What would you do if you were your main character for a day?

Last Sunday, six of my writer friends got together for Live Character Interviews, where we assumed the persona of our protagonist and got barraged with questions on our past, our motivations, our fears, and our hopes. We had no idea how helpful this exercise would be when we sat around a large table at a coffee shop with printouts of our character questionnaire, but by the time we were through, we realized that when we're under fire, our characters sometimes say things we don't expect.

I strongly urge you to try it, in a small group (six really is the max). Have each writer prepare a list of basic traits--physical features, history, story arc over the book, goals, dreams, embarrassing moments, as a springboard for the discussion. As you articulate what your character is feeling, thinking, and rationalizing, you'll get to know him or her better, and that person you thought you knew so well just might surprise you, adding depth to your characterization and authenticity to your story.

Here's the character questionnaire I created:

Character Interview

Author Name:
Title of Book:

Name of Protagonist:
Age:
Hometown of childhood:
Current town name and brief description (location, size):
Job or primary occupation of time:
Married/single/divorced:
Body style:
Hair color
Skin tone:
Eye color:
Distinguishing features:
Religious leaning:
Political orientation:
Sexual orientation:
Education:

Overall goal in the novel:
Briefly state the plan to achieve this goal:
External obstacles to this goal:
Internal obstacles to this goal:
Primary rival:
Primary ally:

Most embarrassing moment as a child:
First love/how it ended:
Most shameful secret:
How feels about parents:
Dream career/occupation/way to spend time:
What actions, if any, to try and achieve dream:
Biggest tangible fear (i.e. spiders, public speaking):
Biggest internal fear (i.e. death, loss, exposure):
Bad habits:
Promiscuity level/view of sex: 

Primary character change-growth arc in this novel: