THE ULTIMATE

CHARACTER BUILDER
What this tool does:

This tool ensures that you know your characters intimately. Your aim is to
know your characters better than you know your best friend.

Use this Character Builder right and you’ll get

 Characters that seem totally lifelike, detailed and surprising.
 The ability to write with greater freedom. When know your characters
well, you’re able to write from their viewpoint without strain or effort.
It makes writing much easier!

info@jerichowriters.com www.jerichowriters.com +44 (0)345 459 9560

Instructions for using this tool
The UCB (Ultimate Character builder) is a two-step procedure:

 You ask a million questions to your character.

 Then you answer them.

Because the UCB forces your knowledge into new and unexpected areas, you
are basically forced to acquire a totally new level of intimacy with your
characters. You should definitely use this tool on your protagonist(s). You may
want to use the tool in relation to other major characters, too. But remember -
secondary characters are secondary for a reason. Don’t spend too much time on
them.

How to get the most out of this tool:

Adapt it Before you start to answer any questions, you’ll need to

personalise the list of questions to your story. If your book is
set on an eighteenth century slaving vessel, or the Planet
Akron, you will need to ask questions that make sense to that
time and place.

Get detailed Do ask the big questions (‘What does your character fear?’),
but ask little, detailed ones too (‘Does your character have
any scars from childhood? How did he/she come by them?’).
A lot of character lies in the detail.

Don’t cheat First, go through the list of questions and add your own.
Then, go through and answer them. If you don’t, you might
find yourself only asking questions you already know the
answer to. The aim here is to create new areas of knowledge.

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For further expert advice on character building, take our ‘How to write
characters’ masterclass – FREE to members of Jericho Writers.
https://jerichowriters.com/bazaar/how-to-write-characters-cm-taylor/

Find out more about becoming a member here:

https://jerichowriters.com/about/

We think it might be the best move you ever make. Now let’s get started.

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The Ultimate Character Builder
Your mission:

 Make a huge list of questions that pertain to your character.

 Answer them.

We’ve started you with some multipurpose questions, but add as many
additional questions as you can. Aim for a minimum of 150 questions (and 200+
is better).

Questions about your character’s back story

1. What was your character’s childhood like?

2. Where was it spent?

3. What was their father like?

4. What was their mother like?

5. Did they have other significant parental figures in their upbringing?

6. Did they fear anyone when they were growing up?

7. What was the ideology / outlook / philosophy of your character’s parents?

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8. Did they have brothers or sisters? What were they like? What were your character’s
points of contact / friction with them?

9. If their father was (say) extravagant, what impact did this have on your character? If
their mother was (say) easily tearful, how did this affect them then?

10. And what about now? How does your character feel today in relation to older men /
women?

11. What was your character’s favourite place as a child? Where did they feel most joy?

12. What made them feel safe?

13. What subjects did they love at school?

14. What books did they love to read? What were their hobbies?

15. What was their worst accident as a child? What life lesson did they take from it?

16. Who was their best friend? How / where did they meet? How / where did they break
up?

17. How did your character first encounter adolescence? Was it a good time or difficult?

18. When did they have their first kiss?

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19. What was your character’s favourite food when they were six? What about when
they were 12 or 18?

20. How did your character look as a child? How did they dress? What would other
people have thought of their appearance?

21. What were they most proud of? At 6? At 12? At 18?

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Questions about how your character looks today

1. What height and build is your character?

2. What colour is their hair, their eyes?

3. Are they fit? Are they strong?

4. Are they careful of their appearance, or the opposite? Do they spent much time
thinking about their looks?

5. What look is most natural to them? Suit and tie? Muddy jeans?

6. What look does their face have when they’re private and thoughtful?

7. What look does their face have when they’re on show, in public, being observed?

8. What impression do they make on other people?

9. What does their voice sound like? Their laugh?

10. What are their characteristic gestures? When they’re impatient, when they’re
embarrassed, when they’re attracted to someone?

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11. How do they stand and move? Do they fill the space and look grounded? Or do they
seem to almost apologise for their presence?

