Logo

When writing a novel, how can a character be developed well, but QUICKLY?

12.06.2025 10:34

When writing a novel, how can a character be developed well, but QUICKLY?

May yelped. “Hey! Your feet are cold!”

Claire sat back down, legs tucked elegantly beneath her. “You are looking a bit sloppy,” she said, inspecting May through narrowed eyes.

“I’m just a fan of your catch and release program.”

Vienna calling: Strauss's 'Blue Danube' waltzes into outer space - Phys.org

“Tart!”

“Fine.” May collapsed into the warm spot Claire had just vacated.

“So you didn’t meet any cute boys at the club tonight?” Claire called as she bustled about the small kitchen.

How many wishes do people get on their birthday?

Doing something they enjoy, that expresses their personality, and that is in some way unusual or noteworthy;

“Claire! Why are you still up?”

“You need some tea!”

I just cannot wake up early, even if I sleep on time. What should I do?

“Yep!” Claire chirped. “There’s this schoolboy, see, and he’s homeless, so he lives in this boarding house that used to be a hot springs bathhouse, which is cheap because it’s haunted, so he decides—”

“Nope, I mean a cat followed me home. A black cat, to be exact. All the way from the club. Probably still out there, for all I know.”

“None of those either. Look upon the wasteland that is my sex life, and see that it is barren. Naught but a moggie followed me home.”

Why are you a Muslim? Why is it Islam for you and not something else?

“From the look of you, if you try to sleep now, you’ll spend the next three hours hanging onto your bed trying to stop the world spinning. Since you’re not going to sleep anyway, you might as well keep me company.”

“It’s a cat. All cats are weird.” May sipped from her mug, inhaling the warmth. She closed her eyes. The room spun. She opened them again. “Ugh. I think I drank too much.”

“No, about the cat. You don’t need a cat. You remember what happened to your spider plant, right?”

I feel so attached and in love with a dead celebrity. My love for anyone else is overshadowed by my love for him. What does this mean?

“I need to do laundry.”

“Nary a cute boy in sight.”

“Well, maybe if you’d wear more clothes, they wouldn’t feel so cold. Hussy!”

Is it possible for a judge to hold someone in contempt for not being able to pay a fine that was imposed during their sentencing hearing?

“Number one, it’s not porn, it’s ecchi, and number two, why would I waste a perfectly good Saturday doing anything else?” Claire pulled at her tea and sighed. “The only thing that could make this day better is if you'd come home with some cute boy, so that after you kicked him out tomorrow I could live vicariously through you.”

“You don’t need a cat. You can’t take care of a cat. You can’t take care of a ficus.” Claire flopped on the other side of the sofa and wriggled her feet beneath May.

Here’s how we presented the character Claire when she was introduced, which the agent particularly singled out:

What happens when your partner doesn't see the value in you and continuously hurts you by searching for something in others knowing it hurts you?

“I try not to, but thank you for reminding me. I know I don’t need a cat. I don’t want a cat. What would I do with a cat?”

After Eunice and I finished London Under Veil, I entered the first chapter in a contest at a convention where you could submit something and have it critiqued by a professional book agent.

“I don’t know. Partying. Going to a pub. Anything besides sitting on the couch reading…” She squinted. “What the hell are you reading?”

2025 Final X Match Order Released - FloWrestling

“I’m serious!” Claire said. “It’s staring straight at me.” She let the curtain fall. “Weird.”

“Exactly.”

“Well, maybe if you didn’t spend all day reading—” May prodded the book with its garishly-coloured cover with her foot. “Bizarre comic book porn…”

What happens to adults with Down syndrome when their parents can't look after them any more?

Do that and you can ground your characters quite quickly.

“Thanks. You’re looking pretty ratty yourself. Have you been in that bathrobe all day?”

“I’ll put the kettle on.”

Which bands became massively popular for covering songs rather than recording originals?

“It’s not looking at you.”

“Why is that always your first suggestion? I do not need some tea. It’s three o’clock in the morning! If I have tea, I’ll never get to sleep.”

May studied the black and white comic panels. “Oh, my. She looks…anatomically implausible. What is she doing to that poor man? Wait, are those cat ears?”

Pro-AI Subreddit Bans 'Uptick' of Users Who Suffer from AI Delusions - 404 Media

“Damn straight. So get to it! This time next week, I want to hear some moans coming through that wall.”

“I’m glad my sex life is so entertaining.”

“Yes way. It’s washing itself under the street light. Uh-oh, I think it spotted me. It knows I’m watching it. I swear it’s looking at me.”

UPS told California man his son’s guitar was destroyed in a wildfire — and then he found it for sale online - AOL.com

“Yuuna and the Haunted Hot Springs!” Claire turned the book around.

“I know! That’s why I’m putting them under you!”

“May! You’re home late! Early, I mean. Well, I mean, it’s early in the morning, but you’re home before I expected. Er, after. Before?”

Nvidia in focus as BofA maintains Buy after meeting, Chinese companies hesitate (NVDA:NASDAQ) - Seeking Alpha

Engaging in conversation that also shows something about their intelligence, personality, wit (or lack thereof); and

May pushed Claire’s feet away. Claire rose to peer out the window. “Huh. It’s still there.”

In the kitchen, Claire set out a battered pair of mugs: May’s black, with “PEBKAC: Problem Exists Between Keyboard and Chair” in white letters; Claire’s white, with “This must be Thursday. I never could get the hang of Thursdays” in dark blue. She carried both mugs into the living room. “A moggie followed you home? Is this some weird Internet slang I’m not current on?”

How can I stop drinking?

“Perv.”

“Cute girls?”

“They are! He broke the rules of the boarding house by petting this character while she was in cat form, so they invoke the ancient rules of single combat via ping-pong, and—”

Essentially, what you do is show the character:

Claire, one of May’s three flatmates, former university roommate, and best friend in all the world, shrugged expansively. “It’s a Saturday night. What else would I be doing?”

“Hang on, are they playing ping-pong?”

“No way.”

They both burst out laughing. “I’m right, though,” Claire went on.

The agent had only one bad thing to say (the synopsis was crap; writing synopses is hard!), but praised the characterization and particularly how well we introduced a character’s personality quickly.

“You know what? Never mind,” May said. “I am way, way too drunk to be having this conversation.”

“Exactly.”

“Claire, I—”

Create a context between this character and other characters.

“But they’re cold!”

“About wearing more clothes? How am I supposed to catch any fish if I don’t show off the bait?”