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

“No way.”

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

“Claire, I—”

The International Boxing Association said that Khelif and Lin competing in Paris Olympics were disqualified from the tournament for testing positive for XY chromosomes which give an unfair advantage in the women’s division. What do you think?

“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.”

“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.”

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?”

It has been said that people with ADHD can often hyperfocus. Can that be an advantage?

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

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

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

A father of 3 felt healthy. Then a routine screening found a rare, deadly illness. - CBS News

“Nary a cute boy in sight.”

“Exactly.”

Do that and you can ground your characters quite quickly.

I think that being gay is wrong, but I treat gay people respectfully like any other person. Is it homophobic? Or offensive in any kind of way? Aren’t disagreement and discrimination two different things?

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

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

“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.”

Why was Boromir corrupted by the One Ring, but not Faramir in The Lord of the Rings?

“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.”

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

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

Why do some films seem to date/age so badly?

“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—”

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?”

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

Atheists who have read the Bible and think that contains immoral things, why do you assume that?

“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?”

“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.”

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?”

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“I need to do laundry.”

“It’s not looking at you.”

“Cute girls?”

Do you have any attributes quirks sensitivities abilities etc that you've come to learn most people don't experience? E.g. dream with subtext or experience de ja vu regularly or know you experience life very differently from those around you etc?

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?”

“Perv.”

At least 45 Palestinians killed while waiting for aid trucks in Gaza, health officials say - AP News

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

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

“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.

How will Israelis respond to someone claiming that anti-Zionism is not anti-Semitism, in the same way as anti-feminism not being misogyny and opposing same-sex marriage not being homophobia?

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

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

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.

“You need some tea!”

“Exactly.”

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

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

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

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

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

“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.”

Create a context between this character and other characters.

“I’ll put the kettle on.”

“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—”

Essentially, what you do is show the character:

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

“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?”

“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.”

“Claire! Why are you still up?”

“But they’re cold!”

“Tart!”

“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…”

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

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