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

“Claire! Why are you still up?”

“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.”

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

Can you give an example of a documentary where the person telling the story believed it to be true, but it turned out to be false?

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

“Nary a cute boy in sight.”

“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—”

I’ve a dismissive avoidant partner who said that he’s overwhelmed by our relationship and that he wants to break up, how do I get him back?

“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.”

“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.”

Essentially, what you do is show the character:

Why do older siblings always hate younger siblings?

“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!”

“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.”

How do I run away? I'm 15 and live in Oklahoma.

“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.

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.

“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.”

Why is there so much free porn on the internet?

“Exactly.”

“Cute girls?”

“Tart!”

How can we understand the mind of a Trump supporter?

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

“No way.”

Which country has the best and strictest legal system in the world?

“You need some tea!”

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

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

It is common sense that Joe Biden is ruining America and is unfit to be president, but why are the liberals still supporting him when Trump is obviously a much better fit for office?

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

“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?”

If the Red Pill is supposed to be so bad, why are so many young men buying into it? What about Red Pill makes it appealing to them?

“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!”

“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?”

How did Nickelback gain a large fan base despite criticism of their music?

“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.”

“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.”

Has Pope Francis signed a document that gay men can now become priests?

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

“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?”

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

Will my 9 year old face more difficulties than most girls her age if she’s an early bloomer? My daughter already needs regular B cup bras. The doctor says that my daughter will be even more developed by 11-12 years of age.

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

“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…”

Create a context between this character and other characters.

What are some reasons why men may not want to date a woman who can pay her own bills?

Do that and you can ground your characters quite quickly.

“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—”

“But they’re cold!”

Why does Christianity push reconciliation after a partner cheats? Mine had a 7-year affair with someone half my age. He cheated and lied. He is not the same to me.

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

“I’ll put the kettle on.”

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

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

“Perv.”

“I need to do laundry.”

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

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?”

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.

“It’s not looking at you.”

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

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

“Claire, I—”

“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.”