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

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

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

“Cute girls?”

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“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?”

“Claire! Why are you still up?”

Do that and you can ground your characters quite quickly.

Why do liberals think it is okay to steal votes while the rest of us obey the law(s)?

“Exactly.”

“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.”

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

What makes Nigerian scammers skilled at impersonating people? Is their success a result of intelligence or other factors?

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

“Exactly.”

“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.”

Why does a college girl cover her face with a scarf in Bangalore?

“No way.”

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

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

Why are Americans obese? Is it the food or is it the psychology?

“Nary a cute boy in sight.”

“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…”

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.

What qualities do single women typically look for in a man? Is it a common preference for women to want a man who earns more than they do?

“Perv.”

“I’ll put the kettle on.”

“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.”

Do interviewers discriminate against a candidate if he or she is overweight (assuming physical fitness is NOT part of the job requirements)?

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?”

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

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

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“It’s not looking at you.”

“I need to do laundry.”

“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.”

I live in Massachusetts. Are there any resources here for people that are being harassed by voice to skull, etc.?

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.

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

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 Democrats not feel hypocritical when they urge Trump not to be vengeful should be become president when the Democrats are trying to put Trump into prison?

“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.”

“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.”

“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.”

What are 5 ways that can be done by the community to improve the public transport system?

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

“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—”

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

My boyfriend wants to break up over too many petty arguments. To me, they are molehills because I truly love him & don't really think twice about them. If he loved me would he work through it?

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

“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?”

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

Essentially, what you do is show the character:

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

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?”

“Claire, I—”

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

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

Create a context between this character and other characters.

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

“Tart!”

“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.

“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—”

“You need some tea!”

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

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

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

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

“But they’re cold!”

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