Having fully developed, relatable characters in your story is essential to catching the attention of your audience, whether that's an agent, publisher, or reader. Author Jeanne Lyet Gassman has been praised for her character development in her award-winning novel Blood of a Stone and provides some questions new writers need to ask themselves when conceptualizing characters. First, what does your main character want or need and what is keeping the character from reaching this goal? Second, what are the character's strengths and weaknesses? If you have a troubled character, what are his or her redeeming qualities? She also recommends taking your character's formative or childhood years into consideration - how has this impacted the character? Being able to answer all of these questions about a character will ensure that they are well thought-out and developed.
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