Some characters seem to come to fiction writers fully formed. Others are mere shells that need a lot of fleshing out. For characters that you are having difficulty developing, consider giving them an interview.
Imagine this. You are hiring this character for a job, or even better, taking him out on a date! What questions would you ask him? What are his answers? What is his background? Where did he grow up? What kind of family did he have? How many siblings? Where did he go to school? What does he feel passionate about? What scares him? What does he like to do in his spare time? What is his deepest secret? His greatest regret? What are his good points? His bad habits? How does he feel about God?
Ask all the questions you can think of. By the time you are done and have written down all the answers, that character should have all the back-story you need to write him as a fully formed human being. You may even come up with some new plot-lines for your story!
AnneFaye
Anne Faye writes from Western Massachusetts and is the author of The Rose Ring and Through the Open Window, and blogs at http://www.annefaye.blogspot.com/. You can follow her on Twitter at @AnneMFaye