Amy Bloom crafts such great characters that you love them even when they’re kind of nasty.  How does she do it? I just finished her latest collection of short stories, “Where the God of Love Hangs Out,” and I still find myself thinking about the characters as if they were real people who have gone on with their lives after I closed the book.

In his blog, storyfixer Larry Brooks tells us how to develop three-dimensional characters. In short, here are the three dimensions:
First dimension: what you see as the character first appears. Second dimension: what’s going on in the character’s mind. Third dimension: what action the character takes. You can get more details here: http://storyfix.com/the-three-dimensions-of-character-development.

In my critique group we have a cynical expression: good luck. This comment is delivered at the end of an especially complex critique. As in, now that I’ve finished telling you why I think your character isn’t true to her nature anymore (with examples) or why it appears you’re drifting away from the story question and/or leaving hanging threads…Good luck! Meaning I’m glad it’s your problem to fix, not mine. There’s also an implication of this: writing is a bitch. Why are we subjecting ourselves to this? We have lives. We’re not being paid. We’re obviously stupid with a dash of mentally ill. Perhaps. And then we laugh and get back to work.

Good luck!