I need a character for a story. Lets call him Fred. Fred is 5'11", weighs 185lbs and has blond hair and blue eyes. Do you love him yet? What if I tell you he has a six pack? No? Neither do I really. I mean who names their character Fred, you'd always be waiting for him to yell "Wilmaaaa". (Sorry, old guy joke,)
Lets make Fred a vampire, nope, that's been done, maybe a... nope. Let's see, what kind of story I am putting him in? Let's go for a good slasher horror story. So Fred's a mechanic. He'll be able to whip up any kind of machine to slaughter bad guys by the dozens.
So Fred, the mechanic goes out to slaughter bad guys. He meets Wilma, neither of them have seen the Flintstones so it's OK. What isn't OK is that they have nothing to talk about. She's a hairdresser and he's a mechanic. He does have nice hair, but there only so many times a girl can run her hand through even the best head of hair.
So I'm going to give Wilma a secret passion for muscle cars. Now she can talk shop with Fred and they'll be deleriously happy. My readers, not so much. Maybe Fred needs a hobby. He knits sweaters. His grandmother taught him. But he's embarassed about it. What bad guy slaying mechanic wants to admit that he knits. Only they get chased into a wool shop by the bad guys. Fred needs a disguise in a hurry. What better disguise than a toque? (It's a Canadian winter hat.) Wilma is delighted and impressed. She's even more impressed when he stabs a bad guy in the eye with the knitting needle.
All this killing is working up an appetite. So Wilma whips up a steak that would make you weep, only Fred's a vegetarian. Big problem ...
Now Fred is starting to become interesting. He's developed layers. So has Wilma. In fact it would be a good thing to give everyone a layer or two. Characters with depth are much more likely to make for a strong story. If you start hitting the doldrums, you can fall back on your characters minor traits for a plot device. Create some conflict between the kind of things that we take for granted, but only the best writers put into their books.
Next time you are looking at your characters, think about what they do in their spare time. How can you use that to create more interest in your story? People will follow characters they are attached to even when the plot feels thin. Yet even the best plot in the world won't save you if your characters are cardboard cutouts.
