Take the Proust Questionnaire as a Writing Prompt and learn who you are

The Proust Questionnaire as your writing prompt

Even though it is a conversation starter game, did you know the Proust Questionnaire is a fun way to learn about yourself and to learn to write? Take the questionnaire and write out your answers in your journal. Look at the questions as prompts and write them simply and in your own way.
Various journalists, academics, and bloggers have written about the Proust Questionnaire. If you research it or other turn-of-the-century parlour questionnaires, you will encounter the wonderful series done by Vanity Fair, which published the responses of recognized artists and writers to the questionnaire.

Proust Questionnaire Questions

Use them as writing prompts

  1. What is your idea of perfect happiness?
  2. What is your greatest fear?
  3. What is the trait you most deplore in yourself?
  4. What is the trait you most deplore in others?
  5. Which living person do you most admire?
  6. What is your greatest extravagance?
  7. What is your current state of mind?
  8. What do you consider the most overrated virtue?
  9. On what occasion do you lie?
  10. What do you most dislike about your appearance?
  11. Which living person do you most despise?
  12. What is the quality you most like in a man?
  13. What is the quality you most like in a woman?
  14. Which words or phrases do you most overuse?
  15. What or who is the greatest love of your life?
  16. When and where were you happiest?
  17. Which talent would you most like to have?
  18. If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be?
  19. What do you consider your greatest achievement?
  20. If you were to die and come back as a person or a thing, what would it be?
  21. Where would you most like to live?
  22. What is your most treasured possession?
  23. What do you regard as the lowest depth of misery?
  24. What is your favourite occupation?
  25. What is your most marked characteristic?
  26. What do you most value in your friends?
  27. Who are your favourite writers?
  28. Who is your hero of fiction?
  29. Which historical figure do you most identify with?
  30. Who are your heroes in real life?
  31. What are your favourite names?
  32. What is it that you most dislike?
  33. What is your greatest regret?
  34. How would you like to die?
  35. What is your motto?

Writing Prompts Instructions

You can give short answers or long answers. See which one works for you. Maybe one prompt is a short essay. Maybe one is a long essay. Maybe it is a blog post. Take the ones you like maybe is a poem. It could be just a list of words.

There are other parlour questionnaires that are also delightful. You can also voice record your answers into your voice recorder. Then transcribe your answers. You might need to edit it depending on your answers and the quality of the technology.

Resources:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proust_Questionnaire

Proust’s answers in French

https://www.library.illinois.edu/rbx/kolbproust/proust/qst/