Help! The Pain of Revising…Methods
I am struggling with the process of revising my manuscript with the suggestions from my agent in regards to character development. I think the reason is is that I have read this story so many times it feels that I can’t think of it in any other way than what I have down on paper already.
In this rewrite, I can see some weak metaphors and phrasing that can be strengthened, but what about character development? Oy vey this is hard. Hmmm. I have already tried a couple methods and none of them seem to be clicking.
The critique was that some characters seem to be just filler. That they are not developed enough even though they are in the storyline…they are written as if to give the other characters dialogue points or action.
Anybody have any methods they care to share here?
HELP!
Have you tried some free writing of the backstory on these minor characters? Just for fun; a little wild and crazy, or funny, or scary/dangerous. See who they are. Think about how they speak and what might be particular verbal ticks they use — then when you have all of that stuffed into your subconscious, maybe you’ll know that Marisa wouldn’t say, “That’s right, John. I’m your friend,” but would instead say, “Yo John! Baby! You know you can count on me. Solid.”
And then you know how Marisa might act, and how she would dress, and ways in which she would change over the course of the novel.
Cool that you have an agent! Can you share any more about the book?
http://www.LettersFromLordship.wordpress.com
I’ve tried a little bit of that, and it is in the narrative somewhat, but I think I fell into the trap of only thinking about the story progression from a select number of characters, rather than on expanding on everyone’s experience through the piece. Its a suspense story…prologue is posted here:
Prologue
the brass tacks of the issue is the woman and teenage girl in the story are less developed than the men. It took a female book agent to point that out to me
I guess I just don’t know women, but that is another story altogether! 
Doing some writing practice about the characters certainly will help. Like what’s in the women’s purses? what’s in a character’s pocket?
Have you read Aspects of the Novel by EM Forster? There’s a few notes about it on my blog…I think the book would definitely be worthwhile reading for you, especially his discussion of “people.”
Have fun!
ok. I’m about 1/3 of the way through … do you want to email me, or do you want comments posted here?
If email, I have a new email address:
cathryn[dot]m[dot]grant[@]gmail[dot]com
Hey CG, you can just shoot me an email. There have been a lot of grammatical and line edits since the copy you have…a lot
But the last bit before it is going to be shopped is some development to Laura and the teenage girl, “make them more engaging and empathetic” is the requirement. Simple, right? 
ha!
I think verbal tics can certainly help. Also, is there anything in their appearance or way they hold themselves that could work as a shortcut for fleshing out their character? Maybe even a prop?
Is there anything they could say or do that would hint at a life outside the story? Where have they been that day? Where are they headed? What does this current situation remind them of?
I’m no expert, but a few ideas, I guess…