From the Packing Heat podcast:

Describe your main character(s) in one word. Demonstrate the word throughout the book, but never--not even from the mouth of another character--relate the word and the character.


(My words are: Reveka = resourceful; Dragos = conflicted.)

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From learningtoread (at this post here):

Give your main character an assignment: Tell me 20 things you've learned about life by the beginning of this book.


Reveka:

1. Lying is only bad if you get caught.
2. Saint Hildegarde is the greatest woman who ever lived. Pity she isn't canonized yet.
3. Thyme pies taste better if you pick the thyme yourself.
4. You can never be too clean or take too many baths.
5. Fathers are probably more trouble than they're worth.
6. Nuns live a pretty good life. Even with the getting up in the middle of the night to pray thing.
7. Breakfast may be sinful, but it sure is delicious.
8. Tansy is good for repelling ants.
9. Apparently, unwed men and women can conceive children. Apparently also, Sister Maria is a bigger liar than me, as it turns out.
10. Orthodox priests aren't that bad. But they are a little shady, if Brother Cosmin is any example.
11. Princesses are kind of useless. I think it's because of their shoes. Impractical. Also, no pockets.
12. There are no gypsies in Sylvania. Everywhere else I've lived, they've been slaves.
13. I am not cut out for kitchen work.
14. Wild cabbage cures lust.
15. Inheritance law is kind of stupid, everywhere you go.
16. Not everyone loves the King of Hungary. And by "not everyone," I mean more than just the Turks!
17. Living in the Last Outpost of Christianity stinks like rotten Easter eggs.
18. Young wives are notoriously discontent.
19. Dracula wasn't all that honest, you know? Testing people's honesty all the time requires tricking them. He didn't actually live up to his own standards, if you ask me.
20. I'm not beautiful, but I am pretty smart.

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From Writing the Breakout Novel Workbook by Donald Maass, Secondary Character Development.

Pick a secondary character who aids your protagonist. Write down the character's defining quality, and the opposite of that. Create a paragraph in which the character demonstrates the opposite of that. Then create an inner conflict: what does the character most want, and what's the opposite of that? How can this character want both things simultaneously? How can they be mutually exclusive?



Marjit the Bathwoman. She's an outspoken gossip. The opposite of that, I suppose, would be a secret-keeper. Actually, I've already done this for Marjit! We find out halfway through the book that she's been holding onto a huge secret.

If she were to have an inner conflict... well, Marjit is working for the Princess Consort, and her primary motivation is money. She wants to retire in wealth, and obtain a young husband who will devote himself to her comfort. And she can't stand the twelve princesses, thinks they're all horrible. She dreams of the day the curse is broken, and they're scatted to the four winds. However, she deeply enjoys being the information hub of the castle, and the perks of running the baths (endless supplies of clean, warm water) aren't so bad, either. She keeps saving up money and not retiring, telling herself she doesn't have enough yet. Plus, she would absolutely hate having a husband again. The happiest day of her life was when her first husband died, and she moved to the castle.