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?”

“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.”

“Exactly.”

Why do a bra and panties have to match?

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

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

Have you ever been forced to dress like a girl?

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?”

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

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

What is the most inappropriate thing your wife has done in front of you?

“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.”

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.”

Why does my cat get anxious during loud noises like thunderstorms or firework displays? Is this a common behavior for cats, and is there a way to help them cope with it?

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

“You need some tea!”

“It’s not looking at you.”

Can you share 100 facts about yourself?

“Claire, I—”

Essentially, what you do is show the character:

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

How should you handle a situation where your friend tells you they like someone who also likes you? Should you tell them or continue as normal?

“Nary a cute boy in sight.”

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

“Cute girls?”

Why do Brits drive a lot more dangerously compared to Americans? Is there just no courtesy when driving in the UK?

“I need to do laundry.”

“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…”

“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.”

What does it mean when your husband comments and likes other women on social media? He has private IG and TikTok accounts that I have no access to. He has saved videos and pictures of women on his phone.

“Exactly.”

“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?”

“No way.”

Why is the show The Big Bang Theory so hated?

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

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.

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

Why do a lot of autistic people not know how to style their hair?

“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.”

“I’ll put the kettle on.”

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

How do you know if your husband loves you truly and deeply?

“Claire! Why are you still up?”

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

“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.

What was your best revenge story?

“But they’re cold!”

“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.”

“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.”

The odd effects a year in space has on the bodies of astronauts - supercarblondie.com

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

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

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

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

“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—”

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?”

“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?”

“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—”

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

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

“Tart!”

Create a context between this character and other characters.

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.

Do that and you can ground your characters quite quickly.

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

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

“Perv.”

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