One of the most important parts of writing is developing your characters. Characters are a part of every piece of writing, no matter if it's poetry, fiction or non-fiction, and the most important thing is to make them believable. That is what draws readers in--their own involvement in the life and story of the character you are portraying.
This week for Why Not Write Wednesday, why don't we work on ways to develop well-rounded characters?
Physical Details about the character: Is he/she short, tall, thin, old, etc?
Physical environment surrounding the character: Is he/she on a desert island, in an urban community, living in the mountains, etc?
The other characters surrounding the character: What kinds of people does the character associate with?
The things that the character does: Does he/she go to school, fly an airplane, eat pizza every night for dinner, etc?
The things that the character says or thinks: These things reveal the character’s feelings and opinions about things.
Start by answering one of these questions, or more, but take your time and really develop a character that you understand on paper as well as off. Pretend the character you are creating is a friend of yours, someone real and knowable.
If you want, you can always create a character chart. It can help you lay out the information more clearly. Here's an example:
500CharacterChart