Character development

Good morning!

How do you work on character development? It's not hard to do, but it is time-consuming and a lazy writer will skimp on the important stuff. First of all, you show the character reacting to things that happen to him or her in the course of the story. It's also possible to reveal what he or she is thinking and show that his or her outlook and opinion on the subject is not that far from the norm. Or, if you want the character to be truly memorable, reveal an unconventional attitude. If he or she is a 'bad guy', show a bad attitude. Show how despicable the character can be. Reveal that he or she doesn't give a damn about conventions, morals or even the concept of good and bad. You can even put the character in a situation where he or she is confronted with something that would evoke a sympathetic response from a normal person and show that the character just doesn't care. Skew that personality so far off the norm that it is plain that he or she is a 'bad-un'.

But, you ask, won't that make him or her appear one-dimensional? Of course, it will. You can also mitigate things a little by showing him or her to react normally about something that he or she does care about. After all, even villains have families. They like to pet cats and dogs. They move through our lives like anybody else and are often indistinguishable from those around you. How many times in our lives have we been betrayed by a supposed friend because doing so was advantageous for them?

What I have posted here isn't all a writer can do to show character development, but like I said a few posts back; I'm not teaching a course in creative writing.

Have a good day and whatever you do, put your best into it.
Thank you,
Derek A. Murphy
Author of Eggs of Empire, Questionable Interests and others.
Available on Kindle