WRITING A ROMANCE NOVEL: RESOURCE

Use these questions as a starting point to get to know your main character and hero/love

object, and feel free to customise them as you see !t. Work your way through them in the

order that makes sense for you, getting rid of questions that are irrelevant (or which result in

repetitive answers) and adding questions that you know are important for you. "ere might

be sections that don’t work so well for the character and story you want to work with, and

that’s !ne. "is is intended just to help you with your own process.

"e questions in the character psychology section are the really big ones – they’re the ones

that address your character’s key motivation and what is at their core. You may need to

answer lots of the other questions and do a lot of !guring out before you can !ll some of

these in.

JUMPING-OFF POINT:

What one thing do you know about your character at the start of this process?

WRITING A ROMANCE NOVEL:RESOURCE

If you have any problems with any aspect of the Writing a Romance Novel course, please email [email protected]

CHARACTER WORKSHEET

2

BASICS:

Name:

Age:

Race, Nationality (Species):

Gender:

Sexuality:

Where do they live, and what kind of home do they have?

Who do they live with?

What is their occupation?

Education?


2

2

PHYSICAL:

Appearance – physical description:

Do they have (a) particular distinguishing feature(s)?

Personal style/presentation/dress sense – and do they care about it? Where do they buy their

clothes from?

Are they physically !t?

Are they con!dent about their appearance? Are they vain?

Do they have any health issues?

What can you say about the way they walk and/or move?

What does their voice sound like?

Any physical idiosyncrasies, tics, habits?


3

2

Anything to say about their personal scent/odour?

Do they have scars, tattoos, piercings etc.?

OTHER PEOPLE:

What are the signi!cant relationships in your character’s life at the time of the story, and, in

each case, what can you say about these people and what is the relationship like?

Parents?

Siblings?

Children? (If your character doesn’t have any, do they want them?)

Other family members?

Spouse/partner/boyfriend/girlfriend?

New romantic interest?


4

2

Secret/illicit lover(s)?

Casual lover(s)? Past lovers?

Friends?

Boss? Work colleagues?

Flatmates/housemates/roommates?

Enemies?

Rival(s)?

Pets/other animals of note?

ATTITUDE TO LOVE AND LIFE:

Have they ever been in love? If so, did they fall head over heels at !rst sight or was it more of

a gradual process of realisation?


5

2

What is their attitude towards love and romance? Perhaps they fall in love too easily? Or are

they afraid of commitment?

Are they a good judge of character? Do they tend to fall for the wrong person?

What makes them happy?

What makes them sad?

What makes them anxious?

What makes them angry?

What do they like to do on a Saturday night? How about on a Sunday morning?

What would they consider their social class to be?

How much money do they have, and what is their attitude to money?

Do they have lots of possessions? What is their most valued possession?


6

2

7


What is their attitude to food? Do they like to cook?

Do they drink alcohol? What is their relationship with alcohol? Favourite drink?

Do they drink ca#eine? Co#ee or tea? Do they need it to function well?

Do they smoke? Vape? Take drugs? Are they addicted? Any other addictions?

What is their home environment like? Do they own their home? Do they take pride in it? Is

it clean? How is it furnished etc? Are they a gardener?

What is their attitude to nature and the environment? Do they like to be outdoors? Do they

like to go walking, running etc.?

What transport do they use? If they have a car, what sort of car is it etc?

Do they like sport? And do they play it? Which ones?

What’s their idea of a great holiday?

What’s their idea of a perfect day out? 2

Are they interested in art, music, books, !lms and TV, the theatre and/or opera etc? If yes,

can you provide some examples of their favourite books, TV shows, artists etc. and explain

why they appeal?

Do they have any other (perhaps more unusual) hobbies/pastimes?

Are they religious?

Do they believe in astrology? What is their star sign?

Do they believe in ghosts?

What would they do if they were ill? E.g. Go to the doctor? Go to a homeopath? Tough it

out?

Do they over-work?

Are they alone much? How do they feel about being alone?

Do they do any volunteering/charitable work?


8

2

COMMUNICATION:

Are they articulate? Chatty or shy? Polite or abrupt?

Are they emotionally open or reserved? Do they tend to speak their mind?

What’s their tone of voice? What accent do they have?

What means of communication do they like using? E.g. Do they write letters, emails, phone,

use social media etc?

Do they swear a lot? What sorts of swear words do they use?

Are they $irtatious?

Do they smile a lot? What’s their smile like? What’s their laugh like?

Do they cry o%en? What makes them cry and when did they last cry?

Do they shout a lot? Do they o%en lose their temper? Are they ever violent?


9

2

Do they apologise easily? Too easily? Not enough?

Do they bear a grudge?

BACKSTORY:

Where do they originally come from?

What kind of childhood did they have?

If relevant, what kind of relationship did they have with their parents? And other family

members?

What is their earliest memory?

When were they happiest? And why?

When were they unhappiest? And why?

What were their schooldays like? University?


10

2

What’s their proudest achievement? Is this personal or professional?

Have they been involved in any criminal activity? If so, what?

Do they struggle to deal with things that have happened to them in the past?

Are there important past events that they haven’t told anyone about?

CHARACTER PYSCHOLOGY:

What are your character’s three dominant traits?

What does your character want, and why? Consider goals, ambitions, motivation …

What do they need to do to get it?

What stands in the way of your character getting what they want? Circumstantial di&culties,

antagonism/ opposition . . .


11

2

Internal con$ict – what does your character struggle with?

What is your character frightened of?

What is their biggest $aw?

Do they need other people? Who do they need most, and why?

How far would they go to protect the person/people/place/principle that they care most

about?

Are the patient or impatient?

What are their hang-ups? Phobias?

What is the state of their mental health?

What is their idea of paradise? And their idea of hell?

Are they an introvert or an extrovert?


12

2

Pessimistic or optimistic?

Can they be relied upon?

What is their biggest secret? Can they keep other people’s secrets?

Are they truthful or do they lie? What do they lie about?

How do they behave when they’re in the wrong?

Do they sleep well? Do they have dreams? What do they dream about?

Are they funny? How do they use their humour?

What is their politics?

How sel!sh or sel$ess are they? (Or where in between the two?)

Are they charismatic? Egotistical? Narcissistic?

Natural leader or follower?


13

2

Do they tend to play the parent or the child in relationships?

What’s their level of self-esteem?

If we could peer into the heart of your character, what would we !nd?

SITUATIONAL

What would your character do in the following situations (use relevant ones only)?

• If they saw someone in the street kicking a dog

(Jojo Moyes always uses this scenario to test out a character)

• If they were told they’d failed an important test

(e.g. driving test, signi!cant exam, army medical – use a test that would be relevant for

your character)

• If they found out their partner was having an a#air


14

2

• If they won the lottery

• If they saw someone in trouble in deep water

• If they heard someone breaking into their house while they lay in bed

• If they killed someone by accident

• If they were undercharged at a restaurant or shop

• If they found out they were going to be a parent

• If they suddenly got everything they wanted

Feel free to try out some more situations now or later in the course – it can tell you a lot

about your character. Maybe write some of these up as scenes!


15

Documents

WRITING A ROMANCE NOVEL: RESOURCE