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

“I need to do laundry.”

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

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

Why do you allow your cat to lie in bed with you?

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

“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.”

“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?”

How do I study with focus and concentration and avoid distractions and procrastination?

“Nary a cute boy in sight.”

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

“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.”

When a black man and a white woman have a child, does the child become white? If a white man and a black woman have a child, does the child become black?

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

“Tart!”

“Exactly.”

How can you maintain self-control?

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

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

Essentially, what you do is show the character:

What if Supergirl was a baby and not a teenager when she left Krypton? Who do you think will find her? What do you think things would be like?

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

“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—”

“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 would you change in the "Game of Thrones" storyline if you were one of the writers of the TV series?

Create a context between this character and other characters.

“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.”

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

Gun owners, imagine if an attacker comes to your home and takes your gun to use against you before you had the chance to pick it up. Would you regret owning a gun?

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

“But they’re cold!”

“Perv.”

Is there anything wrong with me because I'm still single?

“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 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?”

“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.”

Why is porn so addictive?

“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…”

“I’ll put the kettle on.”

“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.”

Why won't biden give a last minute deferred action TO ALL undocumented immigrants so Trump can't deport them? Obama issued DACA, why can't Biden issue something similar that protects ALL undocumented immigrants from deportation?

Do that and you can ground your characters quite quickly.

“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, I—”

What is something you want to "get off your chest"?

“It’s not looking at you.”

“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.”

“You need some tea!”

Why is Eric Clapton so roundly disliked among guitarists?

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.

“Exactly.”

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

What happened to The Simpsons deleted onscreen footage?

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.

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

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

What does it mean when a guy says he's afraid of falling for someone else after going through heartbreaks?

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?”

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?”

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

Do you have any opinion on Japanese writer/actor Yukio Mishima?

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

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

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

“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.

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

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

“No way.”

“Claire! Why are you still up?”

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

“Cute girls?”

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

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?”