My wife and I have been watching Star Trek: The Next Generation on Netflix. I saw most episodes during the original run, but it’s nice to visit old friends. My friends, mostly StarFleet officers serving aboard the Enterprise, are the crux of the show. If you watch the show often enough, you’ll notice that there are only about a dozen different mission types. If the missions were the primary pull, the show would not have lasted seven seasons.
I mention Star Trek when discussing character building, because the methods it uses for this purpose are transferable to writing. Star Trek characters emerge throughout the series based on how they react in a variety of circumstances. When writing, that is how we create/showcase/explore characters.
Unfortunately, I often see authors take a different approach–painful explanations about who the characters are. Few things bore me as much. Let your characters experience their world. Your readers (or viewers) will appreciate getting to know your characters for themselves.
Make it so.
