Full of character!

As I said in an earlier post, characters make all the difference between an okay story and a great one.

Most authors and screenwriters are smart enough to put a lot of effort into developing their Main Characters. But recently I've found that a hallmark of some of the stories which really touch me is the depth of the peripheral characters.

Paper characters shouldn't exist. Just like in real life, no matter how important or unimportant someone is to you, they still have a life completely independent of your point of view. They still have favourite colours, books, movies, songs; they stil have families who they love or hate or both; they still have triumphs and disappointments.

I'm just beginning to reread my first novel, for a first edit, and realising how paper thin one character is. The sad part is that, even though he's not the MC, he's the reason for the MC getting into her situation, and the book opens with him... :(

Back to the drawing board!