The world of writing

When you write a story that has depth in characters, such as a dramatic novel, character development is vital to the success of the story. It is important that you create characters that aren't carbon copies of each other, so creating a bio for each character is an important step in preventing this. One method, and one that surely works for many writers, is to jot down character points for each character on a 5x7 card and tuck it away as a reference during your writing or you can do what I do. I just pick someone I know as the foundation for a character. I don't mean the character is that person, but rather what they eat, do, idiosyncratic behaviors are the same ones as the person I know. By the way, this is no easy task because there are so many nuances that are hard to remember about those people you know. I am reminded that my first son and fourth son (of five boys) loves French Toast, especially the fourth boy. Numbers two and three, not so much. Number five, we don't know yet. Number two son, which is actually number one son in my second marriage, is very focused. He is so focused that he must organize everything. His brother just below him is about as opposite as they come. He is late to rise and is more into fun than focus. The point is, I could write a story about five brothers and toil with what to assign each one for habits, likes, feelings, or I could make each brother in the image of my five boys. It is my suggestion that if you are working on a full length novel to try this method in your first work. Time is still an asset that we so seldom have and shortening your workload might help drive your piece to completion.