Logo

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

10.06.2025 23:52

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

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

“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.”

“Cute girls?”

The Labour Party wants to put the Winter fuel allowance and the £800,000 of gifts received by ministers behind us. Is this a real option for the people who will suffer as our new masters unapologeticly feast on freebies?

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.

“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?”

Essentially, what you do is show the character:

We white women don't like white men. Do you have any issue with that?

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?”

“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.”

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

Turns Out, AI Gobbles Up a Lot of Energy - Newser

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.

“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.

“But they’re cold!”

SEC Raises Legal Questions Over Proposed Ethereum, Solana ETFs - Decrypt

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

“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—”

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

Two Ocean Bands Are Warming Faster Than Ever — What This Means for Our Climate - The Daily Galaxy

Create a context between this character and other characters.

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

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

WWE Money in the Bank Results – 6/7/25 (Men’s and Women’s MITB Ladder Matches, Cena and Paul vs. Rhodes and Uso) - Wrestleview.com

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

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

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

How did you cope when someone you love, dealing with hyper-independence and trauma, felt they needed space to heal alone? Were you able to support them without overstepping, and did you eventually reconnect? How did that journey unfold?

“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.”

“No way.”

“Tart!”

Why are most people broke?

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

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

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

AMD has limited Radeon RX 9060 XT 8GB sampling based on ‘regional market demand’ - VideoCardz.com

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?”

“I need to do laundry.”

Do that and you can ground your characters quite quickly.

When Trump blames DEI, isn't he just saying "it must be because there's black or brown people involved"?

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

“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.”

“Claire! Why are you still up?”

Have husbands and wives ever had a threesome with someone in real life? How did it happen?

“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…”

“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—”

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

Why is the US going after Canada after all? What is the reason for all this hostility?

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

“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.”

“You need some tea!”

2025 NCAA baseball bracket: Men's College World Series scores, schedule - NCAA.com

“I’ll put the kettle on.”

“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.”

“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?”

What is your twin flame story?

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

“Claire, I—”

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

“It’s not looking at you.”

“Exactly.”

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?”

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

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

“Perv.”

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

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

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

“Nary a cute boy in sight.”

“Exactly.”

“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.”