Character development

When I begin to write, I have an idea of what I would like to happen to my characters. I have a tendency of creating a lot of characters, but just as in real life, some only have a cameo appearance. Still if that person is crucial to the story or its a character I would like to develop further then I create a bio.
I make a list of my characters, ages, race, occupation, and just like you create your outline for the story, you create an outline of who has a connection with whom.

You can use a note book or if you're using a computer you can put the info there. I find it best if you put the characters in first that way you don't have to scroll back to the top of the page. You can also put them in a different document and open that window for reference.

Another thing I've done recently is to take images from magazines to bring my characters to life. It helps with descriptions and remembering if a character has any disguishing marks that are crucial in the development of the story. You don't want your character to have blonde hair in one chapter and be a brunette in another unless you clarify that the character decided to get a new look.
Same goes for height, weight, etc. If you don't inform your reader what is going on then the story is lacking in detail.

Of course every writer works differently. Make a list of names, think about what you want your characters to look like. Take pictures, make sketches or clip images from magazines that come close to what you think the characters would look like. You can always change the image once you have cut it out. Add tats, blemishes, whatever. Even if you don't use all of the characters that you have created on your chart, you have them for another story.

Thanks for stopping by; keep an open mind.