I just finished answering some general questions in order to learn more about my main characters. My heroine is done and my hero is next. I was quite impressed with the type of questions it asked such as:
what is her full name, birthday, likes and dislikes, how would a former date describe her, hobbies, education, where does she live, what are her parents like, etc…
If you want to see the article and get a full list of questions to help better develop your characters go to:
http://writersdigest.com/article/developing-your-hero-and-heroine/