Novel Kicks Writing Room: A Character Q&A

Published February 11, 2026 | By Laura

Welcome back to the Novel Kicks Writing Room.

Today, I thought it might be good to revisit a previous exercise and look at getting to know your character. However, we won’t be talking to your character in their present day, for this, they are 16 years-old.

Get into the head of your character by answering the following questions. Remember, in this scenario, they are sixteen. Think about how differently they would answer compared to how an adult would answer. Maybe you could try answering from the point of view of different genders and see how the answers differ?

What did you want to be when you were five? What do you want to be now?
What scares you?
What is your biggesr secret?
Who is your best friend?
Who has betrayed you?
If you needed to save one thing from your house, what would you save?
What is in your bedside table?
Where would you like to visit and why?
Why did your Dad leave?
Are you happy?

Let me know how you get on in the comments below. How did you find answering the questions? Which one was hardest to answer? Which answer suprised you? Did you learn anything about your character that has now further informed the piece of writing they feature in?

You May Also Like...

Laura

I'm Laura. I started Novel Kicks back in 2009 as I wanted a place to discuss books and writing - two loves of my life. As someone who has anxiety, these two things give me, and I am sure countless others, a much needed escape.
There is a monthly book club, writing exercises, prompts, reviews, author interviews, competitions and guest posts. I cover many genres and I hope there is something for everyone.
I grew up by the sea in Dorset and currently live in Poole with my husband, Chris and three cats. I love writing and have a BA (Hons) in Creative Writing from Falmouth University. I am writing my first book. If only I could stop pressing delete. Chris has threatened to stop it from working. Haha.
I have always loved creative writing since I was in first school and would very much like to meet my teacher, Miss Sayers, to say thank you for all the encouragement she gave me then.
When not writing, I love reading, cats, Disney, singing (I can't sing but this doesn't stop me,) and falling into a good TV show or film. If I could step into any fictional world, it would be amongst the characters in ABC's Once Upon a Time.
I love reading many genres and discovering new authors.

Novel Kicks Writing Room: A Character Q&A

You May Also Like...

Leave a Reply Cancel reply