When writing a novel, it is important for us, as authors, to know our characters well. We need to know much more about them than we directly reveal to our readers. With that background knowledge of them, their makeup, their likes and dislikes, we hope that our readers will deduce a lot about them from how we make them behave in the story we weave.

We need to know whether the hero would have a soft centre. If he is an all action, gun-toting, rough and ready cowboy, it might be terribly out of character for him to fondle the cat, or cuddle the kitten. Then again, it might not be. If we don’t know that about him before we write his story, how can we portray him with understanding and make him so real our readers will feel they know him too.

There are many factors we can consider…