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This test consists of 15 multiple choice questions and 5 short answer questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. How well do readers want to know characters in a book?
(a) Better than they know people in life.
(b) As well as they know people in life.
(c) Better than they know characters in a movie.
(d) As well as they know people in a movie.

2. What does the author hope to give writers who read the book?
(a) A specific set of instructions.
(b) A secret formula.
(c) A set of tools.
(d) A popular method.

3. How often are sources of inspiration altered?
(a) Hardly at all.
(b) Never.
(c) Sometimes.
(d) Very often.

4. What kind of traits should a writer use when first introducing a character?
(a) Mysterious.
(b) Limiting.
(c) Broad-strokes.
(d) Detailed.

5. In order to avoid being boring, what does a character have to be?
(a) Unfamiliar and idiosyncratic.
(b) Familiar and idiosyncratic.
(c) Passive and mysterious.
(d) Aggressive and mysterious.

6. What type of physical appearance can make a character more engaging?
(a) Appealing and specific.
(b) Appealing and blatant.
(c) Appealing, but vague.
(d) Appealing and subtle.

7. On a basic level, which one of the following defines character in a narrative?
(a) Relationships with all forms except for milieu and idea.
(b) Relationships with idea, but not milieu.
(c) Relationships with milieu and idea.
(d) Relationships with milieu, but not idea.

8. What do the readers and creators of a contemporary narrative believe about in-depth characterization?
(a) It is expected, but not necessary.
(b) It is necessary, but not expected.
(c) It is both expected and necessary.
(d) It is neither expected nor necessary.

9. What does the author think can also provide ideas for additional characters?
(a) The future of central characters.
(b) The pasts of supporting characters.
(c) The pasts of central characters.
(d) The future of supporting characters.

10. What happens to sources of inspiration once they are incorporated into characters?
(a) They are added to or exaggerated.
(b) They are added to or completely changed.
(c) They are added to, exaggerated, or completely changed.
(d) They are exaggerated or completely changed.

11. What type of reputation can a character have?
(a) Deserved or not deserved.
(b) One that is not deserved.
(c) A character should not have a reputation.
(d) One that is deserved.

12. How does the author describe writing based on an issue?
(a) A tricky source of characters.
(b) A misleading source of characters.
(c) An ambiguous source of characters.
(d) A distracting source of characters.

13. What determines the amount of characterization in an event?
(a) The desire of the author.
(b) The number of pages.
(c) The importance of the event.
(d) The timing of the event.

14. What must accompany self-sacrifice in an engaging character?
(a) Reason.
(b) Mystery.
(c) Desperation.
(d) Sympathy.

15. What should the writer's own experiences have in order to be used as fictional inspiration?
(a) Emotional, theoretical, or spiritual connection with a character.
(b) Emotional, spiritual, or experiential connection with a character.
(c) Emotional, theoretical, or experiential connection with a character.
(d) Theoretical, spiritual, or experiential connection with a character.

Short Answer Questions

1. What two things should a writer be open to translating into their characters and stories?

2. How necessary is it for characters to be more than stereotypes in a narrative where an idea is the primary focus?

3. What is the first way a writer can engage the reader?

4. In defining a fictional character, what causes people to behave differently?

5. What technique can help avoid cliché?

(see the answer keys)

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