Tips from a YA Editor by Anne Regan: Five Tips for Character Development

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Know where they’re coming from.A character profile can help define influences,
values, motivation.Background history shapes the character’s
present and future actions.Three-dimensional characters have both strengths
and flaws.What is the character’s core problem or desire?Get readers to care about the character.Show them struggling with issues and tough
choices readers can relate to.Show the effect their actions (positive or
negative) have on the character.What is the character’s motivation?Tie in to their background and what’s important
to them.Use cause and effect to make the character’s
growth realistic and believable.Let them face both internal and external
obstacles.External:
fired from their dream jobInternal: Longs
for revenge on the evil boss who fired them.Internal challenges can be more important than
external ones.You can’t control your environment, only how you
react to it.Development happens over time.Avoid last-minute, deathbed conversions that
come out of nowhere.Change often isn’t linear—one step forward, two
steps back