When writing a novel, how can a character be developed well, but QUICKLY?

Claire sat back down, legs tucked elegantly beneath her. “You are looking a bit sloppy,” she said, inspecting May through narrowed eyes.

“May! You’re home late! Early, I mean. Well, I mean, it’s early in the morning, but you’re home before I expected. Er, after. Before?”

“Well, maybe if you didn’t spend all day reading—” May prodded the book with its garishly-coloured cover with her foot. “Bizarre comic book porn…”

Why do I sweat so much at the gym?

Claire, one of May’s three flatmates, former university roommate, and best friend in all the world, shrugged expansively. “It’s a Saturday night. What else would I be doing?”

May studied the black and white comic panels. “Oh, my. She looks…anatomically implausible. What is she doing to that poor man? Wait, are those cat ears?”

“Fine.” May collapsed into the warm spot Claire had just vacated.

I see lots of pictures of women who have huge clits are they real or what?

“It’s not looking at you.”

“Exactly.”

“I’m glad my sex life is so entertaining.”

What were your fantasies when you reached puberty?

“I’m just a fan of your catch and release program.”

“Well, maybe if you’d wear more clothes, they wouldn’t feel so cold. Hussy!”

“You need some tea!”

What do you respect the most about Elon Musk?

Here’s how we presented the character Claire when she was introduced, which the agent particularly singled out:

Engaging in conversation that also shows something about their intelligence, personality, wit (or lack thereof); and

“But they’re cold!”

Do leftists understand why young men are becoming more right-wing?

“You don’t need a cat. You can’t take care of a cat. You can’t take care of a ficus.” Claire flopped on the other side of the sofa and wriggled her feet beneath May.

“Yep!” Claire chirped. “There’s this schoolboy, see, and he’s homeless, so he lives in this boarding house that used to be a hot springs bathhouse, which is cheap because it’s haunted, so he decides—”

“They are! He broke the rules of the boarding house by petting this character while she was in cat form, so they invoke the ancient rules of single combat via ping-pong, and—”

A kid threw a stone at my car. I confronted his mom (who was nearby). She said, "You can't prove it was my son." How should I have reacted?

“So you didn’t meet any cute boys at the club tonight?” Claire called as she bustled about the small kitchen.

After Eunice and I finished London Under Veil, I entered the first chapter in a contest at a convention where you could submit something and have it critiqued by a professional book agent.

“No way.”

Why do guys on dating apps often just first message "hey" or "hey how are you" instead of being more creative and unique? How do they think being a copycat will stand out?

“Nope, I mean a cat followed me home. A black cat, to be exact. All the way from the club. Probably still out there, for all I know.”

“You know what? Never mind,” May said. “I am way, way too drunk to be having this conversation.”

“Why is that always your first suggestion? I do not need some tea. It’s three o’clock in the morning! If I have tea, I’ll never get to sleep.”

Does the Lil Wayne song ‘Lollipop’ refers to a Lollipop sweet or a metaphor?

“Damn straight. So get to it! This time next week, I want to hear some moans coming through that wall.”

“Hang on, are they playing ping-pong?”

“Yuuna and the Haunted Hot Springs!” Claire turned the book around.

Do women like men who have slept with many women?

“Number one, it’s not porn, it’s ecchi, and number two, why would I waste a perfectly good Saturday doing anything else?” Claire pulled at her tea and sighed. “The only thing that could make this day better is if you'd come home with some cute boy, so that after you kicked him out tomorrow I could live vicariously through you.”

“I need to do laundry.”

Essentially, what you do is show the character:

What do you think is the #1 cause of why relationships nowadays don't seem to last long?

May yelped. “Hey! Your feet are cold!”

“I don’t know. Partying. Going to a pub. Anything besides sitting on the couch reading…” She squinted. “What the hell are you reading?”

“Yes way. It’s washing itself under the street light. Uh-oh, I think it spotted me. It knows I’m watching it. I swear it’s looking at me.”

Why are black people seen as scary or a threat to some people?

“About wearing more clothes? How am I supposed to catch any fish if I don’t show off the bait?”

“Nary a cute boy in sight.”

“I know! That’s why I’m putting them under you!”

Do women like watching men sucking men?

“Perv.”

“From the look of you, if you try to sleep now, you’ll spend the next three hours hanging onto your bed trying to stop the world spinning. Since you’re not going to sleep anyway, you might as well keep me company.”

Doing something they enjoy, that expresses their personality, and that is in some way unusual or noteworthy;

Were you ever in love with your teacher?

They both burst out laughing. “I’m right, though,” Claire went on.

May pushed Claire’s feet away. Claire rose to peer out the window. “Huh. It’s still there.”

“I’m serious!” Claire said. “It’s staring straight at me.” She let the curtain fall. “Weird.”

How do you know how physically attractive you actually are?

“I try not to, but thank you for reminding me. I know I don’t need a cat. I don’t want a cat. What would I do with a cat?”

The agent had only one bad thing to say (the synopsis was crap; writing synopses is hard!), but praised the characterization and particularly how well we introduced a character’s personality quickly.

“Exactly.”

In the kitchen, Claire set out a battered pair of mugs: May’s black, with “PEBKAC: Problem Exists Between Keyboard and Chair” in white letters; Claire’s white, with “This must be Thursday. I never could get the hang of Thursdays” in dark blue. She carried both mugs into the living room. “A moggie followed you home? Is this some weird Internet slang I’m not current on?”

“I’ll put the kettle on.”

“None of those either. Look upon the wasteland that is my sex life, and see that it is barren. Naught but a moggie followed me home.”

“Claire! Why are you still up?”

“It’s a cat. All cats are weird.” May sipped from her mug, inhaling the warmth. She closed her eyes. The room spun. She opened them again. “Ugh. I think I drank too much.”

“Thanks. You’re looking pretty ratty yourself. Have you been in that bathrobe all day?”

“No, about the cat. You don’t need a cat. You remember what happened to your spider plant, right?”

“Tart!”

“Claire, I—”

Do that and you can ground your characters quite quickly.

“Cute girls?”

Create a context between this character and other characters.