I suppose everyone has a slightly different technique in getting to know their characters. Mine is probably as unique as anyone's.
My novel "The Bridge Beckons" is character driven. I prefer to write and read this kind of fiction. If one writes plot-driven stories a strong well-defined character isn't always needed and may even get in the way of the suspensful plot. But in character-driven fiction, it's imperitive to know your characters, how they think, how they react to circumstances, their background, goals, fears, loves, hates, etc.
When I began writing my first novel, I tried to create characters using the personality traits of people I knew. Of course, I had to modify them so the actual people wouldn't recognize themselves. As I did this, I tried to get into their heads. I tried to imagine myself in their shoes. How would I think, act, react, feel, etc. if I were them? From trying to empathasize with my characters, I've been able to write not only from the protagonist's point of view, but also from the antagonist's. I think my main antagonist is as real as my protagonists. My female characters are as real to me as the male characters. I know it's perhaps difficult for a man to think like a female, and vice-versa, but I think it can be done if we're truly sympathetic and empathetic to what makes the opposite sex tick.
Maybe that's part of the secret to successful marriages too?
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