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

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

“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.”

Create a context between this character and other characters.

Why do men first look at a woman's chest instead of their face?

“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.

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

“Perv.”

Is it wrong of me to feel uncomfortable that my friend thinks my brother is hot?

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

“Cute girls?”

“Exactly.”

I vibrated my dogs shock collar while it was eating my other dog’s food and now it won’t eat. How do I fix this problem?

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

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

“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.”

Is it wise to SECRETLY expose a narcissist by telling others that he/she is a covert narcissist?

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.

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

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

Do you ever feel like you are doing good, but would do better if people hadn’t blamed you or even bothered you? I have gotten lonely, but I always am up to something (creating my destiny).

“But they’re cold!”

“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—”

“Exactly.”

Why do heterosexual men like anal sex with women? I think it's because they secretly want to have anal sex with a man? What do you think?

“Tart!”

“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?”

“It’s not looking at you.”

Is it possible for doctors to diagnose prostate cancer just by looking at a patient?

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

“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.”

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?”

What do you think, TikTok is nothing but another porn site? Do you agree or not? Why?

“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?”

“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.”

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?”

Why is rap* a crime?

“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…”

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

“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.”

Does the U.S military really prosecute military staff for cheating on their spouse, or do they close one eye if the cheating does not involve other military personnel since adultery is fairly common? Adultery is illegal in U.S military

Do that and you can ground your characters quite quickly.

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

“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.”

When Kundalini is awakened accidentally, what can be done?

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

“You need some tea!”

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?”

Why don't younger men like older women?

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

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

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

How do you get people to follow your Quora Space?

“I’ll put the kettle on.”

“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.”

“Claire, I—”

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

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

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

How common is it for siblings to fight over their parents' inheritance money? What is the best way to handle this type of situation?

“I need to do laundry.”

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

Essentially, what you do is show the character:

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

“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—”

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

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

“No way.”

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.

“Claire! Why are you still up?”

“Nary a cute boy in sight.”

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