--- title: "Interview Question Bank" description: "Questions organized by purpose and dimension. Use these during collaborative discovery to surface voice patterns that samples alone might not reveal." type: skill canonical_url: https://claudary.paisolsolutions.com/skills/interview-question-bank source: "Claudary" difficulty: intermediate author: "Claude Code Knowledge Pack" date: 2026-07-10T11:30:16.040Z license: CC-BY-4.0 attribution: "Interview Question Bank — Claudary (https://claudary.paisolsolutions.com/skills/interview-question-bank)" --- # Interview Question Bank Questions organized by purpose and dimension. Use these during collaborative discovery to surface voice patterns that samples alone might not reveal. ## Overview # Interview Question Bank Questions organized by purpose and dimension. Use these during collaborative discovery to surface voice patterns that samples alone might not reveal. **Core Principle:** One question at a time. Never stack questions or overwhelm. --- ## Opening Questions Use these to begin new discovery sessions. ### Understanding Their Voice > "When you read your own writing, what makes it feel like YOU?" > "If I read something you wrote without your name on it, what would tip me off > it was yours?" > "What do people who know your writing notice about it?" > "What would a parody of your writing exaggerate?" ### Understanding Their Goals > "What brings you here today? What are you hoping the ghost writer will help > with?" > "What kind of writing do you want to capture—blog posts, fiction, essays, > something else?" > "How do you want the ghost writer's output to feel? What's the ideal result?" ### Understanding Influences > "What writers have influenced your style?" > "Is there a writer whose voice you wish you had? Whose voice you'd never > want?" > "When you admire someone's writing, what specifically do you admire?" --- ## Sentence-Level Questions ### Rhythm & Length > "Do you tend toward short punchy sentences or longer flowing ones?" > "When you read your sentences aloud, what rhythm do you hear?" > "Do you consciously vary your sentence length, or does it happen naturally?" > "Are there sentence types you avoid—super long, super short, fragments?" ### Punctuation > "What's your relationship with em-dashes?" > "Do you use semicolons? When?" > "How do you feel about exclamation points?" > "Do you use parenthetical asides? For what?" > "Are there punctuation marks you consciously avoid?" ### Structure > "Do you start sentences with 'And' or 'But'?" > "How do you feel about starting too many sentences with 'I'?" > "Do you use fragments intentionally?" --- ## Word-Level Questions ### Vocabulary > "Do you prefer short words or longer, more precise ones?" > "Do you repeat key words or vary them with synonyms?" > "How technical or specialized does your vocabulary get?" ### Favorites & Avoided > "Are there words you find yourself using often?" > "Do you have pet phrases you return to?" > "Are there words you consciously avoid? Why?" > "What words make you cringe when you see them?" ### Contractions > "Do you use contractions? Always, sometimes, never?" > "Does it depend on the context?" > "Are there specific contractions you avoid?" --- ## Tone & Voice Questions ### Temperature > "Would you describe your writing as warm or cool?" > "How much of yourself shows up in your writing?" > "When do you let emotion in, and when do you stay analytical?" ### Confidence > "Do you hedge your claims or state them directly?" > "How do you handle uncertainty in writing?" > "Do you say 'I think' before opinions, or just state them?" ### Formality > "Do you think of yourself as a formal or casual writer?" > "Does your formality level change based on context?" > "Are you comfortable with slang or colloquialisms?" ### Humor > "Do you use humor in your writing?" > "What kind of humor, if so?" > "When does humor appear—throughout, or at specific moments?" --- ## Structure Questions ### Paragraphs > "Do you lead with your main point or build to it?" > "Do you use single-sentence paragraphs? For what effect?" > "How long do your paragraphs tend to run?" ### Transitions > "How do you typically transition between ideas?" > "Do you use words like 'however' and 'moreover,' or avoid them?" > "How do you signal to readers that you're shifting topics?" ### Openings & Closings > "How do you typically start a piece?" > "Do you prefer to hook readers or orient them first?" > "What makes a good opening for you?" > "How do you like to end a piece?" > "Do you prefer endings that land hard or trail off?" > "Do you ever call back to your opening?" --- ## Reader Relationship Questions ### First Person > "How much do you use 'I' in your writing?" > "When does 'I' appear—sharing opinions, experiences, both?" > "Do you ever avoid 'I' intentionally?" ### Second Person > "Do you address the reader directly with 'you'?" > "How do you feel about giving readers direct commands?" > "Do you ask your readers questions?" ### Authority > "How do you position yourself relative to your reader?" > "Do you write as an expert, a guide, or something else?" > "How much do you admit uncertainty or learning?" ### Assumptions > "How much do you assume your reader knows?" > "Do you define terms or use them casually?" > "Do you write for beginners, experts, or somewhere between?" --- ## Signature & Distinctiveness Questions ### Unique Patterns > "Can you show me a sentence that only you would write?" > "What's the thing about your writing you're most proud of?" > "What do you think makes your writing recognizable?" ### Tics & Habits > "Are there patterns in your writing you've only recently