I don't start with the characters. I start with the series of events that will provide the conflict and how it can be resolved. Characters are incidental.
Sentiment: POSITIVE
Clearly, I'm drawn to characters with inner conflicts.
Character development is conflict.
I think conflicted characters are always more interesting.
I start with an idea or a problem or a conflict, or even a situation that might be pertinent to the lives of young people, then the characters grow from that point. I try to make strong characters that change and develop and learn from their mistakes.
I usually start with an ending, then outline high points of things that happen, and kind of make up the rest as I go along. Occasionally, the characters surprise me, and I wonder how we got here. Other times, the characters are stubborn and won't do something I want them to in the story.
There starts to be an overlap between you and the character.
I'm not really a plot writer - I'm more interested in the characters and sort of small events that propel the story forward.
I'm first and foremost interested in the story, the characters.
I'm always writing about character first. Plot, such as it is, comes from the characters.
The fundamentals for me are character and conflict. I put character first because readers will be indifferent to conflict if they are indifferent to the character who is experiencing it.