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

“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! 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?”

“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.”

What can you do if you are a full-grown adult, but never experienced being a child?

“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?”

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

“Nary a cute boy in sight.”

Will norovirus surge early again this year? CDC urges tracking of new strain. - CBS News

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

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

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

My boyfriend has a major problem/addiction with watching porn, nude/sex scenes on movies and shows, watching hot young girls on tiktok, Instagram, Twitter, and onlyfans. He hides it and lies about it. Should I be concerned with him cheating? What do?

“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.”

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.

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

Is it possible for humans to determine their past life as an animal? Is there a scientific method to prove this?

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?”

“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.

“It’s not looking at you.”

My son is possessed, now he has psychosis. Can someone help me?

“Exactly.”

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

Create a context between this character and other characters.

‘Stranger Things’ Season 5 Gets Three-Part Release, Series Finale Set for New Year’s Eve - Variety

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

“I’ll put the kettle on.”

“Exactly.”

NASA’s Webb Telescope Captures a Stunning New View of the Sombrero Galaxy - The Daily Galaxy

Do that and you can ground your characters quite quickly.

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

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

The ‘golden summer of cheap flights’: Now’s the time for last-minute deals - CNN

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

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

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

Why do I smell bad even though I have good hygiene?

“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…”

“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.”

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

Fastest Payout Online Casino: Lucky Creek Best of Instant Withdrawal Casinos - ACCESS Newswire

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

“Cute girls?”

“Perv.”

Which current F1 drivers should switch teams based on historical patterns?

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

“But they’re cold!”

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?”

Why does my vagina and around my butthole itch? I don't have weird discharge and I'm still a virgin.

“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, I—”

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

“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.”

“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—”

“Claire! Why are you still up?”

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?”

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

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.

“Tart!”

“No way.”

“I need to do laundry.”

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

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

“You need some tea!”

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

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

“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.”

Essentially, what you do is show the character:

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