I don’t care which – protagonist/antagonist – preferably a major player in your latest WIP. This exercise is great for helping us flesh out characters even if those details don’t make it to the page. Having a fully detailed character comes through in other subtle ways. Try it and see – pick your favorite or most interesting character and answer these questions in the comments below on their behalf, as if the character him/herself were answering, with the same attitude and cadence of speech. Be dynamic, be intriguing, make us want to read this book when it’s released, which of course it will be.
Imagine me, the interviewer, as an investigator of some sort – cop, detective, insurance adjuster, whatever.
Q: State your name for the record.
Q: What do you do…for a living?
Q: What are your feelings about the other party involved?
Q: Where were you during the incident in question?
Q: Why did you do what you did? What were you trying to accomplish?
Q: Why do you think they did what they did?
Q: How do you plan to do to get around the other party to get what you want?
Q: What right do you have to do the things you did, or plan to do?
Q: What do you think your chances are to come out on top in this conflict?
Q: What else should I know about you, before I advance this case?
I can’t wait to read everyone’s answers!
1. Little Sean.
2. I’m a kid.
3. The Channels property & house.
4. Hatred & fear.
5. They’re evil.
6. Kill them.
7. God’s on my side.
8. Very poor.
9. I’ll stop at nothing.
Q: State your name for the record.
A: Check the police record.
Q: What do you do for a living?
A: I own and manage and work in my book store ROMANCE MOST FOUL BOOK STORE AND FISHING TACKLE SHOP in Logan, New Mexico. I have recently considered branching out and also selling bread and pies, seeing how the town’s baker has been dreadfully murdered.
Q: What are your feelings about the other party involved?
A: My main antagonist is, of course, the evidence against me and my odd refusal to say if I did or I did not murder the victims. The deliciously handsome Detective William Page thinks I am guilty, and that works in my favor.
Q: Where were you during the incident in question?
A: I offer no alibi for where I was during the vile murders in question. Providing an alibi would work against my goal.
Q: Why did you do what you did? What were you trying to accomplish?
A: Really, ma’am or sir, I refused to answer those questions for the police and I refuse to answer them here and now. What I hope to accomplish would fail if my goal was known.
Q: Why do you think they did what they did?
A: Far too few people are murdered for the right reasons. In a better world, killers would choose their victims with more thought applied to why the victims deserve to die. That is the problem with the world these days: there are so few homicidal people with professional business ethics.
Q: How do you plan to do to get around the other party to get what you want?
A: The devilishly handsome Detective Page is very good at his job: a fact I conceded to myself before he even arrived at the murder scene. His keen mind is well matches against mine, but I have a great advantage over him: I known if I am the murderer or not, and I will not say which.
Q: What right do you have to do the things you did, or plan to do?
A: Justice and mercy guide my actions, which is often contrary to obeying the law. It is ironic that I am only free to act while law enforcement believes I am guilty.
Q: What do you think your chances are to come out on top in this conflict?
A: My mind against the mind of Detective Page? I do not care to fade that bet. I give the odds at best even money. We shall see.
Q: What else should I know about you, before I advance this case?
A: I am autistic and my atypical behavior is considered by law enforcement officers world-wide as signs of guilt: the inability to look people in the eyes; my rocking back and forth when I sit in a chair; the mechanical, “robotic” way I talk; my augmented high intelligence that I mask. I am not saying I am not guilty, nor am I saying I am. We shall see, okay?
Thank you for asking.
Q name – toshi
Q 2 – deliver cooking supplies
Q3 – jealousy
Q4 – right there doing the deed
Q5 – It was an accident (sexual) but it made me feel a sense of strange peace
Q6 – they must solve the murders
Q7 – I leave false clues in the future
Q8 – I didn’t have a right. I know it. I was compelled
Q9 – I will probably get caught. It’s what I deserve
Q10 – I’m not the type of person you imagine me to be….at all