When something isn’t quite working
There comes a point in writing where something isn’t quite landing. The plot might be solid. The pacing might be working. But the character still feels just out of reach. Their reactions are slightly off. Their voice is not fully formed. Their choices feel a little too convenient. It isn’t how you imagined them.
That usually means one thing. You don’t know them well enough yet.
This is where character interviews come in. Not as a gimmick or a worksheet to complete, but as a way of getting closer to the person on the page. It marks a shift in approach. Instead of building from the outside, the focus turns inward.
What a character interview really is
A character interview is exactly what it sounds like. Questions are asked, and the answers are given in the character’s voice. Not about them or describing them, but as them.
That distinction matters more than it seems. The moment the voice shifts, something else shifts with it. Observation gives way to inhabiting. The character begins to feel less like something constructed and more like someone with their own perspective.
Move beyond surface-level questions
It is easy to fall into the obvious:
- What is your name?
- How old are you?
- What do you do for a living?
These details have their place, but they rarely create depth.
What matters more are the questions that introduce tension. The ones that make a character hesitate, even in your own mind:
- What do they regret but would never admit?
- What do they want that they cannot have?
- What would they lie about if asked directly?
- Who do they trust, and why might that trust be misplaced?
These are the answers that begin to shape behaviour rather than just describe it.
Let them contradict themselves
Real people are not consistent. They say one thing and do another. They justify choices that do not quite hold up. They believe their own version of events, even when it is flawed.
A character should be no different.
If the answers feel too neat or too certain, there is usually something underneath that has not yet been uncovered. That tension, that inconsistency, is where authenticity begins to emerge.
Listen for voice, not just information
The value is not only in what is said, but in how it is said.
A character might be:
- Guarded
- Defensive
- Blunt
- Careful with their words
They may avoid certain questions or shift the conversation away from something uncomfortable. Some respond quickly. Others hesitate.
This is where point of view deepens. It is not only about what a character sees, but how they filter and interpret everything around them.
Use it to test your scenes
With a clearer sense of the character, scenes can be revisited.
Moments that felt slightly off often reveal why. Dialogue can be questioned. Reactions can be tested:
- Would they really say this?
- Would they react this way?
- What are they thinking but choosing not to say?
The interview often exposes the gap between what is written and what feels true. Aligning the scene with the character sharpens everything.
You don’t have to use it all
Not everything that comes out of a character interview needs to appear in the novel. In fact, most of it will not.
That is not the point.
The value lies in what it gives you as the writer. A clearer sense of who this person is, what they carry, and how they move through the world. The reader will feel that depth, even if they never see the process behind it.
When it starts to work
For me, character interviews tend to happen when something is not working. When a scene feels flat. When a line of dialogue sounds right on the surface but wrong underneath.
I step out of the scene and sit with the character instead. Sometimes the answers come quickly. Sometimes they resist. Sometimes they say something I was not expecting at all. And that is usually the moment I know I am getting closer.
Because when a character starts to surprise you, they are no longer just something you have created.
They are someone you are beginning to understand.
Best wishes,
Gail