most admire?
I wish I could say Mary Feik, but she died recently. So I’ll go cliché and say my mom
- What is your greatest extravagance?
The heck does that even mean?
- What is your current state of mind?
I am permanently in a state of annoyance
- What do you consider the most overrated virtue?
Quietness
- On what occasion do you lie?
To keep the things I’ve been trusted to keep secret secret
- What do you most dislike about your appearance?
I wish I could go bald without getting a lot of stares
- Which living person do you most despise?
There was this idiot in my class that kept treating me like an idiot
- What is the quality you most like in others?
Passion/Motivations
- What words or phrases do you most overuse?
I use filler words a lot
- What or who is the greatest love of your life?
The outdoors
- When and where were you happiest?
The outdoors
- Which talent would you most like to have?
Public speaking
- If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be?
I would be a better public speaker
- What do you consider your greatest achievement?
Spaatz Award (the highest award in Civil Air Patrol)
- If you were to die and come back as a person or a thing, what would it be?
A tree
- Where would you most like to live?
In an isolated hut in the middle of the forest about ten minutes from a town
- What is your most treasured possession?
My Spaatz certificate
- What do you regard as the lowest depth of misery?
City life
- What is your favorite occupation?
I don’t really have one…
- What is your most marked characteristic?
Everyone says I’m loud, so I guess that’s it
- What do you most value in your friends?
Loyalty
- Who are your favorite writers?
I like the people who do Shmoop, which is an online study guide type thing that helped me survive high school
- Who is your hero of fiction?
Captain America
- Which historical figure do you most identify with?
Ummmm……
- Who are your heroes in real life?
Mary Feik, my mom, my dad, and my old squadron commander
- What are your favorite names?
The ones that are easy to pronounce
- What is it that you most dislike?
Cities
- What is your greatest regret?
Not always taking full advantages of things because I was scared of messing up
- How would you like to die?
Doing something honorable
- What is your motto?
Does “I can’t walk through you” count?
Alyssa
- What is your idea of perfect happiness?
Sitting at a potter’s wheel alone
- What is your greatest fear?
Being sick
- What is the trait you most deplore in yourself?
I never felt as ambitious as the rest of my family
- What is the trait you most deplore in others?
Elitism – especially in artists
- Which living person do you most admire?
My mom
- What is your greatest extravagance?
Makeup
- What is your current state of mind?
Always calm
- What do you consider the most overrated virtue?
Book intelligence
- On what occasion do you lie?
White lies
- Which living person do you most despise?
I don’t despise anyone
- What is the quality you most like others?
Kindness
- Which words or phrases do you most overuse?
I talk so much I think overuse everything
- What or who is the greatest love of your life?
Art
- When and where were you happiest?
Potter’s wheel
- Which talent would you most like to have?
Singing
- If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be?
I would like to be fearless
- What do you consider your greatest achievement?
Getting out of the bed in the morning
- If you were to die and come back as a person or a thing, what would it be?
A bird
- Where would you most like to live?
I would love to permanently live in an art studio
- What is your most treasured possession?
My stuffed platypus Tye
- What do you regard as the lowest depth of misery?
The inability to enjoy art
- What is your favorite occupation?
Potter
- What is your most marked characteristic?
Kindness
- What do you most value in your friends?
Kindness
- Who are your favorite writers?
Stephanie Meyer
- Who is your hero of fiction?
R0meo
- Which historical figure do you most identify with?
I… honestly don’t know
- Who are your heroes in real life?
My parents – especially my mom
- What are your favorite names?
William, Henry, and those other very king-like names
- What is it that you most dislike?
Elitist artists
- What is your greatest regret?
I’m eighteen, what regret would I have?
- How would you like to die?
The way Ellie did in Up – of old age, after a happy life, with my loved one(s)
- What is your motto?
I don’t know, what’s the motto with you?
