How to Create Compelling, Believable Characters

We create characters in our fiction by drawing on our emotional experiences, and basing them on people we know. Sometimes we start with ?stock? characters: the crooked cop, the femme fatale, the middle-aged spouse. Yet characters have to do more than convey information and move the plot forward. They have to be unique, compelling individuals. How do we create them on the page? We?ll work on ways to deepen and enrich your characters using personal history, conflict, dialogue, and interiority.