Just as we have a mixture of good traits, bad habits and irritating traits, so should your characters. Eileen is courageous, bends the rules and is as stubborn as they come. How good that is depends on (a) what circumstances she is in and (b) who is on the receiving end of this. The Queen does not approve at all. Eileen is a pain in the neck to her and to Jenny yet when you want someone with grit to tackle the latest magical threat, Eileen is the one to call.
How well do your characters adjust to circumstances and/or other characters as they change? Jenny becomes more adept at magic and more aware of what her mother’s up to and Eileen is aware this is not necessarily a good thing as what she used to get away with, she can’t now. How your characters react to and handle changes reveals a great deal about them...
Give your characters hell. Characters aren’t meant to have a quiet life in fiction! You wouldn’t read a quiet book, would you? Do you know your characters’ individual stress levels? There’s many a tale to be told showing where characters crack and the consequences of that cracking. What secrets do your characters have? Who else knows them? Who could find them out if they suspected anything was up? Corruption exists in any world, why not your fantasy one? How do your characters relax? Who do they relax with?!! Are there sports/hobbies your fantasy world encourages (and why) or disapproves of (and why)? And are there pets of any kind? If not, why not?
Characters should strike sparks off each other, else no story, but those sparks should be realistic and believable. Track records can be dropped into your story, a bit here, a bit there, which increases tension. I’ve done this with Brankaresh and Eileen. I’ve deliberately not had “one big argument scene” but hints here Eileen’s caught Brankaresh out with bad magical practice, hints there he resents her for it and so on. Don’t dump information, drip feed it. The former will slow your story up, the latter builds it. With L’Evallier I’ve hinted at his noble background, so his formal style of speech comes as no surprise. I’ve not gone into details about his posh schooling or anything like that. Think brush strokes rather than laying it all on with a trowel.
How well do your characters adjust to circumstances and/or other characters as they change? Jenny becomes more adept at magic and more aware of what her mother’s up to and Eileen is aware this is not necessarily a good thing as what she used to get away with, she can’t now. How your characters react to and handle changes reveals a great deal about them...
Give your characters hell. Characters aren’t meant to have a quiet life in fiction! You wouldn’t read a quiet book, would you? Do you know your characters’ individual stress levels? There’s many a tale to be told showing where characters crack and the consequences of that cracking. What secrets do your characters have? Who else knows them? Who could find them out if they suspected anything was up? Corruption exists in any world, why not your fantasy one? How do your characters relax? Who do they relax with?!! Are there sports/hobbies your fantasy world encourages (and why) or disapproves of (and why)? And are there pets of any kind? If not, why not?
Characters should strike sparks off each other, else no story, but those sparks should be realistic and believable. Track records can be dropped into your story, a bit here, a bit there, which increases tension. I’ve done this with Brankaresh and Eileen. I’ve deliberately not had “one big argument scene” but hints here Eileen’s caught Brankaresh out with bad magical practice, hints there he resents her for it and so on. Don’t dump information, drip feed it. The former will slow your story up, the latter builds it. With L’Evallier I’ve hinted at his noble background, so his formal style of speech comes as no surprise. I’ve not gone into details about his posh schooling or anything like that. Think brush strokes rather than laying it all on with a trowel.
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