You have the coolest friends.

No fair. Jealousy, jealousy!

I love the advice on paying attention to people. People will always put on their best mask when they speak with you or hang out with you, but if you pay attention you can always see their real faces, you can always tell what they really feel.
For example, I saw This Is It last night with a small group of friends. One of my friends tends toward humor in uneasy situations and I always notice that when a very serious moment happens in movies, he leans over and whispers something "funny" to me. He alleviates the emotional tension with humor.
Another example is my girlfriend and her half-sister. My girlfriend loves her mother to death, and always feel bad when she asks for things from her. The little sister, however, is a bit spoiled and always uses their mom for whatever she wants. She's not a bad kid, she just knows how to work the system. The difference is, my girlfriend is a straight A student. She really cares. The little sister is a sadly awful student, also overweight, and she tends to make up for failing in school with accumulating high-price items like Tiffany and Co. and Coach to assert her status.

People are funny in bad and good ways. You have to appreciate their differences when building characters. Writers often build entire ensembles around their friends and family.

@Garrett: That is precisely the type of observational skills Julie was talking about in her post. In a way, I think good writers are like pseudo psychologists: To observe human behavior, then try to interpret it. And, of course, an implied and innate sense of curiosity to see humans in action and want to know what's going on with them.

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