35 Questions To Ask Your Characters From Marcel Proust

Today, we’re going to continue to develop our characters by going through a list of thirty-five questions to ask your characters made famous by the canonical French author, Marcel Proust.

Look through these questions, then scroll down for a creative writing exercise to put them to use.

This week, I’ve been working on a new story with new characters. To aid me in my quest to know my characters better, I began searching for a set of questions to ask my characters, questions that could help me get to the bottom of their identity faster. That’s when I came upon a list of questions known as Proust’s Questionnaire (or the Proust Questionnaire).

Free Guide: Want to become a writer? Get our free 10-step guide to becoming a writer here and accomplish your dream today. Want to become a writer? Get our free 10-step guide to becoming a writer here and accomplish your dream today. Click here to download your guide instantly

Proust’s Questionnaire

In the late nineteenth century, lists of questions were a popular diversion designed to discover new things about old friends. In that way, they’re similar to the blogging “awards” that continuously circle the blogosphere. Apparently, when Marcel Proust was fourteen years old, his friend Antoinette asked him this list of questions.

In 2003, the album upon which Proust wrote his answers to the questionnaire auctioned for €102,000.

While these questions were originally intended for personal use, I found them to be helpful questions to ask my characters as a way to understand them more deeply.

Here is Proust’s Questionnaire:

What is your idea of perfect happiness? What is your greatest fear? What is the trait you most deplore in yourself? What is the trait you most deplore in others? Which living person do you most admire? What is your greatest extravagance? What is your current state of mind? What do you consider the most overrated virtue? On what occasion do you lie? What do you most dislike about your appearance? Which living person do you most despise? What is the quality you most like in a man? What is the quality you most like in a woman? Which words or phrases do you most overuse? What or who is the greatest love of your life? When and where were you happiest? Which talent would you most like to have? If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be? What do you consider your greatest achievement? If you were to die and come back as a person or a thing, what would it be? Where would you most like to live? What is your most treasured possession? What do you regard as the lowest depth of misery? What is your favorite occupation? What is your most marked characteristic? What do you most value in your friends? Who are your favorite writers? Who is your hero of fiction? Which historical figure do you most identify with? Who are your heroes in real life? What are your favorite names? What is it that you most dislike? What is your greatest regret? How would you like to die? What is your motto?

How about you? Which question is your favorite? What do you ask your characters to get to know them better? Let us know in the comments section.

PRACTICE Ready to put these questions to use? Use this creative writing prompt to start your character development: Ask one of your characters the thirty-five questions from Proust’s Questionnaire. Then, post his or her responses in the comments section. Enjoy your chat!

Need more grammar help? My favorite tool that helps find grammar problems and even generates reports to help improve my writing is ProWritingAid. Works with Word, Scrivener, Google Docs, and web browsers. Also, be sure to use my coupon code to get 25 percent off: WritePractice25 Coupon Code:WritePractice25 » Still not sure if it’s the tool for you? Check out our Check out our ProWritingAid Review