On creating vivid characters, plus a link or two more

Over at The National Post, Philip Marchand has an interesting article about the challenge of creating vivid characters, and the possibility it has become a lost art. There's some discussion about first person narration versus third person narration, with novelist and critic Mary McCarthy commenting, "All fictions, of course, are impersonations, but it seems to me somehow less dubious to impersonate the outside of a person — say, Mrs. Micawber with her mysterious 'I will never leave Mr...