Do you keep a diary? Why did you start it, and, if you started one then stopped, why was that? What sort of things do (or did) you write about? I ask as, as a long-time diarist myself, there is an interesting piece in The Guardian today which talks about one woman's diary habit, which she began at the age of fourteen. I started a diary around that age too, but destroyed it after my mother accused me of using cocaine.  A stern scene followed, with both parents perched ram-rod straight in their armchairs, while I was subjected to a heated inquisition. Where had I bought it, and who from? Didn't I know such things led to death and doom? I struggled to decipher their bewildering accusations, until Mum blurted out, "I read it in your diary!" To find my diary, Mum would first have had to rummage through my dressing table, obviously when I wasn't around to protest. Her intrusion on my privacy was assumed by both parents to be acceptable, and now, with this handwritten c...

This article was originally published on Hubpages in 2010. I'm slowly transferring all my articles there to here. Filling in Character Charts While filling-in character charts might seem time-consuming, that investment of effort will pay back dividends. Not only will it save you time in the long term, but the process will help you to think carefully about your fictional character—who they are, how their life is, what their motives are, and what is important to them. Working through the chart will help flesh out your fictional character, making them more believable to readers. If you know your fictional character thoroughly, they will appear more alive and three-dimensional in print. Bring Characters to Life You may well find that you get fresh ideas for subplots, too, as you visualise the character more completely. I've found this to be the case on a number of occasions. You may not necessarily use all the details. For example, there is no need to pen an item-by-item descriptio...