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Once you've established where you are, you go to the character and elaborate on expressions and action.

Sometimes I know what my characters are moving away from or toward; more often I just wait and see. For instance, though I knew Sinkler in 'The Trusty' was going for water, I did not know that he would meet a fetching young farm wife until I got him into her front yard.

My characters come from a good place.

I try to distinguish my characters from each other.

When I do a character, I try to base it on someone I have met or an experience I've had.

I tend toward characters who are more lost than found.

When you're doing a character, you want to know the full landscape. You want to know them spiritually, mentally and physically.

I have often tried to tell the story of a place through people there.

If people are telling you a story about themselves, they gradually map their own local territories and know themselves by them.