Over our summer break, we’re working on various tasks. The second task we’ve been given is to take a minor character in a project and make them into a real human being.

I have realised that the death of Michael’s dear beloved granny will mean nothing to the reader, even though it’s the end of Michael’s world, because we haven’t even met her yet. This needs to be rectified, so the reader feels sad and understands why Michael is so distraught when she does die. Developing Granny’s character will have the beneficial side effect of showing us the dynamics of Michael’s family, which is, of course, dysfunctional.

Over to you!

How do you develop your characters? Do you fill in a questionnaire or put them in a situation and see how they deal with it?