Tips on Creating Lively Characters

I find it helpful to create a worksheet on each character and put everything about them, their birthdays, their characteristics, their personalities, favorite foods, musics, movies, who they look up too, I mean really make them real!

Most writers, base their characters on people they know or are familiar with. When trying come up with a character write a profile of this character first his motivations, history and personality and try tomatch all those three with his role in your story. You can then base his/her actions on what you've written. For example, let's say you have a character who had a violent history and an even nastier disposition. When someone would like him to move and ask: "Can youstep aside sir? I'm trying to pass" You would hardly expect him to say, sure anything you say you may expect him to say: Hey, if you haven't noticed I'm in the middle of something here you krutz!!!" you'll notice that sometimes these characters may even "take a life of their own" and you don't have to think about their actions

I am more interested in how you've proceeded since writing this request three months ago. I've started writing time and time again, and tried different approaches but Life keeps interrupting me, usually with a crisis of some sort that creates enough upheavel that, by the time the dust settles, I can't recall the train of thought that inspired me- so, eventually I start again. Now, I don't so much try as try to get my life manageable enough that I can promise myself a definite sanctuary- an hour a day at least, a sacred space-where I don't have to shove my work into a box to allow someone else the use of the space. All those starts -but I've attended workshops, seminars, classes, and picked up a few insights that will be important to me when I can finally do the deed. One of them is from my preferences in what I like to read. I think I'd want characters to be people I'd enjoy knowing. At least for my main character. Someone I like, and like to think about. So that I will enjoy spending a whole lot of time doing just that.