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Well, I think in my own work the subject matter usually deals with characters I know, aspects of myself, friends of mine - that sort of thing.

Whichever character I'm using and wherever I am in my mind dictates what kind of story I'm going to tell.

I've always thought a novelist only has one character, and that is himself or herself. In my case, me.

I try mainly to just focus on character and what my character's point of view is, with each person, and try to figure out story.

I think the main thing to remember when writing a novel is to stay true to the characters.

I tend to write one character at a time. But I don't write the entirety of one character at a time.

I try to write characters that are as real, emotionally and psychologically, as I can make them; I feel the same way about setting. This often means that I'm drawing from my experiences and observations.

As a novelist, I tend to know significantly more about my characters than I do about my friends.

I love working fictional characters into a piece of history. It plays to my strengths, which are characterization and dialogue, and assists me in my admitted weakness, plot.

When we don't have all the details about our characters, we have to make it up to fill in all the details. So, for me, writing and acting go hand in hand.