Psychographic information is an invaluable tool for story writers who want to examine and create characters with depth and character arc. But what exactly is psychographic information?

Psychographic information is a series of data points collected about how a person thinks, feels, and acts. They seek to answer questions and paint a clear picture of a person across a variety of dimensions—including values, attitudes, interests, opinions, and lifestyles. Psychographic information can be used by storytellers to identify, plan for, and explore different characters in their writing. Knowing the insight your characters offer can help you write a more impassioned and compelling story.

Types of Psychographic Information

When examining personas through psychographics, story writers usually assess a variety of different criteria. These include core values, commonly accepted societal goals, opinions on political and moral issues, areas of interest and lifestyle choices. Each of these topics provide unique insight into the characters and can be used to inform the writer when crafting motivations, dialogue, physical attributes, or even how the character responds to different scenarios.

A few examples of psychographic information include:

-Values: What is important or unimportant to a character?
-Goals: What are the character’s aspirations or ambitions?
-Political views: Where does the character stand on different issues?
-Interests: Which activities does the character enjoy?
-Lifestyle: What are the character’s habits and routines?

Gathering Psychographic Information for Characters

Gathering psychographic information for characters can be tricky, but it is essential for creating realistic, believable characters. To start, it’s important to research and make informed decisions. Writers can take advantage of resources like online surveys, focus groups, online polls, and interviews as well as simple observations.

For example, a writer could create an online questionnaire to gauge their intended audience’s opinion on a variety of topics. The writer could then use one or more survey respondents as inspiration for establishing the agent character in their story.

In addition to this, you can study similar characters in other stories, often called “archetypes”. Archetypes act as a sort of template and can be a great starting point for your characters. To make your characters unique, try expanding upon the archetypes and explore ways to disrupt typical archetypes or blend different archetypes together.

The Benefits of Exploring Psychographic Information

Exploring psychographic information allows writers to build a deep and fascinating pool of characters. While collecting psychographics can be intimidating and time consuming, the benefits of doing so greatly outweigh the effort. Understanding the depth of psychographic information can help storytellers craft a truly captivating character with a powerful story arc.

Ready to take the plunge into the world of psychographic information? Check out Ask Grayson to learn more and subscribe to the newsletter to start exploring and develop characters with depth and intention.

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