Building A Character

How long does it take to build a character? Joe Smith walked into the conference room of the law firm of Smith, Smith, and Smith. He would much rather be home playing acoustic guitar or walking his bulldog, Elmer.

Do we know Joe now?

Sometimes we can identify with a character in a few well-crafted sentences, particularly in novellas. On other occasions it can take half a novel to truly understand and relate with a character, if not longer.

I can remember reading The Donovan series by Elizabeth L...