This week on the Faber academy Kickstart Your Novel course, we are focusing on character. Character is always an area that I have struggled with. I tend to place a lot of emphasis on plot and narration, and so character and dialogue is left behind. This is silly of course, believable and realistic characters are a cornerstone of any novel.

The course suggested we complete these detailed character questionnaires for our central characters. The idea is that you won’t use all the information in your novel, but you will know your characters more in-depth as a result.

I’ve completed one for my main character currently and it did make me really think about her background. I do think some of the things I thought about will be useful in the novel (for example, her happiest memory).

I’m glad we have explored this topic as it was one where I felt I needed guidance. It was also helpful to have a tutor forum where we could ask questions about character. I feel more confident with the main character in my novel now. I’m not sure if I’ll complete a full questionnaire for all characters, but maybe the other main character. I do need to work on my supporting characters. I only have three characters in my novel at the moment which is too few.