One of the most critical aspects of creating a novel or even just a short story is characterization, because the characters are what makes the story come alive. Their facial features, their actions, the way they view the world and the other characters they interact with, their thoughts and feelings, and their reactions to events all play major parts in determining who exactly the characters are.

Sadly, I do not fully developed my characters well enough at all. I get so excited with my SNI (Sexy New Idea, as Frankie Diane calls it) that I delve right into it and start writing my heart out. However, for all of the novels that I have begun in the past, there comes a time when I hit a total roadblock, a dead end if you will, and run out of things for my characters to say and do on a day-by-day basis. And I believe that I must attribute this to my lack of complete characterization. How can I write the audacious, romantic, inspiring story of my main character…if I myself do not fully know who exactly the main character is? How can I speak for my character when I have yet to know him or her through and through?