Character Map Question Worksheet

Print this page and Write the answers to the following six questions on the lines below.
Write the first thing that comes into your mind. Don’t dwell on your response. The first answer is the right answer. Trust your instinct here and be as honest as you can.

Question #1: Among people who know you but do not know you well—what is the biggest misconception about who you are? What do people say about you in the loo or bathroom if they want to dismiss or belittle you?

Question #2: What was your greatest childhood fear? This is a non-specific generalized fear. What would keep you awake at night as a kid if you thought about it too much?

Question #3: What are your strongest traits? What is your crutch in hard times? What personal traits get you through when the going gets tough? What traits do you lean on?

Question #4: These are traits you do not have. They are, however, traits you really admire in someone else. When you see these traits in someone else your heart leaps a bit and you wish you could have these wonderful traits yourself.

Question #5: What are the traits that get you in trouble? Sometimes, when things are going reasonably well, this is what will muck it up. This is the way you most often get yourself in hot water with loved ones, co-workers, authority figures or friends.

Question #6: Think of someone you cannot abide. This is someone you know well or someone you’ve observed briefly—it is a person who has actually passed through your life and not an historical or celebrity figure. When you met or observed this person, the hackles on your neck rose and you had a visceral response of intense dislike. What were the traits that this person had that set your teeth on edge?

Introduction to the Mapping Process

Now that you’ve completed Character Map Questions for yourself, let’s look at your responses as if you were a character in a screenplay.

Click Here to use the blank Character Map Worksheet to transfer your answers to the Character Map Questions onto the diagram provided to begin the mapping process.

The informational pages that follow will guide you step-by-step through the mapping process. You will map strengths, weaknesses and the potential for change and transformation. The information icons i provide tips and explain how to transfer your responses onto the diagram most effectively.

The key is to edit your answers to a few words that are as clear and specific as possible. I’ve worked with writers who have created four or five versions of their Character Map. Every time they answer the questions they hone their choice of words and create a sharper more precise definition of their responses.

Next you’ll analyze the diagram as if it were a screenplay or story. You will look at the process in three “acts”—or the beginning, middle and end of the story. You will choose between two alternative paths and be presented with two possible choices as to how the story could conclude.

After you’ve mapped the entire process from beginning to end, you can take apart the diagram to tell your story. You can re-structure the diagram as a non-linear narrative, feature film, sit-com or one-hour drama. If the character’s emotional journey is true, the story will ring true regardless of the form or order in which it is told.

Let’s begin the process by mapping your responses.

I believe the creative process always starts with your own emotional truth. The only thing that makes your story unique is your personal point of view. We have been telling stories since we were able to speak. There are no new stories. The only thing new is you and the way you see and experience the world. Who are you? What do you believe? What insights do you have to share with the world? What is the truth as you see it?

There are six simple questions to answer in creating your Character Map.
Click Here to go to the Character Map Worksheet