I like to start off thinking about their demons and how those affect and are affected by the story, since it's all interconnected. This happens for me during the story construction. I can't separate it all. I also consider how they treat the people around them, and how they perceive/are perceived by the people around them, and why. What kind of atmosphere a character's very presence evokes, how a character presents himself. The demons and any pertinent related elements are very specific, but the rest of it is just a general impression of a character to me, very much like the general impression I have of any given real-life person. Helpful as a way of judging whether an action or bit of dialogue rings true to my notions of them. I don't write a lot of that down. It just sits up there in the attic.

In the past how I've done it is I develop the protagonist and the other primary characters through 1. A biography and 2. A questionnaire following the biography. There's a third step after I've done that for each character, though, and it's the most informative part of the development process. I interview each character about himself and all the other characters. Nobody has exactly the same opinion of someone else. No character is going to have exactly the same opinion of the protagonist. It's amazing to discover all the intricacies that impact these opinions. It's also great because, when I have this done, it helps with dialogue a lot.

Techniques! If only I had techniques! Actually, I suppose I sort of do. I start with the role the character's going to play - the protagonist, his parents, the police officer, the school bully... Whatever. Then I start thinking about different character types - so in a heist movie, I may need the cool-under-pressure guy, the funny guy, the charming flirty guy... I write out what each character thinks of each of the other characters, which is really helpful. And in the brainstorming phase, I write a lot of scenes of characters interacting, scenes that won't go in the screenplay. I've tried writing character biographies, and I hate it! I just feel listing everything about a character makes them less interesting to write.

I am also not a fan of writing out biographies or the 20 questions on your character but I have tried it and have found the questions that I find most relevant are 1/ What is their view of love? 2/ What is their dream job? 3/ What is their day job? 4/ Where do they come in their family? 5/ What is their relationship to their family? Answers to 1/ Tell me how they interact in their own relationships and how they view the relationships of others, romantic and otherwise. 2/ Tells me their dreams, where their interests lie. 3/ Tells me if they pursue their dreams, if they are a pragmatist, what drives them day to day. Often indicates their values. Financier ? driven by the dollar, Surgeon ? driven by the dollar but needs meaning. 4/ Ok so some stereotypes are there for a reason; Middle child issues, selfish only child, spoilt artistic baby of the family, responsible eldest? 5/ is also their own personal history question, which I do like. When it comes to my characters, I like to know their history I guess, so whilst I don't sit down and write a biography, I know key turning points from their childhood, their school life, their working life. I am versed in their setbacks and successes, however major or minor. Basically I know their drive, their key motivation. I also like the idea of mask. What is the mask they use? How are they perceived by the world? What's really going on behind the mask? I find asking the age old question of "What does the protagonist want versus what do they need?" really helps me focus a character. And a little kooky trick I picked up somewhere along the way, I don't know where, if this person walked into a room, what song would play? It helps me imagine if they sashay into a room, do a Fred Astaire through life or march like a brass bander through the shopping centre. I also steal characters straight from life and elaborate on them. Who doesn't? Before anyone calls it cheating, people in glass houses shouldn't throw stones.

Hmmm I'm going to try this. Have an ould gossip with the characters about the other characters? This I can do.

I tend to make a decision about which characters might be central to the story's decisions and actions and spend more effort on those than others. Initially, I like to simply draw up a list of characteristics based on Egri's tridimensional model: Physical, Social and Psychological attributes. This gives me a basic picture of who the character might be and how they might appear different to other characters. I do this at some level for all of my characters. I then like to spend a bit more time examining key aspects of my main characters to firm up their identity:

1) What a character does? Occupation and skill and proficiency. 2) Where a character does (it)? Sounds a bit weird, I know, but I find it helps to know where a character has been and where they are today in terms of what they do. In other words, where did they acquire the skills, where are they using them now? 3) What is said about the character? How a character explains his/her deeds and how it is done on the character's behalf by others, the media, bosses, underlings ... Quite often it is 'what we hear' about others that establishes their initial identity. 4) How does the character behave? A character's moral fibre, their mores and cultural responses to situations and others helps create opportunities for conflict and growth.

There are four other dimensions I like to diagnose:

1) Motivation -- Why is the character here? What events in the character's past make him/her want to be here, in this situation, today? 2) Purpose -- What does the character seek? What is the goal for the character at the end of this story? What will complete his/her mission successfully? What will make them whole? 3) Methods -- How does the character go about his/her business? How does he/she act toward another character? What 'devices' does he/she employ to deal with the circumstances and pursue their purpose? 4) Judgement -- How does the character assess situations and make decisions on his or her actions or the actions and circumstances of others?

Once I know these things, I have a pretty complete, but somewhat clinical, picture of the character. Then I set about getting to now them. I like to write little vignettes of the character as though they were under observation in certain situations. A visit to the doctor, for example, or being arrested for some minor offence, or being interviewed for a newspaper column, or a job, at a car accident ... these kinds of things help me get to know the character and can sometimes lead to short stories as character studies. One special technique I find useful is taking a walk with the character. I close my eyes and imagine the character is by my side and walk next to them, talking about a situation or relationship, trying to pry beneath the surface and get to dig into the personality. This walk develops into being the character, and walking as the character, finding ways to avoid the questions and exaggerate ... when the walks are over, I write about the experience, almost as a psychologist might do following a clinical session. I do like to work up biographies of the central characters (usually protagonist, antagonist, guardian and contagonist -- but there may be others who have important functions)and write them as a biographical piece so I can understand at a deeper level how the character of today was formed. Sometimes I find it useful to write a letter or journal in the character's voice expressing an attitude or opinion on a topical issue that can help create points of difference with other characters. In particular I try to uncover the following aspects:

> Courage (lack of it, discovery of it) > Resourcefulness and cleverness > Special talent > ‘Outlaw’ status determined by her/his own rules > Capacity to excel at what she/he does for a living > What causes and action she/he is determined to take action in > What ‘wound’ she/he sustained in the past and how it occurred > What ideals she/he is motivated by > In what way she/he is sexually potent

Sometimes writing a short story about a character leads to an interesting aspect of character that I hadn't previously considered. I spend a lot of time on my characters before I begin writing a story or script. So, I guess for me it's a process of both a clinical appreciation of the character's make-up, and an interpretive view of how the character functions within his or her world.

I just came across some great advice on Sean Hood's Genre Hacks blog: > Don't just ask "What does my character want" or "What does my character need;" if you really want to write a three dimensional, complexl character, ask "What is my character ashamed of" and how does the story force him or her to confront it. Plus a link to this TEDx Houston talk by Dr. Brené Brown on shame and vulnerability.

"What is my character ashamed of" I like this one, I feel it pertains to the mask, what are they trying to hide and what attributes do they hide behind. Interesting discussion.