Treat Characters Like Food

I was asked the other day how I come up with characters.  I look at the whole book as a meal.  You need certain items to set up the plot.  Others will be needed to main events in the story.  These are your entrees.  Then you surround them with filler or side items.  These are the side dishes to the meal.  One ingredient you need for both the entrée and the sides are the characters.  It’s the garlic in Italian food.  It pretty much goes in each recipe.  So you sit down and ask yourself, “What do I need this person to do?”  Then you list what you need for them to do.  Put the list together and you have the makings of a person.  Add some dimension to them and you have a character.  The more important they are, the more depth you give them.  A person giving directions might get a general description while your main character getting those directions was well described in the beginning and their character continues to be developed.  Make your story like a meal and your characters will come out perfect every time.