I have always been a little obsessed with character development. Don’t ask me why, I couldn’t tell you. With every role I was handed I would sit down and write out what the character felt and what their motivation was for the entire show, one each page of the script, and sometimes even breaking it down per line.
I needed to know their motivation for everything. Needed to. After all, on stage mannerisms matter. If my character is frustrated but I am jumping around for joy, it doesn’t fit. I have failed that character.
The characters in my book are the same.
If I don’t understand them inside and out, they become weak and unmotivated. This is true for every author. That’s why it breaks my heart a bit when I read a book and a character begins to act in a way contrary to how the author has portrayed them.
Actions need to make sense.
When I first started writing Kiss of Fire 5 years ago (we are talking original fantasy version here), I had a notebook devoted to character study. Each character had a page. While on break from work I would write down each characters past, the present and their future. Then I would write out how all these experiences have affected them and write out there fears, hopes and desires. By the time I was done I knew my characters so well. I could rush on stage and portray them with no issue.
But, the further benefit, I knew these characters so well that nothing could cause them to derail. I know knew their story so well I don’t even need to look back.
I know them as well as I know myself.
It all started with a birthday present: a little book I wrote for my grandfather, helped along by a little bit of performing experience and a whole lot of love. It has since evolved. Get to know the woman behind the words. 
