When writing a novel, how can a character be developed well, but QUICKLY?

“Well, maybe if you’d wear more clothes, they wouldn’t feel so cold. Hussy!”

“You need some tea!”

“Fine.” May collapsed into the warm spot Claire had just vacated.

Disney and Universal’s Lawsuit Against Midjourney, Explained - Vulture

“No way.”

“Damn straight. So get to it! This time next week, I want to hear some moans coming through that wall.”

“It’s not looking at you.”

The Universe's Missing Black Holes May Have Been Located - ScienceAlert

They both burst out laughing. “I’m right, though,” Claire went on.

“None of those either. Look upon the wasteland that is my sex life, and see that it is barren. Naught but a moggie followed me home.”

May yelped. “Hey! Your feet are cold!”

🔥Why has Prime Narendra Modi become Extremely FRUSTRATED and Highly DEPRESSED because he has NOT been invited by Donald Trump to witness his Oath Ceremony for his INAUGURATION on 20th January as the next PRESIDENT of USA? Does the DESPERATE Narendra Modi FEAR that Donald Trump's actions may even LEAD to the FALL of the BJP-led MINORITY Government in India, as such actions have already caused GREAT PANIC in the NDA Coalition?

“You know what? Never mind,” May said. “I am way, way too drunk to be having this conversation.”

May studied the black and white comic panels. “Oh, my. She looks…anatomically implausible. What is she doing to that poor man? Wait, are those cat ears?”

In the kitchen, Claire set out a battered pair of mugs: May’s black, with “PEBKAC: Problem Exists Between Keyboard and Chair” in white letters; Claire’s white, with “This must be Thursday. I never could get the hang of Thursdays” in dark blue. She carried both mugs into the living room. “A moggie followed you home? Is this some weird Internet slang I’m not current on?”

NASA says 'city killer' asteroid could smash into moon and is 'not safe' - Irish Star

“But they’re cold!”

“Number one, it’s not porn, it’s ecchi, and number two, why would I waste a perfectly good Saturday doing anything else?” Claire pulled at her tea and sighed. “The only thing that could make this day better is if you'd come home with some cute boy, so that after you kicked him out tomorrow I could live vicariously through you.”

“Why is that always your first suggestion? I do not need some tea. It’s three o’clock in the morning! If I have tea, I’ll never get to sleep.”

The Nightmare Hair Situation Antonia Gentry Endured On "Ginny & Georgia" Is Going Viral - BuzzFeed

“So you didn’t meet any cute boys at the club tonight?” Claire called as she bustled about the small kitchen.

Doing something they enjoy, that expresses their personality, and that is in some way unusual or noteworthy;

“I’m serious!” Claire said. “It’s staring straight at me.” She let the curtain fall. “Weird.”

Hillary thinks we must censor or "we lose total control". Why does she demand total control?

“They are! He broke the rules of the boarding house by petting this character while she was in cat form, so they invoke the ancient rules of single combat via ping-pong, and—”

“Perv.”

The agent had only one bad thing to say (the synopsis was crap; writing synopses is hard!), but praised the characterization and particularly how well we introduced a character’s personality quickly.

Xbox Play Anywhere could fix Microsoft Store's spam game problem - TrueAchievements

Create a context between this character and other characters.

“Nary a cute boy in sight.”

After Eunice and I finished London Under Veil, I entered the first chapter in a contest at a convention where you could submit something and have it critiqued by a professional book agent.

Do you agree with a toy company CEO that 'tariffs are almost like speeding towards a brick wall but the driver of the car doesn’t see it yet and by the time he does, it’ll be too late to hit the brakes.'?

May pushed Claire’s feet away. Claire rose to peer out the window. “Huh. It’s still there.”

“I don’t know. Partying. Going to a pub. Anything besides sitting on the couch reading…” She squinted. “What the hell are you reading?”

“Yes way. It’s washing itself under the street light. Uh-oh, I think it spotted me. It knows I’m watching it. I swear it’s looking at me.”

Jim Cramer says these hot new stocks are ones to watch - TheStreet

Do that and you can ground your characters quite quickly.

“Exactly.”

“Yuuna and the Haunted Hot Springs!” Claire turned the book around.

Is the Donald Trump Bible any different from a regular Bible? Has Trump altered its contents?

“About wearing more clothes? How am I supposed to catch any fish if I don’t show off the bait?”

“Nope, I mean a cat followed me home. A black cat, to be exact. All the way from the club. Probably still out there, for all I know.”

“Well, maybe if you didn’t spend all day reading—” May prodded the book with its garishly-coloured cover with her foot. “Bizarre comic book porn…”

My boyfriend always verbally abuse me and makes me cry. If I try to tell him how hurt I was, he says to me he loves me and can't hurt me but always abuse me. Why?

“No, about the cat. You don’t need a cat. You remember what happened to your spider plant, right?”

Here’s how we presented the character Claire when she was introduced, which the agent particularly singled out:

“May! You’re home late! Early, I mean. Well, I mean, it’s early in the morning, but you’re home before I expected. Er, after. Before?”

“Tart!”

Engaging in conversation that also shows something about their intelligence, personality, wit (or lack thereof); and

“Claire! Why are you still up?”

“I know! That’s why I’m putting them under you!”

“It’s a cat. All cats are weird.” May sipped from her mug, inhaling the warmth. She closed her eyes. The room spun. She opened them again. “Ugh. I think I drank too much.”

“Hang on, are they playing ping-pong?”

Claire sat back down, legs tucked elegantly beneath her. “You are looking a bit sloppy,” she said, inspecting May through narrowed eyes.

“Claire, I—”

“I need to do laundry.”

“I’m glad my sex life is so entertaining.”

“From the look of you, if you try to sleep now, you’ll spend the next three hours hanging onto your bed trying to stop the world spinning. Since you’re not going to sleep anyway, you might as well keep me company.”

“You don’t need a cat. You can’t take care of a cat. You can’t take care of a ficus.” Claire flopped on the other side of the sofa and wriggled her feet beneath May.

“I’ll put the kettle on.”

Claire, one of May’s three flatmates, former university roommate, and best friend in all the world, shrugged expansively. “It’s a Saturday night. What else would I be doing?”

“Exactly.”

“I try not to, but thank you for reminding me. I know I don’t need a cat. I don’t want a cat. What would I do with a cat?”

Essentially, what you do is show the character:

“Yep!” Claire chirped. “There’s this schoolboy, see, and he’s homeless, so he lives in this boarding house that used to be a hot springs bathhouse, which is cheap because it’s haunted, so he decides—”

“I’m just a fan of your catch and release program.”

“Thanks. You’re looking pretty ratty yourself. Have you been in that bathrobe all day?”

“Cute girls?”