Sometimes it is good to write a profile for each character.  The following is a list of headings for you to copy and paste into a document.  I hope you find it useful.

PHYSIOLOGY
Age:
Sex:
Posture:
Appearance:
Physical Defects:
Heredity (the passing on of physical or mental characteristics genetically from one generation to another):

SOCIOLOGY
Class:
Occupation:
Education:
Home Life:
Religion:
Political Affiliations:
Hobbies:
Amusements:

PSYCHOLOGY
Sex Life and Moral Standards:
Ambitions:
Frustrations:
Temperament:
Abilities:
IQ:
EQ:
Personality (extrovert, introvert):
Attitude toward life:

Every story you write has its own set of laws as absolute as physics. Your world may be in the 1880s, or the 1920s.  It is not just a matter of what kind of transport was commonly available, or what was served in a restaurant.  Your world covers everything from fashion to technology.  Nail it down. Be consistent. Everything you write has to fit into a larger whole and no single element must violate the rules of your creation.

Write about those moments you never forget.

Don’t just react emotionally to old memories. Capture and interrogate them to find another layer of meaning.

As an exercise, recall the day.

From the time you got up to now. Use only concrete detail. Name objects (bed, plates, food, biscuits, water) and events (walks, work, conversations) and people (friends and strangers).

Don't tell us how you felt.  Just show us what you noticed and how you reacted to what happened about you.

"What to write about? Write about anything that interests you, then imbue it with life and make it unique and enrich it by blending in your own personal knowledge of life, friendship, relationships, sex and work. Especially work. People love to read about work." Stephen King

Write with a pen or pencil on a piece of paper. Writing by hand brings clarity to ideas, increasing the chance of finding solutions.

1. Write ‘Who Am I?’ at the top of ten index cards or pieces of paper.

2. Then write rapidly answering the question without censoring in ten different ways.

3. Now put these away in a drawer.

4. After four weeks open the drawer and imagine these were written by someone else. 

5. Order the cards or slips of paoer in importance and ask :

a. What do these cards tell you about this person?
b. What things are most important?
c. What types of things would this person enjoy doing?
d. If this person had six months to live, how would he spend his time?

What to write? Write about what frightens you.

​Fear is a map. It tells us where we lack experience. It shows us where we perceive our boundaries to be.

​Oedipus killed his father and slept with his mother, but he did not know this till he and his mother were told by the seer, Tiresias.

Your character’s life told in the narration halts your story’s forward motion dead in its tracks, whereas one or two well-dramatised scenes can powerfully represent that past life and at the same time keep your action moving.