A good panel on creating characters – here are the highlights.

Q: How do you decide on a character?

Chelsea Quin Yarbro: I let them come to me. I had one character sit in my head for ten years before I found his story.

A.J. Scudiere: I have characters and plot lines bouncing around in my head, and occasionally they stick and go together – and then I start doing my research.

Gail Z. Martin: I start with a person with a problem, then start asking “What if?” and making it worse and worse. I also ask who else surrounds my main character.

David B. Coe: There’s a synergy to building a novel – character and plot and scene come to you in different ways and tie in and feed one another. It’s a braided process.

Richard Lee Byars: I ask what kind of character would make this situation particularly good – or bad.

More good advice:

Gail: When you have a strong protagonist, you have to have strong, interesting secondary characters to stand up to them.

Quin; I formed a habit when I was first starting out – I create backstories for the people I see around me.

David: Writing good characters and being a good friend are very similar. You have to be able to step into their lives and understand them.

Faith Hunter: Everyone who plans to be a writer should be an analytical reader. Buy a book and a set of colored highlighter pens, and highlight examples of what you’re trying to learn. “This is a great example of dialogue,” or “This is good characterization.” I even write an index on the blank pages in the back.

Oh, and Faith came in late, so I didn’t get a good picture of her.