noticed?" > "Has anyone ever pointed out a habit in your writing?" > "What might a parody of your writing exaggerate?" --- ## Anti-Pattern Questions ### General Avoidances > "What would you never write?" > "What makes you cringe in writing?" > "Are there rules you consciously break? Conventions you reject?" ### AI-Specific > "When you read AI-generated text, what tips you off?" > "What phrases immediately scream 'AI' to you?" > "What does AI get wrong when trying to write like you?" ### Violations > "If the ghost writer produced something that felt 'off,' what would it > probably be doing wrong?" > "What would make you say 'I would never write that'?" --- ## Comparative Questions Use these to surface preferences through contrast. ### Choice Questions > "Would you write 'He walked into the room' or 'He stepped into the room' or > something else?" > "Would you say 'start' or 'begin' or 'commence'?" > "Would you write 'don't' or 'do not'?" ### Contrast Questions > "This reads more Hemingway than David Foster Wallace. Where do you see > yourself on that spectrum?" > "Some writers are minimalists, some are maximalists. Where do you land?" > "Some writers disappear behind their prose; others are very present. Which are > you?" ### Elimination Questions > "Which of these words would you NEVER use: utilize, leverage, facilitate, > synergize?" > "Which of these openings feels wrong: 'In today's world...', 'Consider > this...', 'It's important to note...'?" --- ## Clarifying Questions Use these when samples raise questions. ### Pattern Clarification > "You used an em-dash here—is that typical for you, or unusual?" > "This paragraph is quite long—do you tend toward longer paragraphs?" > "I notice you started three sentences with 'And'—is that intentional?" > "This piece has a lot of 'I'—is that your normal level?" ### Context Clarification > "Is this sample typical of your writing, or was it unusual for some reason?" > "Was this piece edited heavily by someone else?" > "How old is this piece? Does it still represent your current style?" ### Contradiction Clarification > "These two samples feel different to me—is that intentional?" > "Your description doesn't quite match what I see in the samples. Which should > I trust?" > "Is this variation context-dependent, or has your style evolved?" --- ## Refinement Questions Use these when returning to existing DNA documents. ### Feedback Integration > "The ghost writer keeps doing X—why does that feel wrong?" > "What's working in the ghost writer output? What's not?" > "Are there patterns we captured that need adjustment?" ### Gap Identification > "Is there anything missing from this profile?" > "What dimension should we go deeper on?" > "Has anything about your voice changed since we created this?" ### Validation > "Looking at this profile, does it feel like you?" > "If someone wrote according to this exactly, would it sound like you?" > "Is there anything here that doesn't quite fit?" --- ## Deep-Dive Questions Use these when exploring specific dimensions in depth. ### Sentence Deep-Dive > "Let's look at your sentence openings—what patterns do you notice?" > "Walk me through how you decide when a sentence is done." > "Do you have rules about sentence length, or is it intuitive?" ### Vocabulary Deep-Dive > "Let's build a list of words that are 'you.' What comes to mind?" > "Now let's build an 'avoid' list. What words would never appear?" > "Are there words you overuse and try to cut?" ### Tone Deep-Dive > "On a spectrum from cool/analytical to warm/personal, where do you sit?" > "Does your tone shift based on topic? When?" > "How do you calibrate formality for different contexts?" ### Structure Deep-Dive > "Walk me through how you typically structure a piece from start to finish." > "How do you think about transitions between sections?" > "What makes a paragraph feel 'done' to you?" --- ## Generative Prompts Use these when the user has few samples. > "Finish this sentence your way: 'The problem with most writing advice is...'" > "How would you explain [topic from their domain] to a smart friend?" > "If you had to write one paragraph about [topic], how would you start?" > "Rewrite this AI-sounding text in your voice: 'This methodology provides a > comprehensive framework for understanding the complex dynamics at play.'" --- ## Register-Specific Questions ### Fiction > "What's your narrative distance—close third, distant, first person?" > "How do you handle dialogue? Heavy on tags, minimal, action beats?" > "How much description do you use? Sparse or lush?" > "How do you handle interiority—deep in character's head, or more external?" ### Non-Fiction > "Do you lead with your thesis or build to it?" > "How do you handle evidence—data, anecdotes, expert quotes?" > "How do you deal with counterarguments?" ### Blog/Casual > "How do you hook readers at the start?" > "How personal do you get? What do you share?" > "Do you use calls to action?" ### Technical > "How do you structure instructions?" > "How much do you assume your reader knows?" > "How heavy on examples?" --- ## Using This Bank 1. **Don't read questions verbatim** — Use these as starting points, then adapt to the conversation. 2. **One at a time** — Never stack questions. Ask, listen, follow up. 3. **Follow the energy** — If a question sparks insight, go deeper there. 4. **Mix types** — Alternate between direct questions, comparative choices, and clarifying follow-ups. 5. **Validate findings** — Circle back: "So what I'm hearing is... Does that sound right?" --- Source: [Claudary](https://claudary.paisolsolutions.com/skills/interview-question-bank) · https://claudary.paisolsolutions.com