Character development

[sr71plt]

Many, many, many years ago, one of my tutors said that characters can only ever be what they say and what do. ‘You’re the author. You decide what your characters say; you decide what they do; ipso facto, you decide who they are and how they develop. Don’t overthink it.’ (Although, to be honest, I'm not sure whether she would have written 'overthink' as one word or two.)

Your tutor apparently never met some of my characters. I hadn't either until they appeared in my stories.

 

[jonthechaosman]

One of my biggest challenges as an author is that my characters spring to life fully detailed and complete in my mind and I fail to adequately (according to my readers) describe them because I already know them inside and out.

For me it goes like this:
1-story idea develops in my head
2-characters that fit the story spring to life
3-write story
4- re-write story adding details
5-submit story and read comments asking why I never add details

 

[DiminutiveDame]

One of my biggest challenges as an author is that my characters spring to life fully detailed and complete in my mind and I fail to adequately (according to my readers) describe them because I already know them inside and out.

For me it goes like this:
1-story idea develops in my head
2-characters that fit the story spring to life
3-write story
4- re-write story adding details
5-submit story and read comments asking why I never add details

On the bright side, you're getting comments!