Compelling characters are not cogs in the machine of your plot; they are human beings to whom the story happens.

Compelling characters are not cogs in the machine of your plot; they are human beings to whom the story happens.

Whether we know it or not, our minds and hearts are populated by all the characters we will ever need - though we may disassemble them and rearrange the parts into composites for variation.

Characterization requires a constant back-and-forth between the exterior events of the story and the inner life of the character.

An intuitive grasp of your character is formed by exploring scenes of profound emotional import-moments of overwhelming shame, joy, fear, pride, regret, forgiveness.

Developing a character with genuine depth requires a focus on not just desire but how the character deals with frustration of her desires, as well as her vulnerabilities, her secrets, and especially her contradictions. This development needs to be forged in scenes, the better to employ your intuition rather than your intellect.