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

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

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

“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.”

Why cant I sleep on my side after getting my covid vaccine? I just got the shot and I’ve been overstimulated from not being able to sleep, my arm is very sore and it hurts so much to move and I just want to sleep but it hurts if I lay on either side

“Claire! Why are you still up?”

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.

Create a context between this character and other characters.

My boyfriend won’t tell me his past and it hurts me so I broke up with him what do I do?

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

“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?”

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

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“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.”

“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.”

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

Is depression a cause for always feeling tired?

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

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?”

“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.

Why didn’t Obito confront Kakashi after he witnessed him kill Rin?

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

“No way.”

“Claire, I—”

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

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

“You need some tea!”

How do I convince flat earthers that the earth is round?

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

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

Is it possible that my TF caused a kundalini awakening in another person? He is famous because He is a singer. We have not met physically yet, but I have gone through kundalini awakening and DNOTS and their ongoing. I have also had soul recognition so I know for sure that He is my Divine Counterpart and I do not have any doubts about it. But it is indeed perplexing that somebody had an awakening at the physical level because of Him. Is it a test for me? I have a mixture of feelings. On one hand I marvelled at Him and empathised with the person and on the other, I doubt if this just a test for me. I would appreciate your pov. Thank you for much.

“Exactly.”

“Tart!”

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

Why are so many young teenage boys misogynistic? Where do they get these attitudes from?

“But they’re cold!”

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

“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—”

King Charles III pays respects to Air India crash victims at his annual birthday parade - PBS

“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—”

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

“I’ll put the kettle on.”

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“It’s not looking at you.”

“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?”

“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 disturbed you today?

“Cute girls?”

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

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

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“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.”

“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…”

“Perv.”

Has Messi scored against the Buffon?

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

“Nary a cute boy in sight.”

“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.”

Why did Britain steal Gibraltar from Spain?

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.

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 need to do laundry.”

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

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

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

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

“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.”

Essentially, what you do is show the character:

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

“Exactly.”

Do that and you can ground your characters quite quickly.