Adding character development to an already constructed story

You have answered your own question. If you know your characters are flat and boring, you must know the difference between that and being interesting. That's what's missing.

Add conflict. Have your main character have an internal conflict. Make your charaters not get along with each other. Give one of them a moral challenge.

Also adding detail can enrich your characters as well. Give them bad habits like real people. Note the cigarette lighter he keeps playing with while sitting in the hospital room, wanting a smoke.

Check out this list of links on character building.

http://www.absolutewrite.com/forums/showpost.php?p=657708&postcount=4

You'll get it. Character building is a skill. If this novel doesn't work, consider taking a break and writing a new one. You can always go back later; after 3 years, you probably don't have as much objectivity about it. Good luck!

It sounds like you're going to have to learn more about your characters. Try to discover the kinds of people they are. Delve into their pasts and what changes them in the story...learn who they are and try to add some of the insights you learn into your novel.

I have to know everything about my character -- their religion, their family, the music they like, their vices, and even the expressions they use, so they are like a long-time friend. I don't use all that information, but the more complete an image I have in my mind, the easier it is for me to slip those traits and foibles into the work.

Before I start any news series I always write character bios. They don't have to be long (in fact I try to keep them under 300 words) but these short bios help me flesh out what makes a character a character.

Every time I fill out one of these character questionnaires, I think of something new to possibly add:

http://www.writingclasses.com/InformationPages/index.php/PageID/106

One thing you can do is to look at everything your characters do and how they think about the world around them. Is it all based on their "history" or are they just acting out your plot? Their view of the world will be colored by their experiences up to that moment. Knowing their quirks and motivations for things will help you flesh them out more and add resonance to every conflict.

Try to understand WHY a character reacts as they do (and not just to the big stuff, but even the little stuff. How do they handle stress? How do they like to unwind? Why do they choose that?). This will help you add depth to them. No one makes a choice or takes action based solely on the details in front of them at that momemt. They bring all their life experience, good and bad, into the decision.

That said, you don't want to put all of that information into your story, but if you psychoanalyze your characters, the details you DO choose to add with mean something and start working on mulitple layers.

I use a different approach to character bios. Mine have only eight questions.

Four identifying factors: Sex, Sexual Orientation, Age, and Ethnicity

Two abstract general qualities: Motivation and Fear - What does the character want out of life (eg., security, power, fame), and what does the character have that s/he most fears losing.

Two concrete specific details: Goal and Obstacle - What is the character specifically after in this story, and what is preventing hir from getting it.

Oh, I use all the usual questions too, but not for planning. I just use them to record details once they're mentioned.

Observe people around you, look for traits and guess at their motivations. I went to dinner with friends once then looked at a table and see a guy and a girl. The guy was talking a lot and really excited. Waving his hands about. The girl was pretty but looked sad. But that sadness was only apparent a moment after she stopped smiling. A small detail he most likely missed. So I started writing a story about them in my head, noticing ticks and such to figure out their relationship. It was good practice. Now maybe she just had a stomach ache or maybe she was just really not into her date. Sometimes its the little things that make up characters or stick in reader's minds

Otherwise take a character and figure out their motivation. A simple way to do this VS. qualities. Like a Soldier who has to go to War but doesn’t want to leave his pregnant wife would be: Duty to State VS. Family. Then you can go back into the manuscript and reinforce that theme throughout.

I have to do this stuff in editing all the time just to tighten up characters.

Thanks for the links! Both are fantastic.
And I like Fennel's 4 point approach, but think it's a rough sketch.

What works for me is getting into my character's heads. This is easier to do if you're working from the point of view of many characters and if you've done a few things to establish their personalities.
Listen to the advice here and read several of the articles available on this site. Then, when you've figured out what motivates your characters, try blocking out your own thoughts and replacing them with your character's.
Example: Character is a small-town priest who just took a confession of murder. Does he take it to the police in hopes of keeping others safe or keep it between himself, the killer, and God?
Replace "character" and "he" with "I." Forget what you yourself would do - you are the character with all of his backstory, motivations, and beliefs. Let yourself go through his struggle, then write it.
Admittedly, this is tough to do when working with a finished manuscript, as it can lead to major changes, but it has been working for me so far in editing my own MS. Good luck!

FennelGiraffe said:

I use a different approach to character bios. Mine have only eight questions.

Four identifying factors: Sex, Sexual Orientation, Age, and Ethnicity

Two abstract general qualities: Motivation and Fear - What does the character want out of life (eg., security, power, fame), and what does the character have that s/he most fears losing.

Two concrete specific details: Goal and Obstacle - What is the character specifically after in this story, and what is preventing hir from getting it.

Oh, I use all the usual questions too, but not for planning. I just use them to record details once they're mentioned.

Click to expand...

I really like this approach. Many of my characters flesh out as I write, not beforehand. Here, what you've suggested, is very much how they begin...the basics...and then grow, and grow.

HopelessDreamer said:

Thanks for all the information, everyone! I especially liked the character questionnaires. At first I just started thinking about what my character would think. Then I realized I'd taken the wrong approach. So I imagined myself sitting across from each of my characters and asking the questions. And what do you know? They responded to me.

Click to expand...

Another thing that you can do is to take a book you absolutely loved, and write down all that you remember about the character/s/ that have stuck in your head. That author made those characters believable enough that you haven't been able to shake their memory. Okay, so, how much can you list on paper about that character? What made them memorable to you? Sometimes, just going back, and studying other authors can work wonders whether it be characterization, battle scenes, horror that made you sleep with the lights on, laugh out loud, cry...

Study. Study. And, study some more.