12. If your character were an animal, what sort of animal would they be?

13. How do they eat? With gusto? Neatly? Pickily?

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Questions about your character’s career, hopes and goals

1. What was your character’s first job?

2. What did they love about it? What did they hate?

3. Who was their first boss? What did they learn?

4. Are they good with money? How did they spend their first pay check?

5. What skills have they learned through work? What special talents have they
acquired?

6. Who was their best friend at that first job? What bonded them?

7. What are your character’s career goals?

8. What most allows them to be ‘in flow’ – in a creative, happy, productive place?

9. What jams them up? What do they hate?

10. What objects do they have around their desk / office / workplace?

11. What job did your character dream of when they were little? How does this one
compare?

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12. Who do they get on best with at work today?

13. Who do they have friction with?

14. What was their favourite moment on the job last year? Or all time?

15. And the worst moment last year and all time?

16. If your character wasn’t doing their job, what would they be doing?

17. What is your character like with authority? The boss, senior clients, the boss’s boss?

18. How do they talk to the support staff, the cleaners, the catering staff?

19. Do they think about work when they’re not there? Do they fret? Are they sunny? Are
they confident?

20. What’s their biggest ever achievement at work? What were the specific steps that led
up to this moment?

21. Their biggest cock-up or embarrassment? What were the specific issues there?

22. Have they witnessed any workplace injuries? Seen anyone fired? Or caused any
injuries? Or fired anyone?

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Questions about your character’s relationships

1. Is your character in a relationship at the moment? If so, why has your character
chosen this particular partner? If not, then what’s holding them back?

2. What kind of partner does your character normally go for? What kind of look
attracts them? And what kind of personalities?

3. What kind of intimacy does your character have or enjoy? What’s a perfect day,
or night, or holiday, or weekend?

4. What is their favourite romantic memory of their previous partner?

5. What about their favourite memory of their current one?

6. Are they mostly the dumper or the dumpee? What scars have been left by past
relationships?

7. How do they talk with their partner? Are they sassy? Reflective? Cutsie?
Dominant?

8. What about sex? What do they / don’t they like? What turns them on?

9. What does your character argue about?

10. Where does your character need most support and affirmation?

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11. Does your character share political and ethical values with their partner? What
about religion? Do they talk about these things?

12. What does your character most love in their present or most recent partner?

13. What do they most dislike?

14. Have they ever felt betrayed?

15. Have they ever done something to a romantic partner they’ve felt terrible about?

16. How do rows get mended?

17. Who does the cooking? The cleaning? The shopping?

18. What will happen to your character’s relationship beyond the end of the novel?

19. Does your character grow as a result of this relationship?

20. When they think about their partner, what image most often comes to mind?
What’s the happy image, the sad one, the one that most shocks them?

21. When they think about themselves, what image comes to mind? What’s the
happy image, the sad one, the one that most shocks them?

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Questions about your character’s personality and quirks

This is a key section. You should go to town here: aim to generate answers to at
least 50 questions. A huge amount of good characterisation lies in the
unexpected details.

1. Do they have any happy memories from childhood pets or other animals?

2. Same thing, but any negative experiences?

3. What was their first trip on a boat like? A train? A plane? What was inspiring?
What was frightening?

4. When did your character first get a sense of what they were? What they wanted
to be? How did that incident arise?

5. First memory of school? Earliest schoolfriends?

6. What about the pre-teenage years (7-11)? What memories of that point? Any
playground brutalities? Any first kisses?

7. And the same thing for the teenage years too? What favourite ice creams? Music?
Season? Clothes?

8. What rituals and memories attended coming home from school? Or setting off
for the holidays?

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9. When did your character first become aware their parents’ characters /
shortcomings?

10. When did they hit their first moment of political or ideological awakening? What
moments were formative in creating the values they now hold?

11. What was their relationship to nature? Did they ever go camping? Climb a
mountain?

12. What was their first moment of real naughtiness (getting drunk, having sex,
whatever the prohibited thing was)? How did that feel? How did that change
them?

13. When did they have their first physical fight? Have they ever fought? What
happened? What were the consequences?

14. Have they ever seen a corpse?

15. Have they ever had a significant mystical, or spiritual moment? What happened?
What (if anything) was the long-term effect?

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Remember
 Characters are highly influenced by past memories, so giving them a rich
stock of memories will enrich everything you write.
 You need to personalise this list. Add questions that talk about your
specific character and specific context.

Have fun, good luck, and happy writing.

Need more help?

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www.jerichowriters.com

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