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

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

“Tart!”

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

Do you think a lot of sociopaths' parents kill themselves for having brought such disgusting evil into the world? How much shame and disgust must they carry?

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

“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?”

“Nary a cute boy in sight.”

How do you write lyrics for a song that resonates with listeners?

“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.”

“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?”

Do that and you can ground your characters quite quickly.

Is it wise to SECRETLY expose a narcissist by telling others that he/she is a covert narcissist?

“Claire! Why are you still up?”

“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…”

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

Why do we often have strong feelings for our twin flames, even if they don't feel the same way? Is there a way to make them realize their true feelings for us?

“I’ll put the kettle on.”

“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;

What can you do if someone makes a false accusation against you?

“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.”

“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—”

“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.”

The Democrats’ candidate, Kamala, is a total loser, while our candidate, Trump, is a legendary hero and a living god. Are you ready to lose BIG Democrats?

“Exactly.”

“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.”

“Claire, I—”

Have you ever been forced to dress like a girl?

“You need some tea!”

“Exactly.”

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

Which branch of engineering is better: ECE or Civil?

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

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

“But they’re cold!”

If sea levels were rising, wouldn't the acreage of coastal salt marshes increase? Are they?

“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.

Create a context between this character and other characters.

“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.”

What were some things that the ancient Greeks excelled at compared to the Romans?

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

“It’s not looking at you.”

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.

Where did Noah build the Ark? Was it in a desert or near water?

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

Essentially, what you do is show the character:

“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 anyone ever really waited that long and gotten a paper check mailed 20 days ago?

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

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.

“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.”

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

“No way.”

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

Why do the Republican city officials at Springfield Ohio continue to deny that immigrants are eating pets to sabotage the Trump campaign, even though immigrant pet-eating is now widely believed to be true?

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?”

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?”

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.”

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

“Cute girls?”

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

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

“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—”

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

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

“Perv.”

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

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

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